Week 5 MSSSMRMoW

A Harmony Intradivisional matchup is week 5's Mike Shaw
Subaru Super Mo Replay Matchup of the Week

This matchup features all kinds of fantasy goodness and fantasy awfulness and a whole slew of players who went down with injury sometime during the week (mostly over the last weekend).  Both teams are fighting for position within the division, with John's MWP Masters trying to keep pace with the Backyard Allstars for first and Zach trying to keep from falling too far behind his brother for the third and final playoff spot in Harmony. 

Team	R	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	W	K	ERA	WHIP	QS	SV+H	Score
Zach's Team	19	16	2	0.260	0.312	0.449	3	24	4.22	1.22	2	3	5
MWP Master's	12	14	3	0.208	0.263	0.322	3	54	3.73	1.13	4	6	6

Alvarez mashes, and has awesomely hillarious
eyebrows

We will start with the good:

C Mike Zunino (Zach Attack) - 400/471/600 3R 4RBI
3b Pedro Alvarez (MWP) - 381/480/524 2R 4RBI
OF Tacoby Bellsbury (MWP) - 444/500/667 3R 3RBI 2SB

SP Tim Hudson (Zach Attack) - 1W 6K 2.08 ERA 0.58 WHIP 1QS
SP Jose Fernandez (MWP) - 1W 18K 1.20 ERA 0.87 WHIP 2QS
SP Johnny Cueto (MWP) - 1W 10K 2.25 ERA 0.50 WHIP 1QS
RP KRod (MWP) - 3K 0.00 ERA 1.00 WHIP 3 SV+H

Zunino was a waiver wire pick (dropped Saltalamacchia) up who has come on very strong for Zach.  Alvarez was acquired in a trade for Joe Nathan (since dropped by Les Moles) and Bellsbury was won for $50 at auction.  I criticized all 3 moves at the times they were made.  Go me!  Fernandez and Cueto continued their rediculous seasons, as did K Rod.  Hudson turned back the clock in his 1 start this week, but he has been better more often than not so far.  Those are really all the good performances from either team this week

Dom Brown might have been a better punter
this week.

The Bad (I hope you have some time):
1b Brandon Belt (Zach Attack) - 118/167/353 2R 1RBI
3b Pablo Sandoval (Zach Attack) - 118/211/118 1R 0RBI
1b Freddie Freeman (MWP) - 087/160/087 0R 1RBI
ss Ben Zobrist (MWP) - 111/111/185 2R 0RBI
OF Dominic Brown (MWP) - 083/083/167 1R 0RBI
OF Evan Gattis (MWP) - 100/143/250 1R 1RBI
2b Jason Kipnis (MWP) 000/167/000 1R 0RBI  and a trip to the DL on Friday with a strained oblique

SP Jeff Samardzija (Zach Attack) - 4K 4.76 ERA 2.12 WHIP
RP Sergio Santoa (Zach Attack) - 2K 54.00 ERA 6.00 WHIP
SP CC Sabathia (MWP) - 9K 9.35 ERA 2.31 WHIP over 2 starts, neither quality
RP Kenley Jensen (MWP) - 0K 6.75 ERA 3.00 WHIP 2 SV+H

 Check that.  MWP had 5 hitters under .111 for the week!  With out Tacoby, this team would have become the first one to hit under the Mendoza line for an entire scoring period.  I can't even begin to disect which one of these hitters was the worst.  Kipnis would be the obvious choice, but he left Tuesday's game and didnt return to the lineup all week.  Hes out 3-5 weeks, so he really only got 1 and a half games to hit in before getting hurt.  An asshDLe for sure, but not a week long, average crushing Rob Deer.  My vote goes to Freddie Freeman for his .087 avg and slug%.  Sergio Santos deserves to be sent back to whatever circle of hell the Toronto Blue Jays found him in.  Wait, didnt Santos come from the Sox on the South Side?  Sounds about right.

Performing Surgery on a pitcher near you

The injured:
2b Kipnis (MWP)
OF Ryan Braun (Zach Attack) - Strained Right Oblique - Injured on the 27th of April, hits the DL on May 3rd.  The Brewers are jerks.
SP Hyun-jin Ryu (MWP) - Left shoulder stiffness - He is being examined by Dr. Neal El Attrache (or Kahlid El Amin) who will decide his fate. Injured the 27th, hit the DL May 2.  The Dodgers are jerks.







