let the fun begin...
It has been a while since my team had a great week offensively, and I hope it continues after the all-star break and give the KungFu Pandas a run for the money this year. I honestly think I have a chance this year to win it all.
My team had a bunch of slow starters most notably Mark Teixeira who was awful the first month of the season. Victor Martinez and Carlos Quentin were also some of my slow starting offensive players.
My achilles heel last season was injuries, and I currently find myself with 5 DL guys. I really don't count John Maine because if he wasn't on the DL I would drop him. After the all-star break is over, I am finally getting a payoff hopefully with the return from TJS Edinson Volquez. He has looked good & bad at times in his rehab starts, but this has pretty much always been the case with Volquez at least last season before his injury. He has the stuff to fan 10 at any given night.
The other big injury I have coming back is Carlos Beltran. Don't count Beltran out on the base paths either. Jason Bay has 10 SB's & Jeff Francouer has 7, two guys not really known for their base stealing. I could realistically see Beltran swiping 10 bags in the second half. I think Beltran could be very valuable. .280/.370, 10hr/10 sb, 40r,40 rbi second half while getting routine rest.
One of the other guys I have coming back in the second half include Jason Heyward whose .181 avg in June was due to a nagging thumb injury that he played through, at least this is what a lot of people have said. Obviously rookies are going to go through funks, but I think it did play a big part. I think Heyward will bounce back strong in the 2nd half.
Victor Martinez is a little more away then I was hoping so I am going to have to stick with Ryan Doumit a little longer or just play minus one roster spot in the 2nd half. Hopefully V-Mart is back soon because even with being out the last couple weeks he is still the 4th highest rated catcher, and I would take V-Mart over any other catcher when healthy in the league, this includes Joe Mauer whose 2009 power numbers seem to be a fluke so far. People forget that V-Mart is pretty much a career .300 hitter, and playing in a good hitters park.
Ryan Ludwick isn't the flashiest of players, but at the time of his injury he was actually out producing all-star Matt Holliday. Holliday has caught fire since, but when Ludwick gets off the DL after the all-star break I expect full steam ahead especially if he moves back to the cleanup role where he was thriving.
My biggest surprise this season has to be Aubrey Huff. Huff was pretty much left for dead in the draft this year, and I grabbed him late because I needed a backup 1b to Tex. Huff is actually the 5th best first basemen in the league this year to Teixeira's 14th. Cabrera, Pujols, Votto, Morneau, Huff. Are you serious ? Pretty crazy. I'm not sure if he keeps up this pace, but if he does 30/100/100 .295 out of guy in one of the last rounds would be a great steal.
Speaking of steals, I definitely have the best steals team in the league in my opinion. Marc just trading Bourn, but even with Bourn I still think I have a team that wins it on most weeks. Chone Figgins (24), David Wright(15), Scott Podsednik (25), Jose Reyes (19) & Carl Crawford (31) Out of all of the trades I have made in this league to improve my team I think the Crawford one takes the cake. I love me some Brett Anderson, and I actually am still high on Travis Snider, but when you have a chance to get one of the best OF's in baseball you do it. Carl Crawford has serious MVP like numbers this year.
This leads me to the title of the blog, Carlos Quentin. I was shopping around Quentin like it was my job a few weeks ago. I didn't want to part with him cheaply, because I knew the talent was there, but I could never expect what he has down so far in July. .409, 6 HR 12 RBI so far this month. Quentin isn't going to bat .300, but he could possibly hit in the high 30's in HR's & finish with well over 100 RBI.
The rest of my offense is rounded out by a pair of Reds who have enjoyed great seasons, OF Jonny Gomes 11/60 at the break, and Scott Rolen 17/57 at the break.
They have been a big part of the Reds success this year, and mine as well.
My pitching staff is definitely my weakness, but I think I have enough to win it all with this current staff. My team is led by Josh Johnson who should win the NL Cy Young award this year. He has been absolutely filthy this year. Johsnon's 3 losses this year, opening day vs the Mets which he was recovering from the flu, Halladay's no hitter & a 8 IP, 2ER, 9K performance against the Padres.
My second ace is Cole Hamels. Hamels looks ten times better then he was in 2009. The Phillies have only scored a combined 11 runs in his 7 losses this year, so luck definitely has a little thing to do with it when it comes to W/L. I expect the Phillies to make a strong push in the 2nd half this year, shoot Ryan Howard is probably good for 80 RBI's after the all-star break so Hamels luck should change.
Next comes my NL West bunch, of Chad Billingsely, Jonathan Sanchez & Ian Kennedy. I kind of like them in that order. I like Billingsley the best out of all of them, but I might be keeping all of these guys next year. I am still up in the air on my keepers.
My pair of Twins starters has disappointed this season, Carl Pavano & Fransisco Liriano have been the best Twins pitchers going into this year, and most would have taken Baker & Slowey over them. I like both for future still, they may not be keepers for me, but I will try pretty hard to draft them next year.
My middle relievers have been very strong this year led by all-star Matt Thornton. Thornton is a couple Bobby Jenks blowups from potentially grabbing that closer role in Chicago, and if it wasn't for a hot start from the Padres, Mike Adams might be looking at the closer job there with Heath Bell on the market at the beginning of the season. Sean Marshall of the Cubs has also pitched great since I acquired him in a trade from Bill. Still there low ERA/WHIP & high K/9 will help me push for the playoffs.
One of my early season middle relievers has turned into a starter. Kris Medlen who actually got the call up into the majors last year before Tommy Hanson did is actually pitching better then Hanson is this year. Go figure.
I was happy to get Brian Wilson in the trade from Marv, but I really really like Ike Davis. I guess for this season, it is a no brainer that Wilson holds more value especially on my team, but being a mets fan it is tough to let him go. Kerry Wood was pitching well until this past sunday where he picked up the loss, and Jose Valverde might be one of the best closers in the AL.
I have made a bunch of mistakes this year, a lot to do with strategy which I am not going to go over, and some to do with roster management. Protecting Russell Martin over Martin Prado was a huge mistake, and then trading Martin & my 1st round pick to move up and draft Jose Lopez. Yikes, by the way Lopez is currently a FA in this league. There were a ton of pretty mediocre picks in the 1st round this year. Having a multi position player like Prado would benefit my team a lot more than a catcher who I was hoping would have a bounce back year. I should have also kept Gavin Floyd over Kevin Slowey, it was a coin flip for me, but I went with Slowey who I thought would get more wins playing for a better team.
I like my chances, and I am hoping to break out that milk carton again at the end of the year.
