Fantasy Baseball Dugout

Fantasy Baseball Dugout would like to invite you to enter the Yankee Stadium Countdown Contest.

Every day or night, prior to the start of the Yankee game, one lucky celebrity gets to pull the lever on the countdown clock.  I guess the Yankees have run out of celebrities so now you have a chance to be the one who pulls the lever on the countdown clock!

Just click here to enter the Yankee Stadium Countdown Contest sponsored by Metropolitan Life.  The contest is for the September 13 game against Tampa Bay and you ‘ll also get on field access during BP and four tickets to the game.  You will also get a chance to meet Joe Girardi

Quality starting pitching is essential to winning in fantasy baseball. If you have a pitcher that hasn’t been carrying their weight, consider adding a starting pitcher who will make two starts in Week 23.If the pitcher you consider isn’t at the top of the rankings, there’s often a chance he’ll throw at least one good game out of the two he is probable to start. Pitchers who make two starts generally keep a lower ERA and bring in more strikeouts over the course of a weekly head-to-head matchup. During fantasy baseball playoffs, two start pitchers take on even greater importance.

Cliff Lee of the Cleveland Indians, an FBD All-Star who is 19-2 with a 2.43 ERA, 145 strikeouts, and a 1.07 WHIP in 185.3 innings, tops our list of two-start fantasy baseball pitchers in Week 23. He takes the mound Monday versus the Chicago White Sox and then Sunday versus the Phillies and Kyle Kendrick. Other “must starts” in Week 23 include:

• Ben Sheets, Milwaukee Brewers (12-7, 3.05, 144, 1.14) FBD All-Star
• Johan Santana, New York Mets (12-7, 2.70, 159, 1.14)
• Mike Mussina, New York Yankees (16-7, 3.41, 115, 1.20) 
• Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros (12-9, 4.11, 135, 1.31)

The Sunday Special - A two-start pitcher who will impress you with his starts in Week 23:

• Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins (4-0, 3.12, 48, 1.32). Johnson has made 9 starts since July 10 and is still waiting for his first loss of the season. There has been a lot of fantasy hype surrounding Johnson, and for those of you in an opening round of a three week playoff structure, this is the week to take a chance on Johnson. His four wins have come in his last six starts, and over his previous four trips to the mound, he has logged 50% of his strikeouts.  Only once this season has he given up more than 3 earned runs in a start. Johnson takes the mound Monday against Atlanta and Mike Hampton, then Sunday against St. Louis and Adam Wainwright.

Waiver Wire Wonder - A two-start pitcher owned in around 40% of leagues to consider in Week 23:

• Jorge De La Rosa, Colorado Rockies (7-7, 5.60, 101, 1.55). De La Rosa has been used on and off as a spot starter all season for the Rockies, but his strikeout total is impressive for a player owned in less than 40% of fantasy baseball leagues. The month of August has been great for De La Rosa - he went 2-1 with 23 strikeouts in around 28 innings. When you take a chance on a relative nobody like De La Rosa, you generally have to take the good with the bad. Strikeouts from De La Rosa are too good to pass up in a weekly “do-or-die” playoff matchup, even if you have to give up some points in ERA. He takes the mound Monday versus San Francisco and Jonathan O. Sanchez, then Sunday against Houston and Roy Oswalt.

Instead of taking the mound tonight and giving his fantasy owners a sigh of relief for the playoff run, Boston Red Sox ace Josh Beckett has been placed on the DL - retroactive to August 17 - with an inflammed right elbow.

Beckett met today with Tommy John Jedi Dr. James Andrews, the same doctor who took a look at Joba Chamberlain’s injury earlier this month, who said the ligaments in Beckett’s elbow “looked fine.” Dice-K Matsuzaka started tonight in place of Beckett.

On the season, Beckett is 11-9 with a 4.34 ERA, 145 strikeouts, and a 1.23 WHIP. Obviously his fantasy owners have to stash him on their DL, you can’t just cut an ace-caliber pitcher. The Red Sox are hoping to have Beckett back by the end of next week, when he could potentially take the mound against the Texas Rangers.