The Awesome:

Go Cainer.  Not to be confused with Kaner.

SP Matt Cain (Zach Attack) - Cut finger - Injured 4/24, hit DL 5/4.  The Giants are jerks. Or maybe they couldnt stop laughing.  The report is that Cain cut himself on his right index finger with a kitchen knife while he was making himself a pregame sandwich.  Now, I dunno about you all, but I am picturing him trying to cut off the crust of the sandwich, because really, you dont need to cut a sandwich in half.  Just eat the damn thing.  Also, anyone who remembers me cutting a piece of my thumb off while cutting up fruit back in college and then ducktaping it back on...F you guys, this is totally different.


Dear Adam Silver - Anything you can do, I can do with less media attention and fanfare.

I came to a realization this weekend.  The Tater Tot Fantasy Baseball League of Fake Teams Using Real Players in Totally Normal Ways for Adult Males could not continue to function with one team not doing anything whatsoever to try to win its weekly matchups.  I also realized that if Jerad hadnt bothered adjusting his team, there was very little chance that he was joining us on this here blog to see that I had inacted a Jerad rule and that he best be doing something about his DL players.  With those things in mind, I asked Dusty to get ahold of Jerad to see if he cared if we moved his team to another person or if he was going to be involved.  The text I got back from Dusty simply said, "He says replace him."  With those 4 words, a whirlwind of shady backroom deals and ill tempered negotiations kicked off which ultimately ended with me brokering a sale of the Springfield Isotopes to a new owner, KP (intro to follow).  KP will change the name to a yet to be determined moniker, though his team pictures is one of Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in Tombstone and I would be hard pressed to think of a better name than the Huckleberries.  In fact, regardless of what KP calls them, I will probably refer to them as the Huckleberries, or Hucks, because...well...I do what I want.

So long Jerad: The Galleria of Notgonnaplayhereanymrore, I will miss the endless possibilities of the "Jerad: The Galleria of" jokes as well as the incomprehensible joy that accompanied every time you won a player at auction ("He went to Jerad!").

A couple other housekeeping items, at our doctor's behest, my wife and I have decided that May 12th will be the birthday of our second kid.  Now, that's a Monday and I likely will be somewhat preoccupado for much of the week.  Strangely, one of the first things I thought about, after the "Holy Shit our kid is going to be here in like a week," was "recaps and waiver stuff happens on those days; How can I do both?"  The answer is that I cannot.  And like Daniel Murphy decided earlier this year, my family responsibilities outweigh those as commish of The Tater Tot Fantasy Baseball League of Fake Teams Using Real Players in Totally Normal Ways for Adult Males.  As such, I have asked Kyler to step in and get his feet wet with the recaps and then to see how he feels and do the waiver pickups as well.  I figured, he has been listed as a contributor for this blog for several weeks and has contributed the same amount as Candyman Smallwood has, so it was time.

Awesome and total devine providence moment about picking the 12th that I have to share.  Every month, my wife figures out what we are going to have for dinner each night (I help sometimes, but really, it's all her) and then we go shopping for one month at a time and buy it all.  Then, after its all put away, she writes it out on a big white board so that we can easily see it.  That may seem excessive, but for those of you that know my wife, its 100% normal to do things like this.  So we did the one for May last week (went shopping Monday the 28th or something) then came home and filled out the board like usual.  Last Friday, we were at the doctor and decided on the 12th as the day we were going to have our kid.  When we got home, my wife highlighted the borders of that day and started "X"ing off the days as a count down.  Guess what is listed as the dinner item for Monday May 12th, the day which is now highlighted and on which my kid will be born.  Yep, Tacos.  And BOOM goes the dynamite.

