The word of the week is apoplexy, as in "my starting pitching has been so horrendous it's given me apoplexy, but my fiance just rolled her eyes when she found me on the floor lifeless."
Bernie's Bombers (H2H points)
Standings: Still 0-0, but I'm winning my first matchup 186-118
Top Scorer: Jered Weaver, 6.1 IP, 2H, 2BB, 0 ER 6K, W (27 points)
Biggest Albatross: Francisco Liriano, 4.1 IP, 4H, 5BB, 4 ER, 3K, L (-4 points)
The Skinny: So far, my pitching has been a little better than expected. Slotting Carlos Zambrano and Tim Stauffer in my RP spots has more or less paid off, netting me 14 points between the two, as opposed to roughly 3 total points from my actual closers so far. Meanwhile, Jered Weaver and Tim Hudson have had solid outings of 27 and 26 points, respectively. The only real negative has been Liriano, who always gets lit up by Toronto. My hitting has been a shade worse than expected, averaging 3.9 points per player per game. The composite line is 31/116 (.267), 2 doubles, 1 triple, 6 bombs, 17 runs, 21 RBI, 12 BB and 17 K. Cano/Beltre/V-Mart have started slow, but they've all gone yard as well.
I got the first trade offer of the season (I'm sure I'll write more on trading soon), Paplebon straight up for James Shields. I like Shields, and closers are worthless in the league, but I though I could get more by exploiting the offerer's need at 2B (currently Omar Infante, he drafted Utley in the 2nd). So I countered with Roberts/Paplebon for Kershaw and Wigginton and his 1B/2B/3B eligibility as a throw-in. I got no response on that, but I'm unsure if I actually need Kershaw. The thing is, I could use him more than either Roberts (blocked by Cano), or Paplebon (sucks). Kershaw, meanwhile, would go into my lineup for good.
cp (5x5 Roto)
Standings: 6th place, 52.5 points
Best Week: Either Adrain Gonzales (5/13, 2R, 3RBI, 1SB) or Tim Hudson (7.0 IP, 3H, 1BB, 1ER, 5K, W).
Biggest Albatross: Everyone on my pitching staff not named Tim Hudson or Justin Verlander
The Skinny: For hitting, I'm low in RBI and Avg, but it's still early and my lineup appears to be producing fairly well. Given some of the pitching faced- Texas, Toronto, Anaheim- and some of the ballparks- Washington and Citi Field- I wouldn't expect great power numbers off the bat. Far worse has been the pitching. Aside from Tim Hudson, all my starters have given up 3 or more earned runs, gone six innings or less, and have a WHIP above 1.2 (except Verlander's 1.17). It's been, in a word, murderous. My K numbers are fine, but I'm doing pretty poorly everywhere else. After 6 starts, my numbers are 2 W, 1 Sv, 5.899 ERA and 1.513 WHIP. I'm not expecting to dominate pitching in this league so much as I expect to get enough pitching. This is pretty bad, though. I have to hope next weeks matchups pan out better, with Verladner @ Bal, Scherzer vs. KC, and maybe T Hudson vs. Phi, Sanchez vs, StL, Dempster vs. Ari and Beckett @ Cle. Also, it would be nice if my closers weren't atrocious, as much as I didn't draft for saves.
Cubs Fans Fantasy Baseball (H2H categories)
Standings: The matchup isn't over, but right now I lead 6-4-0
Best Performer: Either Weaver or Ryan Braun (4/11, 2HR, 5R, 2RBI)
Biggest Albatross: Again, that would be my pitching. Fully half my staff has either an ERA at least 4.50 or a WHIP over 1.33 (or both).
The Skinny: I drafted to dominate pitching, and in spite of (at best) mixed contributions from Contreras, Paplebon, Franklin, Daniel Hudson, Huston Street, and Francisco Liriano I'm up in all pitching categories except strikeouts (and I'm still close). Moreover, I'm up or close behind in four of five hitting categories, with steals being the exception. I can't win every week with pitching this ugly, but if my hitters stay close to this pace (.300 with 1 HR, 6.5 R, 3.5 RBI, and .75 SB per day) I'll be in good shape.
Fantasy All Stars (7x7 roto)
Standings: Last place (61 points)
Best Player: Jose Bautista (5/11, 2 HR, 5R, 2RBI, 2 K, 0 SB).
Biggest Albatross: I'm getting sick of saying Liriano, and Marcum at least got 7 K in his 4.2-inning pounding. So I'll go with Brett Gardner (2/12, 1 R, 1 SB, 5K).
The Skinny: I knew this was going to be a bumpy ride, and shaky pitching will never help that. I didn't even have a start until April 2nd, and if it wasn't for Matt Cain I might have released my entire staff that day. What I've really discovered, though, is my lack of flexibility. When it looked like Hill might miss a start, I realized I didn't have anyone to sub for him. In fact, I have too many people who eligible at OF and/or 1B (12) and way too few eligible anywhere else (5). I like a lot of these players (Moreland, Cuddyer, Coghlan, Scott, Gaby Sanchez, etc), but I need more diversity in positions. I can't or shouldn't drop these guys- I know some are coveted, and "wait and see what shakes loose when I drop them" isn't a good strategy here- so that means I have to try and swing a trade. This is likely going to have to be a quantity-for-quality swap, which is always hard to do. We'll see how this goes.
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