Fantasy Baseball

After tossing a shutout last night, I’m sure Kyle Lohse is a popular waiver claim. What’s not to like about a guy with a 3-1 record, a 2.01 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP? You should know he’s been a fast starter for most of his career.

He got bombed last April (0-1, 6.55 ERA), but look at his recent April performances:

2009:  3-0, 1.97 ERA
2008:  3-0, 2.36 ERA
2007:  1-1, 2.88 ERA

Before I get into the notes for today, a quick tangent/tirade.

The idea of adding any more games to the playoffs in baseball through an additional round is ridiculous. This is not my being a purist. I have come to accept that the Wildcard works. The games though keep being played in colder and colder weather.

Maicer Izturis is off to an impressive start. He's 27-for-75 (.360) with eight runs, seven doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and two stolen bases. He has a .407 on-base percentage and a .940 OPS. The switch-hitter is hitting .327 against right-handed pitching and .435 against southpaws.

This year, like every other, will provide us with season-ruining busts and the championship making prospects. To help you out, the following are the top five players you should, and still can target to ensure success in your fantasy league. Note: the following rankings and stats are based off of Yahoo! Fantasy Sports Leagues. For a more complete ranking of fantasy players go to Jackman Sports' Rankings found here.

Question:  What lately has been lacing Lance Berkman’s milk bone bat?  Answer:  Leather baseballs bouncing off the wood and flying out of MLB venues.

The fantasy baseball season is starting to filter out the big fish from the small ponds, the rooks from the bishops and the Cardinals hitters from the haters.

Through the team’s first 17 games, the Oakland Athletics lead the majors in ERA, and it’s not even close. The A’s team ERA currently sits at 2.44, while the major’s second lowest ERA (Angels) is 3.01.

Prior to the season Brett Gardner was a popular selection for people looking for a pure speed option. There was talk of him hitting in the leadoff spot, making fantasy owners lust for the potential to score a significant number of runs.

Over two weeks into the season, Gardner has been nothing short of a major disappointment.

The Los Angeles Dodgers promoted outfield prospect Jerry Sands on Monday after the 23-year-old hit a whopping .400/.422/.875 with five HRs and 17 RBI in 10 games (40 at-bats) at Triple-A Albuquerque.

He made his major league debut later that night, going 1-for-3 with a sac fly. He then went 1-for-4 on Tuesday night with an RBI groundout.

When drafting a fantasy team, there is one thing that you should be your number one priority—consistency. You need that factor to carry your team from day one.

Slumps are inevitable, but you need the players who post strong enough stretches to smooth out the rocky streaks.

Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols and Ryan Braun to name a few are prime examples of this kind of consistency.

Through three starts (19 1/3 innings) in 2011, Seattle Mariners’ rookie Michael Pineda has certainly turned some heads. The 21-year-old boasts a 2.33 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 16/7 K/BB ratio, which includes a start at Texas.

This begs the question: How good is Michael Pineda?