Week 5 The PoohDLes

This weeks asshDLes are brought to you by the number 5 and the letter P, for poopholes as in Albert Poopholes.  Have you ever dislike someone for no real reason, even though that person seemed to be a genuinely decent human being, performed their job tasks at an amazingly efficient and successful rate and never really caused any trouble for anyone?  Meet me and Albert.  Pujols has never been in major trouble (other than Jack Clark being a douche nozzle), he is in the discussion for greatest right handed hitter of all time and probably has the greatest 10 year stretch to start a career of any type of handed hitter (hitters with one or no hands are graded on a different scale.  Jim Abbott is the clubhouse leader in this category; he retired with 2 career hits in 21 at bats and only struck out 10 times), and he openly talks about how amazing his wife and kids are.  My irrational dislike for him most likely stems from his unfortunate (and completely out of his control) association with the Evil Cardinals and my sworn blood oath to all enemys of the Cubs, foreign and domestic.  When his free agency was coming, you're damn right I spent a couple of hours thinking about what a Cubbie lineup would look like with a sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer sitting in that 3 hole, but I always felt kinda dirty about it...like I was cheating on the Cubs.  You would think, then, that when he told the people of St. Louis that he was thinking of taking a jackhammer to the Arch, but instead settled for a contract with the Angels for a eleventy billion dollars, that I would have come around to him.  I mean, he might as well have held the press conference in Anaheim sitting next to an Angels' jersey wearing Nelly with them performing a duet singing, "If you wanna go and take a ride wit me, smoke an L in the back of a Benzy, oh why must I feel this way? HEY, MUST BE THE MONEY!" It was a curb stomp, a charlie horse and a kick to the nuts all rolled into one.  But no, his complete disregard for feeling of the people of a city that I admittedly dislike made me like him less.  If someone who was the on-field face of the Cardinals and was so involved in charity work around the community could do this to his team (and it really was his team), then anyone could.  And it wasnt as though the Cardinals were telling him to leave or that they were offering him I took no small delight in his struggles last year (and again, I know my dislike is completely unfounded) and secretly hoped that he was coming to the end of his reign of terror and that poor Brad Lidge could finally try to exercise his demons (seriously, if you havent seen the bomb yet there is something wrong with you.  Fix it. If you have seen it, watch it again and remember, only you can prevent forest fires, and preditary behavior by hitters who may or may not be 4 years older than they admit and/or baseball crushing cyborgs from an alien race bent on taking over professional sports).  But he bounced back this year because that is what soul crushing monsters do.

I dont write this because Pujols got hurt this week.  That was a really long intro into another player that I not-so-irrationally dislike went down this week in a great (for entertainment purposes) way.  Bryce Harper (OF - Springfield Isotopes), the Lex Luthor to Mike Trout's Superman, tore ligaments in his thumb sliding into third base.  The injury required surgery (done 4/29) and he isnt expected to return to the lineup until early July at the soonest.  The injury would be impactful to any team, but it is especially so for a team that already has Josh Hamilton on the DL and doesnt seem to be paying any attention to the league anyways.  If there isnt movement on the roster this week, I will start the process of forcing a sale of the team to a bidder of my choosing.  Adam Silver isnt the only one with that kinda power.

A couple of other All Stars went on the DL this week, both injuring themselves on Sunday but not hitting the DL until Monday, when it was too late to get them out of the lineup.  Chris Davis (1b - Dusty's Nustys) strained his left oblique last Sunday and there is no time table for his return.  Davis left Dusty with a big fat goose egg this week in his match up with the BySs.  Looking ahead to next week, Dusty has a couple of options.  He can move Mike Napoli in to the slot or move Miguel Cabrera over with Nolan Arrenado sliding into the third base spot.  At least Dusty has eligible players at 1b on his bench. 

The Zach Attack suffered a minor set back this week with SP Anabel Sanchez finding his way to the DL after developing/popping a blister on his right middle finger during the third inning of a game on Sunday in Minnesota.  His loss also means that Zach was without someone in the SP slot for the week, though he didnt have anyone available to fill the slot with Clayton Kershaw and Mike Minor already riding the DL.  The good news for Zach is that Minor is set to start tonight and Kershaw has dominated his rehab assignments and is set to go on Monday, meaning a 2 start week is in the cards.

Finally, a pair of Cincinnati Reds round out the injury update for this week.  SP/RP Tony Cingrani (Les Moles) was forcibly placed on the DL 5/1 with mild shoulder tendinitis after he was removed from a game on 4/30.  He left Tom with a counting line of 4 inning pitched, 3 earned runs, 8 base runners and only a pair of strike outs.  He apparently wasnt pleased about being placed on the DL, telling Yahoo! that it was "Their (the Reds') call."  He will likely be back after the minimum 15 days.  For Tom, it is a significant injury as he will be forced to put Hector Santiago back into the lineup in Cingrani's place.

