TRUM: Heartbreak, Daisuke and Greinke
My bad on getting this up a day late. This is actually the Thursday TRUM.
I've been in a lot of meetings today, as you might imagine. I can assure you that the ESPN.com technical team is on it. As noted elsewhere, the majority of the issues are on their way to being resolved. More on this later, I promise.
My Lakers are driving me nuts. OK, nuttier. I just want them to decide, you know? Are they good or are they a year away? Are they the team that beat Dallas on the road? Or are they the team that got swept by Charlotte?
Look, I can handle heartbreak. I'm a Redskins fan. I went to Syracuse. I grew up in College Station, Texas.
Heartbreak and I go way back.
I just want to know what level of expectations to set for said heartbreak. Do I expect them to get to the semis or better and then I can get my heart broken? Or do I expect them to lose in the first round and get my heart broken when they are swept?
I bring up heartbreak only because I know my buddy Pete Becker is a Blue Jays fan, and he can't have a skip in his step after A.J. Burnett's start yesterday. I've never liked Burnett so I can't defend it, except to say ... he's not that bad. Nor is Curtis Granderson that good. A stolen base is a lot more likely to happen repeatedly than a grand slam. But you know that.
I like seeing Pudge Rodriguez go 4-for-5, since I got caught price enforcing at Tout Wars and he's on my team. Speaking of Tout Wars, we're getting the league pages up, and soon you'll be able to check out the league and see how my team is doing so far. Here's a hint: Eh.
Stuart Scott reserves "That ain't right" for good plays on SportsCenter, but that was my reaction upon seeing Fernando Rodney get lit up. Again. Something's wrong there -- bench him until further notice. Todd Jones, good old Todd Jones, who probably went a lot cheaper than Brad Lidge, comes in for the save.
Here are four names: Grady Sizemore, Trot Nixon, Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez.
That's who batted ahead of Casey Blake yesterday. That's a lot of good hitting in front of a guy with power who wasn't drafted in most mixed leagues. I'm just saying. And can we talk for one second about Nixon? Between Grady and Pronk? He'll break your heart, no doubt, but he might be a pretty good ride until then.
I really like Andy Marte this year. I was saying it in the preseason, but after yesterday's homer, I feel better about it. I didn't like Darin Erstad at all this year, however, so far he is proving me wrong: Two stolen bases on a day when he went 2-for-2 tell me he's totally healthy. I still don't think you'll see more than 12-15 steals from him -- and that's generous -- but he's starting everyday at the top of the lineup on a team that will run and score.
David Aardsma, the former college closer, strikes out five in two innings of work. Now, he also loaded the bases and got the third out on a warning-track fly ball, so it was not as impressive as it might look. But with two injury-prone guys ahead of him in Bobby Jenks and Mike MacDougal, there's no reason to think he couldn't find himself with some save opportunities. Deep AL-only leagues, take note.
Gary Matthews Jr.: 2-for-4 with an RBI. Take that, Steve Phillips! Ian Kinsler shows he's human, Howie Kendrick steals his first base of the year, and Brandon McCarthy disappoints ... again.
I'll say this, though. I'd rather have Kinsler this year than Kendrick, and I know that's not how they went at auctions and drafts this year. A ribbie from Jason Varitek, who I like this year and for whom I am out on a lonely limb. I did a whole thing on him in my Love / Hate update.
Tooth Fairy. Easter Bunny. Ramon Ortiz.
Sorry, just listing things I don't believe in.
If you started Jaret Wright, you deserved it. Want to know a very good, under-the-radar set-up guy who could close? How about Jon Rauch, whom Nate Ravitz loves (and he's right).
A homer given up to J.J. Hardy ... it was not smooth sailing for Takashi Saito in LA. He gets the job done, but despite his awesome numbers from last season, I do not think he keeps the gig all year.
A catcher I have always liked, Yorvit Torrealba of Colorado, goes 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI. Lawr Michaels told me something that made me laugh. Yorvit's brother's name? Steve.
Stolen base for Chris Burke. He's 20/20 this year. Bank it. A better-than-it-looks start from Braden Looper. And I am still not convinced on Ted Lilly -- speaking of heartbreak -- but it's a helluva start, I'll give him that. Yes, Cole Hamels is that good.
Now they moved Chase Utley in front of Ryan Howard, which hurts Howard even more. If someone wanted to give me first-round value for Howard -- Carl Crawford, say -- I'd do it.
Since this is late, I'll do a double TRUM and look through the box scores from Thursday night as well. By the way, if Billy Gillispie leaves for Kentucky, I am going to be depressed.
Great start by Daisuke Matsuzaka, huh? He goes six innings, giving up only four hits, one walk and two earned runs while striking out 11.
Oh, I'm sorry. That's Ian Snell's line. Dice-K went seven, gave up six hits, one walk, an earned run and struck out 10.
Just to put it in perspective. They're the Royals. Dice-K is one guy Eric Karabell and I agree on. Expect 15 wins, 175 strikeouts and, I say, a 3.50 ERA. If you can get better value than that for him, go for it.
Some closer situations cleared up last night. David Weathers for the Reds, Al Reyes for the Devil Rays and Armando Benitez for the Giants. Not that there was doubt about Benitez, but he did need three batters to get one out.
Zack Greinke is for real. Lost in the Dice-K mania is the fact that Greinke also had a great game: Seven innings, eight hits and a walk, with one earned run and seven strikeouts. Not a save opportunity, but David Riske pitches the ninth for KC, and Brian Stokes pitched the eighth for Tampa.
It has no fantasy value, but I just like pointing out that in a one-run loss, Alex Rodriguez left seven men on base. Seven.
I wish I had a better answer than "I don't know" about what you do with Ben Zobrist, but I don't. Normally, I say stay away from light-hitting shortstops. But he's batting second and just had a two-steal night. Akinori Iwamura, their new third baseman, quietly has a nice night: 2-for-4 with three runs.
Elijah Dukes is getting more playing time and making the most of it. Another home run. Well done. And Ryan Klesko rises from the dead to hit a homer. Wonders never seem to cease.
The start by Jeremy Sowers should scare you quite a bit: five walks with only one strikeout.
That's all I got today. Phone it in Friday is next. Thanks ...
