At Home Plate - Fantasy Baseball - Fantasy Mailbag Week 24

At Home Plate

Fantasy Baseball - Fantasy Mailbag Week 24

Written by Daniel Paulling (Contact & Archive) on September 09, 2008

Losing Billy Wagner for the rest of the season really must hurt whoever drafted him, but just think of the impact it has on the Mets. They lost their stud closer for the remainder of the season and leave their bullpen to uncertain hands down the stretch and into the postseason. Francisco Rodriguez, a free agent at season’s end, must be licking his chops.

Is Edison Volquez petering out as the season wears on?
--Mikey

Volquez, whose season ERA is up to 3.12, has been knocked around his last few outings. His ERA in July was 4.54; August wasn’t that much better at 4.50. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is decreasing, which is a bad sign. His flyball-to-groundball is decreasing, too, another bad sign. If I owned Volquez, I’d sell high on him considering his season stats. There may be an owner out there willing to take a shot on him, if your trade deadline hasn’t passed yet. If your trade deadline has passed, line him up against easy opponents.

What are your feelings on John Danks?
--Elizabeth

Unlike Volquez, I say hold onto Danks. He’s only had one bad month (an atrocious July), but he’s been pretty good otherwise. It might be because of the pitch counts. He exceeded 100 pitches three times in July. In August, manager Ozzie Guillen allowed him break the threshold only twice and Danks never exceeded it by far. Let’s see if Guillen continues the recent trend of limiting Danks’ number of pitches. Another positive on Danks’ good side is that he strikes hitters out.

John Danks or Derek Lowe for the remainder of the season?
--Aaron

My love affair with Danks didn’t last long; go with Lowe. During his career, Lowe has a sparkling low-2.00 ERA with Greg Maddux on his team. There’s no rhyme or reason to this, but just go with it. You’ll be pleasantly pleased when Lowe, who has his sinkerball working again, down the stretch.

Is Barry Zito actually making the Giants look good?
--Brad

I wouldn’t go that far, but Zito looks decent right now. Four of his last seven starts have been good. When a pitcher is throwing well, it usually means he’s on the way to something good. There are drawbacks, of course. Zito doesn’t strike that many hitters out and he walks a few, which means his success could be very short lived. If you’re in third or fourth place in a fantasy league, this is exactly the all-or-nothing gamble you should take. If you’re not first, you’re last.

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