I learned from a fairly early age that baseball can be pretty unpredictable. When I was very young, I remember watching a game on TV with my father next to me on the couch.As usual, the Yankees game was on TV, and that afternoon they were getting absolutely killed by the Red Sox. They must have been down at least eight or nine runs going into the seventh inning. I looked over at my father and asked him why he would continue watching the game, since the Yankees were clearly going to lose and had no shot at coming back. He leaned over to me and said:
“Son, there are a few things you’ll learn about baseball. One, no lead is ever big enough. Two, great pitching will always beat great hitting. And last? Anything can happen.”
That always stuck with me, and over the years I’ve figured out what he was getting at. I’ve seen huge leads evaporate more times than I can count due to pitching implosions. I’ve seen all-star pitchers get absolutely shelled against terrible hitting teams, and I’ve also seen terrible pitchers shut down a dominant offense. There is a reason that they play the games, after all. Shortly after he imparted those words of wisdom the Yankees came right back to win it in the bottom of the ninth inning. Go figure.
Bottom line, no one can predict what is going to happen in baseball. We may crown ourselves to be “experts” but in reality we are all just guessing what will happen. It’s a hell of a game. If going into the season if I would have told you that the Toronto Blue Jays would have an 11-21 record and their pitching staff would be the third worst in all of baseball you would have laughed at me. Or how about that Josh Hamilton would struggle so much hitting in the middle of the Angels lineup? Or that the third best offensive team in baseball would be the Cleveland Indians? No way. This (as my father would say) is why they play the games. No one knows.
If you haven’t already viewed our AL only league, I’ve included the link below for you:
http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/142822
Top Hitter: Miguel Cabrera (3B – Detroit Tigers) Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Miguel Cabrera is good. As in, really really good. As in, when he plays against two of the weakest pitching staffs in all of baseball (Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros) he’s pretty much going to single-handedly carry you to a win in a head to head format. Cabrera likely needed to be removed from Houston kicking and screaming after an absolutely ridiculous statline for the week: 8 R, 3 HR, 10 RBI and a .423 AVG. The triple-crown winner from last year has picked up right where he left off, and shows absolutely zero signs of slowing down. Cabrera was drafted as the first overall pick in our AL only league, and is proving his selection so far.
Top Pitcher: Justin Verlander (SP – Detroit Tigers) Did I mention earlier that the Detroit Tigers had an absolute cakewalk for a schedule in week five? Verlander absolutely dominated both the Twins and Astros to the tune of a 2 W 17 K 0.64 ERA and 0.79 WHIP line for last week. The Astros free-swinging nature certainly helped his K totals, but Verlander’s totals are absolutely no joke. He’s the top pitcher in baseball and a leading candidate for the AL Cy Young. Nothing new here folks.
Waiver Wire Move of the Week: Ryan Raburn (2B, OF – Cleveland Indians) The Clown Questions run by Ricky Sanders made what is quite possibly the best pickup of the season thusfar, adding Raburn from waivers for $35. Raburn went on an absolute tear early in week five, going 7/8 with 4 HR and 7 RBI. Raburn has long been known as a streaky player and certainly will not keep up with this rate of production.
Keep an eye on: Ichiro Suzuki (OF – New York Yankees) After an incredibly slow start to the 2013 season, Ichiro has picked it up as of late, raising his average to almost .280 and collecting a handful of steals since late-April. Earlier in the season managers were concerned about not only his lack of production but not even attempting to steal a base. Yankees manager Joe Girardi was resting Ichiro several times each week to start Brennan Boesch or Ben Francisco. Since elevating his average in the last few weeks Ichiro has been all over the New York lineup, floating between the second and sixth spot in the batting order. In a perfect world Ichiro would either be the leadoff or eighth hitter, but injuries have forced New York to get extremely creative with their lineup.
Joel Hanrahan (RP – Boston Red Sox) During Hanrahan’s DL stint Andrew Bailey hit the ground running with the closers role in Boston, tallying five saves. His run came to a screeching halt with a bicep injury and has subsequently been placed on the DL, allowing Hanrahan to regain the closer gig. In shallower leagues where he may have been dropped, Hanrahan is definitely worth reacquiring, as Boston has been the best team in baseball so far this year.
Best of luck to all of our readers this upcoming week!
~ Roto Wizard
A veteran fantasy sports player/commissioner for the better part of a decade, I am a contributing writer for several major fantasy websites including FantasyTrade411.com, Rotowire.com and Going9baseball.com. I am always willing to share my advice and opinions on your questions and the latest fantasy news. Feel free to contact me with any sports related inquires on twitter @Roto_Wizard, or by e-mail at RotoWizard01@yahoo.com.