Not many people are happy about the fact that Beckett is injured… but White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen personally thanked Beckett for flying to Florida to meet with Andrews.

“I’d rather face anyone else other than him,” said Guillen. “He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

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  by BallparkBob (Paul Byrd look-alike nominee)

Byrds of a feather flock together and Paul and Marlon (Byrd) have been downright dirty Byrds lately.

Paul Byrd, SP, Boston Red Sox

Paul Byrd had been flying high since being traded on August 12 from Cleveland to Boston.  And, it appeared as though Paul Byrd, 37,  flew into the Fenway nest at just the right time as one of the hottest pitchers in the American League. 

The Byrd man had won his final four starts with the Tribe and saw his ERA drop from 5.28 to 4.53 during those four victories.   Including two starts with Boston, Byrd is 5-1 with a 2.55 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in his last six starts.  He faces the Yankees tonight.

Editor’s Note — Paul Byrd went six quality innings tonight, August 27, for the Red Sox, giving up two runs, and striking out five against the Bronx Bombers.

Marlon Byrd, OF, Texas Rangers

Texas Rangers’ outfielder Marlon Byrd has also been chirping lately.  Marlon hit .308 with 10 HR and 70 RBI last year–his first good season since he showed outstanding potential in 2003 when he hit .306 with the Phillies.

Marlon Byrd has sizzled in August with a .402 average (37-92 through August 26) with 3 homers and 18 RBI in the month.  He’s at .297 for the year with 9 HR and 40 RBI.

BYRD SEED

Fantasy Baseball Dugout Tip: 

Paul Byrd.  He’s not an Early Byrd.  His best career month has historically been August when he’s 3.67.  Paul’s a clutch player as evidenced by his 6-4 win in game four of the ALCS last year that almost vaulted the Indians into the World Series.  With Paul Byrd, you’ll get some more wins now that he’s with a better hitting team, a tolerable ERA, a slightly better WHIP due to his excellent control (2.11 walks/9 IP career), and not many strikeouts due to the fact that he’s a soft tosser.  If you used to have Tim Wakefield on your squad, you’ll like Paul Byrd more.

Marlon Byrd loves to hit at home; he’s at .325 at Rangers’ Ballpark in Arlington this year.  Marlon should benefit from home field advantage in September as the Rangers play 15 games at home versus just 9 on the road.  Marlon is a serviceable outfielder who can help your team batting average down the stretch.  It’s just a shame that he hasn’t developed more stolen base prowess over his career, because he has decent wheels.

BYRD DROPPINGS

Paul Byrd has played with nine clubs.  Marlon Byrd has played for three clubs.  Both have played for the Phillies, so combined, they’ve been with 11 teams in their careers.

It’s just a shame neither of these two Byrds have ever played for the Orioles, Jays, or the Cardinals.

Clay Bucholz, who pitched a no-hitter in just his second start in the Majors last year with the Red Sox, has been demoted.  Today, the Sox sent Bucholz, ranked the second top sleeper prospect in the league in the preseason by Fantasy Baseball Dugout, to AA Portland.

Bucholz was bashed around in a 11-6 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday night last week at Camden Yards.  Ironically, the Orioles are the team that Bucholz tossed his no-no against last year.  The right-hander lasted only 2 1/3 and was tagged with the loss–his ninth of the year against two wins.  This comes off an eight game stretch where his ERA has been a gargantuan 9.22.  On the year, Bucholz is 6.75.

 Bucholz’s response to the demotion was admirable.  “I hate to say it was the right decision, but I believe it was.” 

All is not bad for Bucholz, however.  His wife, Ellen Bucholz, a former Penthouse Pet, was nominated as one of Baseball’s Hottest Wives by Fantasy Baseball Dugout.

Philadelphia – Ever go to a game and find yourself watching the young women sitting behind home plate more than watching the game itself?

Chances are you’re staring at the players’ wives.

And, who would doubt that a young, famous, and athletic 20-something guy with an annual salary in excess of $3 million could land one of these beautiful women?

Web site Fantasy Baseball Dugout, which provides tips on playing fantasy baseball, has been profiling some of the most beautiful women in professional baseball all season. Despite the fact that the site reports primarily on how to best manage a fantasy baseball team, it’s been the stories of hot baseball wives that seem to garner the most attention.