Last, and unfortuantely, least is Devin Mesoraco (C- MBHB).  I think I mentioned him the other day.  The short version...picked him up and dropped the other catcher on my roster, he got put on the DL and I couldnt change him out.  So the MBHB went without a catcher this week.  Moving forward, Mesoraco on the DL, meant I needed another C and I had to drop Kole Calhoun for Carlos (Chooch) Ruiz.  Glorious.  Mesoraco is not yet doing baseball activities, so it might be a couple more weeks before he comes off the DL (eligible May 11).


Rumor has it that there is some sort of contest starting tonight in a sport where large men wear skates and play with rubber in the cold.  Sounds interesting.  I actually received a call from one of the groomsmen from my wedding informing me that we were mortal enemies for the next 10 days and that he was going to teach his daughters that Blackhawks were evil.  I mean, really, who thinks a team is evil (other than the Cardinals, cuz they are basically Satan incarnet?)  I can't bring myself to really dislike the Wild.  They are like the unthreatening bunny rabbit sitting in the corner of the yard hoping not to get run over by the lawn mower.  My prediction: Hawks in 6, but it wouldnt surprise me if it ended in 5.

Thursday Hodgepodge

So here's the deal Tot Heads. Doing the Goulet last week was a huge pain in the ass.  It was great fun to think about and to write (and I hope to read), but when I started thinking about it for this week, there wasn't much new content to write about our teams other than what I covered in the Recaps on Monday.  And, as much fun as the random things are to try to throw in something like the power rankings, in the end, I am still mostly focusing on the thing that has brought us all to our gloriously strange, little dark corner of the internet, our fake game and the players on our fake teams.  I am still going to do the power rankings, but they are going to be a once in a while type activity (maybe every 3 or 4 weeks) instead of a weekly one. 

Instead, this week's calendar flip to the month of May gives us an opportunity to look back at the first month of the season and realize that we pretty much had no idea what we were doing (and really still don't). 

Check out these lists of the top 5 producers in each of the 12 scoring categories that we use:

Runs-

Pos	Player	Team	Cost	Runs
2b	Brian Dozier			25
SS	Troy Tulowitzki	Dustys Nustys	$52	24
OF	Jose Batista	Dustys Nustys	$29	24
OF	Charlie Blackmon	BySs	$1 (4/29)	23
3b	Josh Donaldson	Les Moles	$22	22

Of the top 5 run scorers, 1 (Donaldson) had not been used until this week, 1 (Blackmon) languished on the waiver wire until this Tuesday and was picked up for $1, and 1 (Dozier) was drafted for $1 but then dumped for Matt Garza early on.  There are some other interesting things with categories as we continue, but very few, if any, show the collective lack of knowing what the fuck we are doing that this list shows.  These guys arent 1 trick ponies either.  We will see Blackmon again in a bit and Donaldson (#16) and Dozier (#28) are both in the top 30 in the Yahoo game right now.  Go us!

 RBI-

Pos	Player	Team	Cost	RBI
1b	Jose Abreu	Bobs ATers	$2	32
of	The Mighty Giancarlo Stanton	UCCMA	$34	31
1b/of	Chris Colabello	Les Moles	$5 (4/29)	27
of	Nelson Cruz	ZAttack	$8	25
1b	Adrian Gonzalez	Les Moles	$19	24

This list shows at least a little more undertanding...at least all the guys are owned.  Abreu has been the baseball equivalent of Tony Montaña, walking up to the plate saying "Say hello to my not so little friend" and then spraying line drive missles all over the field.  As I mentioned the other day, he set rookie records for HR and RBI in the month.  Expectations for him were varied coming into the season despite the ridiculous video game type numbers he put up in Series National.  When I say video game numbers, I mean numbers put up by good players in video games.  I have Abreu on my team in a PS3 MLB 14 The Show franchise (hey Kyler, hey John) and he absolutely sucks it.  Anyways, Stanton is finally staying healthy.  The man can hit a ball from Miami to Cuba (appx distance 193 miles).  The real surprise on this list is Colabello, who was added in the pickup period this week by Tom.  Colabello has been a key cog in the Twins quick start and will need to continue his pace in order for them to remain competitive.  He is also the name most likely not to be on this list at the start of June.

