Hudson Is For Real
Apr 5th, 2007 by winabango
I went to the Phillies game last night, and I can confirm that Tim Hudson looks as good as ever. I honestly thought that I might see a no-hitter. Hudson left one pitch up in the zone, and Ruiz hit it over the left field wall. Most times a BABIP of .064 tells you that a pitcher was “lucky”. I can tell you that he was not lucky. Almost all of the Philly batters just beat the ball into the ground. Hudson’s posted Spring numbers of 25 innings pitched with an ERA of 2.16 and 15 strikeouts.
If you are in a deep league, and he is available, go get him before someone else does.
I would also like to rant about the terrible Philly bullpen, especially Madson. And the terrible call to have Shane Victorino attempt to steal third with Ryan Howard at the plate. What the heck were they thinking!?! Then Gordon gave up a hit and then McCann hit a 2 run homerun to ruin my night. Then Madson was brought in, and my worst fears were delivered into the section next to me.
Here is my fantasy spin on what happened.
- Tim Hudson is as good as advertised during Spring Training, so pick him up.
- Cole Hamels is going to be a monster this year.
- Shane Victorino is as good as what everyone has been saying.
- Tom Gordon is not a tier 2 closer.
- Pat Burrell does still suck, and should not be on anyones team.
- Ryan Howard will still be walked even with Utley behind him.
- Andruw Jones still strikes out way to often.
- Don’t have any Philly relief pitchers on your team except for Geoff Geary
- Bob Wickman will not last long as the closer for Atlanta, unless he eats the rest of the pitchers.
- Rafael Soriano is amazing, and my pick to become the closer later this year.
- Edgar Renteria looks solid at SS.
Oh, and Charlie Manual will wreck all fantasy value for Philly players. Maybe I am still mad about what happened last night, but there were plenty of bad calls during the game. Ok, yes I am still angry! Why must you torment me Ryan “I can deliver a fat gopher ball” Madson!
> I figure if any service can help me with this it’d be you guys. I joined a
> fantasy league without knowing it had silly stats or silly rules but i’ve
> already paid to play and wonder how this could effect the standings.
> There are no innings or games played limits in this league. It’s a 7×7
> roto league with R, HR, RBI, AVG, SO, BB, and SB as offensive cats, and W,
> L, SO, BB, WHIP, ERA, and SV’s as pitching categories. One guy is already
> picking up a new pitcher(s) everyday. I figure this will certainly
> influence the standings in W, L, SO, and BB, but the question I’m asking
> is whether with so many innings being pitched and most major leaguers
> getting on base less than 40% of the time…will this help him or hurt him
> in ERA and WHIP?
You went to the game? So did I! (Except I was at the very top row with all of the college kids who were throwing things…) I’m happy I didn’t get pelted by beer bottles, or hot dog wrappers, or things like that.
Great blog!
-Paul
Paul,
I was in right field 10 rows up in the 1st level. I actually had some of the hot dogs land right by me.
Matt,
the strategy that the guy is doing is called pitch-and-ditch. It is a viable strategy, especially if there is no cap to innings pitched in roto style leagues. The odds are that he will win the counting categories (wins and K’s), but will have a tough time winning the rate stats (ERA and WHIP). It sounds like he is just picking pitchers without doing any research on them. That type of player will most likely hurt his team more then he will help.
True pitch-and-ditch is a calculated risk that you take when there is an overwhelming advantage by a pitcher on the waiver wire. It is best to use the strategy in moderation, especially in roto leagues.
Kelly