“We were kind of taken by surprise by the amount of sports fans searching for photos and stories of baseball players’ wives,” said ‘Ballpark’ Bob Bentz, publisher of Fantasy Baseball Dugout. “Over six million people in the USA play fantasy baseball, but I guess a lot more are interested in looking at pretty women.”

Fantasy Wife Profiles

Ballpark’s nephew Jonathan Bentz is content manager for Fantasy Baseball Dugout. Jonathan Bentz attributes the success of the hot baseball wives category to its innovative approach to the articles. “We took an entirely new approach to covering baseball’s hottest wives. Our profiles go beyond listing bra size and links to pictorials. We actually try to tell their stories.”

You probably didn’t know, for example, that Laura Posada, shown wearing a painted on Yankees uniform (literally), is an attorney and part-time actress from Puerto Rico. Or, that David Eckstein’s wife, the very cute Ashley Drane, played Jan Brady in the recent Brady Bunch movie.

Your Chance to Vote

To culminate its niche in supplying pictures of baseball’s hottest wives, Fantasy Baseball Dugout is now running a contest, complete with voting by text message, to name one woman as “Baseball’s Hottest Wife.” The ten finalists were nominated based on searches from its’ own web site and from the search engines.

The ten finalists are: Anna Benson; Laura Cover Boone; Michelle Damon; Heidi Miller DeRosa; Ashley Drane Eckstein; Jamie Kotsay; Lisa Dergan Podsednik; Laura Posada; Alicia Rickter Piazza; Alejandra Tejada.

Major League Baseball’s All-Star game is now past and the fans have elected their most deserving players. Now is your chance to participate in the most important election between now and the first Tuesday in November. Be sure to vote for the Hottest Wife in Baseball.

To cast your vote, send wife (number) to 84444. Make sure you include a space between the word “wife” and the number code in your text message. Normal text message rates apply.

In case you thought we might tip the scales in favor of our favorite hott wife, we’re leaving the tracking and management of the text message solution to Philadelphia-based mobile marketing provider PromoTXT.

Check back for text message voting results updates. Voting is now through the end of the real World Series in early November.

We’re not dance experts by any stretch of the imagination, but your homies at Fantasy Baseball Dugout don’t think moves like the one seen here on the right are going to be enough for Misty May-Treanor to win this season’s ‘Dancing With The Stars.’

Either way, May-Treanor was announced Monday morning on ABC’s Good Morning America as one of this season’s contestants.

A gold medal. A nod as a hott baseball wife. A cast member on Dancing With The Stars. All since Friday!

While there’s no guarantee that any of Fantasy Baseball Dugout’s bloggers will watch Dancing With The Stars without temptation from a member of the fairer sex, it’s nice to know one of our hott wives is doing something more productive with their post-Olympic exploits than taking their clothes off or acting in awful movies.

Congrats Misty… and good luck!

P.S. Since our last update on Misty May and her gold medal, her husband Matt’s season line has changed to .232/2/20/18/1. No matter how hott you think Misty is, keep her husband on your waiver wire until he starts slugging, hopefully next season.

Similar to having quality starting pitching, understanding hitter trends and setting your lineup with the best hitters is essential to winning in fantasy baseball.Fantasy Baseball Dugout’s Week 22 Cheat Sheet is designed to give you a full view of the top hitters, by position, in fantasy baseball.

Grady Sizemore of the Cleveland Indians is the top hitter in fantasy baseball over the past week. He’s batting .333 with 6 runs scored, 2 homeruns, 10 RBI and 4 stolen bases in the past 7 days of competition.

Below you will find a breakdown of the top statistical hitters, by position, over the past 7 days, 30 days, and the entire season. Statistics are listed based on a standard 5×5 league (batting average, runs scored, home runs, RBI, stolen bases).

Players with multiple position eligibility could be listed more than once on this list (for example, see Lance Berkman’s rankings below).