SB-

Pos	Player	Team	Cost	SB
2b/ss	Dee Gordon	Bobs ATers	$3 (4/22)	13
of	Eric Young JR	Les Moles	$5 (4/29)	12
of	Billy Hamilton	Bobs ATers	$30	11
of	Ben Revere	Les Moles	$1	10
2b/3b/of	Emilio Bonifacio	MBHB	$2 (4/8)	10

EMILIO!!!  Any chance I get...

Stolen bases are always much harder to predict because there is so much more than pure speed to consider.  Players who lead the league in SBs these days are often 1 trick ponies whose playing time depends on their ability, not only to steal, but to get on base.  As you can see, 3 of the top 5 were waiver wire adds and a 4th was a $1 pick up of a former Twin by a Twins homer.  The only player in the top 5 who was actually counted on to start this year was Hamilton.  Hamilton was the subject of pretty vigorous bidding action during the draft as both Bob and I refused to stop bidding until his price tag hit $30 and I backed off.  During the first week, I looked smart as Hamilton looked lost.  But as he has found his bearings and started reaching base at a more reasonable rate (.280 obp...I didn't say reasonable, I said more reasonable) his SB total has risen.  It is concerning that he has already been caught 5 times, but when you have as much speed as he does, the CS rate will drop with experience.  Hamilton will likely be on top of this leaderboard by the end of the season because the other guys may or may not even have full time starting jobs by July.

AVG (75 ABs min) -

Pos	Player	Team	Cost	AVG
of	Charlie Blackmon	BySs	$1 (4/29)	0.374
ss	Troy Tulowitzki	Dustys Nustys	$52	0.364
2b	Chase Utley	Les Moles	$7	0.355
ss	Alexei Ramirez	MWP	$1 (4/15)	0.351
c	Yadier Molina	MWP	$24	0.350



Hey Charlie

Remember Blackmon?  He's only leading the league in AVG, is the #1 overall player in the Yahoo game and he was picked up this week (after an entire month of dominating) for $1!!!!  We should all go to the box for 2 minutes and feel shame.  I am actually crying inside right now.   Utley has turned the clock back to 2007, though it is largely a product of 1 ridiculously huge week.  Ramirez was a waiver pick up for Tom, but has predictable fallen off his torrid start.  He is hanging on the leader board, but his streaky nature means he will likely not be seen in this segment again.  To me the biggest surprise is Molina.  Not because he is in the top 5, but because he has turned himself from being the best defensive catcher in the game/offensive liability to being in the best defensive catcher ever discussion and turning himself into a legitimate middle of the order masher who absolutely could end up in the top 5 in the batting race at season's end.  It pains me because he's a Cardinal, but his brilliance is too special to let laundry get in the way of appreciating it.

OBP (75 ABs min) -

Pos	Player	Team	Cost	OBP
ss	Troy Tulowitzki	Dustys Nustys	$52	0.477
of	Jose Batista	Dustys Nustys	$29	0.467
1b	Joey Votto	BySs	$41	0.438
of	Shin Soo Choo	Zattack	$32	0.433
2b/ss	Jed Lawrie	UCCMA	$7	0.423

So about those Nustys... I guess I can see why they are doing pretty well in the OBP category (4-0 in that category this year).  Having the top 2 guys in the league makes up for a lot of Carlos Santana like performances...and Dusty doesnt have anyone who has been as bad as Carlos Santana.  The top 4 on this list are obviously guys we paid for with Votto and Choo being bought primarily for their on base skills.  The surprise here is Lawrie.  After spending a completely forgetable season in Houston in 2012, Lawrie bounced back as a first time everyday player in Oak Town finishing with a playable slash line and 62 extra base hits.  This year he has been the 2 hitter for the offensive Juggernaut that is the Oakland A's so far.  The A's are currently second in MLB in OBP and 4th in runs scored, though they are closer to the first place Rockies than the 5th place Twins.  He probably wont OBP over .400 for the season, but he should remain a solid option for fantasy purposes and the dual position eligibility only adds to his value.

