Tons of Pitching News from Baseball
Aug 6th, 2008 by winabango
Changes are beginning to happen at a maddaning pace in Baseball. Therefor, there is a ton of news that will impact Fantasy Baseball owners. Pitchers, especially closers, are a necessary evil for all owners. Today, I am going to offer quick hits on all of the major news over the past few days.
- Gio Gonzalez promoted to the majors… Scheduled to start tonight:
The Oakland organization is making another move to the future by calling up their top pitching prospect. If you have been reading Fantasy Gameday for any length of time, you know about the man-crush that I have on Mr. Gonzalez. He has posted a great ERA (4.24) this season in Triple-A, however, the strikeouts have been piling up. To date, Gio has blown away 128 batters in 123 innings. In deep leagues, I think that he is worth the flyer. I know that I would use a waiver claim on him, because I think he is just as good as Clayton Kershaw right now. Sure Kershaw may be better in a few years, but right here… right now… Gio is equal to Clayton. By the way, Yahoo already has Gio Gonzalez in the system.
- Brandon Morrow sent to Triple-A to become starter:
The long awaited move by the Seattle Mariners has finally happened. J.J. Putz owners should rest easy for the rest of the season as there is no longer anyone preventing him from closing games. Except if you consider that he may not get many chances. As for Morrow… all of the scouting reports have indicated that he projects to be a better starter then a short reliever. If you are in a non-keeper league, especially shallow ones, you can drop him for now. In deep keeper leagues, he is worth hanging on to, because the Mariners plan on having him returning and making a few starts by the end of the year.
- Billy Wagner to the DL… Heilman to close?
After complaining about shoulder issue a month ago, apparently Bill Wagner has over compensated with the injury and now he has an elbow injury. The Mets announced the Aaron Heilman will close games, and the promptly allowed three runs in a third of an inning. I personally think that Joe Smith (RHP) or Scott Schoeneweis (LHP) will get the save chances depending on the situation. However, unless you are desperate for saves, I would avoid this situation right now.
- John Maine to the DL:
As with Billy Wagner, John Maine has been added to the 15-day disabled list. Indications are that this is just precautionary. Due to his ineffectiveness, most owners of John Maine have already jumped ship, and have moved on to other pitchers for the rest of the season. Posting only one win, a 5.23 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP over the last 30 days will do that to you. The strikeouts are still there, but that is a heavy price to pay in other categories to have them. I would classify Maine as a spot starter the rest of the season, especially in shallow leagues.
- Joba Chamberlain to see Doctor Andrews:
After leaving his last start, Joba is seeing Doctor Andrews this week to receive a second opinion on his injured shoulder. This is never a good thing to read about. The Yankees are trying to downplay this as precautionary as this is a very young arm they are dealing with. I would certainly expect a stint on the DL. Owners of Joba need to be patient with this one for the rest of the week. So don’t jump off the Brooklyn Bridge quite yet. Wait for the official news before making a decision to jump.
- C.J. Wilson to the DL… Eddie Guardado to close:
The change in Texas has been long expected as C.J.Wilson has struggled mightily at times this season. This season, Wilson has post an terrible 6.02 ERA and a ballooned 1.64 WHIP. The only part of his performance that made him better than Todd Jones were the 41 strikeouts in 46.1 innings. So “Everyday Eddie” will now be getting all of the saves chances in Texas. He will not strikeout as many batters, but should should be more consistent over the rest of the season. With the hot Texas Rangers, there might be plenty of save chances for Guardado. He certainly is a better option than any of the Mets relievers.
- Joel Zumaya to close for the Tigers:
In yet another change in Detroit, the Tigers have removed Fernando Rodey from the closers role, and have turned the keys over to the hard throwing Joel Zumaya. This move is what all Fantasy Baseball owners have been waiting for… right? He celebrated the promotion by allowing four runs to blow the save. I will give Zumaya some credit though, as Edgar Renteria booted a ground ball that caused three of the four runs to be unearned. Joel Zumaya is still a good risk to take in all formats. In related news… Kyle Farnsworth was also credited with a blown save last night, and Fernando Rodney pitched three scoreless innings while striking out five.