Catcher:

• 7 Days: Kelly Shoppach, Cleveland Indians (.294/5/3/6/0)
• 30 Days: Shoppach, Indians (.276/21/7/16/0)
• Season: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins (.321/80/8/62/1)

First Base:

• 7 Days: Nick Swisher, Chicago White Sox (.318/6/4/8/0)
• 30 Days: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (.404/25/1o/31/2)
• Season: Lance Berkman, Houston Astros (.330/99/26/93/15) FBD All-Star

Second Base:

• 7 Days: Brian Roberts, Baltimore Orioles (.407/4/1/5/3)
• 30 Days: Mark DeRosa, Chicago Cubs (.322/21/7/26/2)
• Season: Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers (.319/102/18/71/26) FBD All-Star

Third Base:

• 7 Days: DeRosa, Cubs (.435/4/4/6/0)
• 30 Days: Melvin Mora, Baltimore Orioles (.385/22/7/33/1)
• Season: David Wright, New York Mets (.293/91/25/99/14)

Shortstop:

• 7 Days: Alexei Ramirez, Chicago White Sox (.333/4/3/11/0)
• 30 Days: Ramirez, White Sox (.292/13/7/23/2)
• Season: Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins (.296/97/28/58/29) FBD All-Star

Outfielders:

• 7 Days: Sizemore, Indians (.333/6/2/10/4)
• 30 Days: Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies (.336/32/7/18/8)
• Season: Berkman, Astros (.330/99/26/93/15)

Quality starting pitching is essential to winning in fantasy baseball. If you have a pitcher that hasn’t been carrying their weight, consider adding a starting pitcher who will make two starts in Week 22.

If the pitcher you consider isn’t at the top of the rankings, there’s often a chance he’ll throw at least one good game out of the two he is probable to start. Worst case, a pitcher with two starts will generally keep a lower ERA and bring in more strikeouts, which could save owners in weekly head-to-head matchups.

Dan Haren of the Arizona Diamondbacks, an FBD All-Star who is 14-6 with a 3.12 ERA, 160 strikeouts, and a 1.06 WHIP in 173 innings, tops our list of two-start fantasy baseball pitchers in Week 22. He takes the mound Monday versus San Diego and Jake Peavy, then Sunday versus the Dodgers and Derek Lowe. Other “must starts” in Week 22 include:

• Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays (15-9, 2.68, 168, 1.04) FBD All-Star
• John Lackey, Anaheim Angels (10-2, 3.09, 99, 1.12) June Pitcher of the Month
• Andy Pettitte, New York Yankees (13-9, 4.17, 130, 1.34) Week 12 Pitcher of the Week
• James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays (11-7, 3.68, 135, 1.17) Week 6 Pitcher of the Week
• Jered Weaver, Anaheim Angels (10-9, 4.47, 119, 1.30) Week 7 Pitcher of the Week

The Sunday Special - A two-start pitcher who will impress you with their starts in Week 22:

• Scott Baker, Minnesota Twins (7-3, 3.74, 107, 1.17). Overshadowed by the re-emergence of Francisco Liriano in the Twin Cities and our frequent fawning over Glen Perkins and Nick Blackburn has been the success of Baker. We’ve slept on him until now, but it’s time to take notice. Despite being hit by the ‘no decision’ bug over the past month, he’s pitched over 5 innings each time out and logged 31 strikeouts in 36.7 innings of work since July 26. He takes the mound Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners versus Ryan Roland-Smith, then Sunday on the road against Oakland and Greg Smith.

Waiver Wire Wonder - A two-start pitcher owned in around 40% of leagues to consider in Week 20:

• Brian Moehler, Houston Astros (9-4, 3.87, 62, 1.32). Mohler hasn’t lost a start since July 4, but is still only owned in 26% of leagues. What’s up with that? He’s 5-0 since July 9 and has struck out 29 batters over that time span. Moehler started the year in the bullpen for the Astros, but has been a regular part of the rotation since May. We realize he doesn’t strike out many batters, but typically pitchers owned in 40% or less of leagues don’t log high strikeout totals. Moehler will make a useful pitcher in most leagues this week because of his matchups, however. He takes the mound Monday against Mike Pelfrey and the New York Mets, then Saturday against Braden Looper and the St. Louis Cardinals.