SLG (75 ABs min) -

Pos	Player	Team	Cost	SLG
ss	Troy Tulowitzki	Dustys Nustys	$52	0.727
1b	Adrian Gonzalez	Les Moles	$19	0.644
OF	Justin Upton	BySs	$34	0.641
1b	Justin Morneau			0.618
1b	Jose Abreu	Bob's ATers	$2	0.617

There's that name on top of the leader board again. For those of you not paying attention, or who like Dory can't remember 3 seconds ago, Tulo is in the top 2 in 4 of the 6 scoring categories (he's tied for 8th in RBI and is tied to first base when he reaches -- 0 SBs).  He is definitely our fantasy MVP for the month of April.  That said, he could pull a Clint Barmes and fall down a flight of stairs while carrying a deer he killed hunting with Todd Helton.  Maybe not, since Helton retired last year.  Either way.  Heltons replacement in the Taco Hunters offense is Justin Morneau.  As Twins fans know, Morneau has struggled recently (to put it nicely) but a change in scenery seems to have turned him back into Justin Morneau, the Canadian Crusher.  I'm sure playing at Coors field doesnt hurt.




Wins

Pos	Player	Team	Cost	Ws
SP	Zach Greinke	Les Moles	$38	5
SP	Adam Wainwright	Bob's ATers	$42	5
SP	Kyle Lohse			4
SP	John Lackey			4
SP	Mark Buehrle			4
SP	Jason Hammel			4
RP	Jean Machi			4

There are about 3422 (approximate) pitchers currently tied with 4 wins, so I just highlighted the ones who are currently unowned.  Lohse, Lackey and Buehrle make this look like a 2008 wins leader board.  Kudos to Jean Machi for picking up 4 relief wins already this season.  He might be this year's Justin Wilson.

Ks

Pos	Player	Team	Cost	Ks
SP	Jose Fernandez	MWP	$46	55
SP	Stephen Stratsburg	MTMTAS	$35	53
SP	Max Scherzer	UCCMA	$39	51
SP	Johnny Cueto	MWP	$10	50
SP	David Price	Les Moles	$36	47
SP	Felix Hernandez	MBHB	$44	47

Lots of familiar names here.  Three Cy Young winners, a Rookie of the Year, the Next Big Things...and Johnny Cueto. Cueto has quietly become on of the best pitchers in the NL, winning 19 games in 2012 (how someone wins 19 games quietly, I will never know).  The biggest knocks on him have been durability and a lack of strikeouts.  He started only 11 games last season, went less than 6 innings per game despite great WHIP and ERA stats and struck out about 7.5/9.  This year he is averaging nearly 8 innings per over his first 6 starts and is striking out over a batter an inning.  If he an keep up the strike out rate as the season progresses while the IP/start falls, $10 for a Cy Young candidate will be a great bargain.




ERA ( 25 IP min) -

Pos	Player	Team	Cost	ERA
SP	Johnny Cueto	MWP	$10	1.15
SP	Adam Wainwright	Bob's ATers	$42	1.20
SP	Julio Teheran	MTMTAS	$15	1.47
SP	Yordano Ventura	Bob's ATers	$20 (3/25)	1.50
SP	Jose Fernandez	MWP	$46	1.59

Artist depiction of Teheran's birth

Julio Teheran was born in 1991 (I turned 10 that year and vividly remember images from the first Gulf War).  He was a top 5 prospect in 2011 and 2012 (getting cups of coffee in the Bigs in each season) but didnt really arrive on the scene until last year.  All he did as a 22 year old was throw 185.2 innings, strike out 174, have a WHIP of 1.17 and finish 5th in the NL Rookie of the Year voting (he should have been 3rd behind Jose Fernandez and Puig).  Basically the guy has been a stud since he burst from the womb fully grown and clad in battle armor.  Not sure how we collectively let Tyler pluck him up for a pittance, but well done Tyler.







WHIP (25 IP min) -

Pos	Player	Team	Cost	WHIP
SP	Jason Hammel			0.69
SP	Tim Hudson	Zattack	$1 (4/15)	0.74
SP	Johnny Cueto	MWP	$10	0.77
SP	Adam Wainwright	Bob's ATers	$42	0.78
SP	Jose Fernandez	MWP	$46	0.83

Hammel was already practicing for his post baseball career.

If you see a trend here, you arent alone. Cueto, Wainwright and Fernandez are basically the Mount Rushmore of the fantasy pitching landscape to this point in the season (the 4th spot is still up for grabs -- at this point I'd probably go Scherzer.  51 Ks in 37 innings is prett dominant).  Jason Hammel, on the other hand, doesnt fit anyone's view of a pitching stud.   Hammel was once ranked in the top 100 prospects.  Once...at #79...in 2006.  His biggest MLB accomplishment coming into this season may be that he went 2 full seasons (over 175 IP each one) without giving up 1 HR per game while pitching in Colorado.  This year he was signed as a cheap option to eat innings on a bad Cubs team in hopes of discovering another Scott Feldman, a journeyman who had a good season that they could flip at the deadline for prospects.  When the best perceived scenario is "Scott Feldman," no one imagines you to be on any leader board a month through the season unless its the leader board for "Most times first into the shower."  Hammel's K rate and HR rate are in line with career norms, but his hit rate and walk rate are at crazy career lows.  The 4.4 hits/9 will definitely correct itself (his career low is 7.9 and his career average is 9.7) but the walk rate will hold the key to his continued success.  Currently at 1.8 bb/9 (career 3.1), his 2 best seasons, coincidently the 2 previously mentioned in Colorado, saw bb/9 rates of 2.1 and 2.4.  If the walk rate stays low, Hammel turns into a great trade chip for the Cubbies and someone who warrants a long look from our fantasy league.

QS

Pos	Player	Team	Cost	QS
SP	Felix Hernandex	MBHB	$44	6
SP	Sonny Gray	BySs	$2	6
SP	Johnny Cueto	MWP	$10	6
SP	Julio Teheran	MTMTAS	$15	6
SP	Yovanni Gallardo	BySs	$1 (4/29)	6

This guy is 25 years old.  Seriously.

Cueto? Check.  Teheran? Check.  Wainwright? Wait, No? Wainwright gave up 4 runs to the Cubs, of all teams, in his 3rd start of the season.  In his other 5 games, he has given up 2 runs...total.  Yaozah.  Cubs?  Really? If i didnt just check the box score, I wouldnt have believed it.  The story from this set is Sonny Gray.  I wrote in the team preview that Sonny Gray had the chance to be the biggest steal of Kyler's auction, and he has proven me correct so far.  Sonny (his real name by the way, also a description of his general appearance) rarely gives up HRs and is otherwise solid across the board.  He doesnt stand out in K rate, or BB rate or hit rate, but he is better than average in all of them.  That, combined with a solid defense behind him and a roomy home park, make Gray a fantasy stud.  Yovanni Gallardo likes to drink...what of it?  Gray probably cant get a beer without being carded and then recarded and then having the bar tender call his mom to ask for permission.

SV+H

Pos	Player	Team	Cost	Sv+H
RP	Francisco Rodriguez	MWP	$2 (4/15)	13
RP	Kenley Jensen	MWP	$28	.
RP	Huston Street	UCCMA	$3	10
RP	LaTroy Hawkins	Dustys Nustys	$1	9
RP	Bajillions Tied			8

The combined age of these 4 players is 342, and 250 of it is LaTroy Hawkins.  Hawkins was drafted in the same year that Teheran was born (1991) and made his debut with the Twins as a starter 4 years later.  He has been in the Bigs every year since.  He's called Minnesota, Chicago (N), San Francisco, Baltimore, Colorado, New York (A), Houston, Milwaukee, Los Angeles of Anaheim, New York (N), and Colorado (part duex) home.  Other than his 9 Twins seasons to start his career, he has never played for the same team for more than 2 seasons.  It is crazy that he is still pitching, let alone showing up on a leader board.  Though, if you google him, you will notice that he hasnt aged a day in 20 years.  KRod continues to throw like he is vintage Dennis Eckersley circa 1989.  He has yet to allow a run over 16 IP, has 23 Ks and a 0.62 WHIP all for the low low cost of a $2 waiver wire pick up.