Posts tagged CliffLee at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

You know, throughout the course of baseball history, there have been plenty of relief pitchers who made the transition to being a starter. Hell, before the specialty roles we've all come to know and love (I heart LOOGYs) started, the bullpen was just a place for managers to park starting pitchers who couldn't cut it.

They didn't want to use them, so they put them somewhere as far away as possible.

Anyway, I'm getting off track, what I was getting at was the fact that the move from bullpen to starter happens all the time nowadays. Just look in Chicago where Ryan Dempster has gone from being the Cubs closer last season to being their #2 starter this season. Boston's Jonathan Papelbon was a starter who became a closer then tried starting again only to return to closing and thrusting his pelvis in any given direction at any given time.

So why is Joba Chamberlain's move from the back of the Yankees bullpen to the rotation such a big deal? I swear to God, you turn to ESPN on any day that Joba is pitching and they're breaking into PTI to let us all know that Joba has reached the fifth inning.

"Not the fifth inning!" you scream from your sofa. "I better tune in to see if he makes it to the sixth, no time to feed the kids now!"

Seriously, the hype surrounding this "big" move is utterly ridiculous, so let's add to it after the jump, shall we?

Spot Jobs gambles by picking five spot starters for the week and five usual starters to avoid. The success rate is usually around 50%, but the risk level is always through the roof. Obviously, though, you always start Brandon Webb (when healthy) and sit Dave Bush.

Five Up
Carlos Zambrano, Cubs, @STL -- Yeah, so he's an obvious name. I just wanted to take the opportunity to make sure you get him active for this upcoming scoring period, because he's going to be off the DL in time to make a Friday start against the rival Cardinals. He'll be fired up and raring to go.

Eddie Bonine, Tigers, @Minny -- The Tigers aren't losing the way many thought they wouldn't lose. Ride the unknowns in deeper AL-Only leagues while they're hot!

Ricky Nolasco, Marlins, vs. Nats -- Last ten starts? 7-1, 3.06, and 52/18 K/BB ... and that includes one stinker (12 hits and seven earned runs against the Braves on June 5th). Plus, he's facing the Nats offense. Big-time must-start here.

Garrett Olson, O's, vs. Royals -- Getting the Royals at home is never a bad thing, unless you play in the NL. Olson doesn't.

Johnny Cueto, Reds, vs. Nats -- I hate to pick on the Nats, but when someone has the stuff Cueto does and gets to face a futile offense, you gotta get him in there.

Apparently the ghosts of deceased Native Americans finally decided to take matters into their own hands in regards to team names like "Braves" and "Indians" this baseball season. I'm not going to get into the whole discussion on the insensitivity of these names because that's neither my inclination nor my job.

Still, it's quite eerie they way these two franchises in particular have been plagued this year.

Both were expected to be contenders for the World Series, chock full of fantasy gems. Instead the disappointments and injuries are plentiful, and sometimes hand-in-hand.

The most recent casualty is Victor Martinez, and he already fit the bill as a bust. He's normally picked in the first five rounds (earlier many times). His owners have been treated with pathetic numbers this year relative to expectations (.277, 0 HR). And now he's on the DL with a bum wing (inflamed right elbow, if you must know ... but "bum wing" is so much more fun). The catcher could be out until the All-Star break, so this is a big blow to both the Tribe and your fantasy squad. Unfortunately, I believe you have to sit on him in fantasy, because he's liable to get hot when he does come back and no one will give you anything valuable for an injured bust in a trade.

More haunted individuals ...

Spot Jobs takes a look at fantasy baseball gambling via sitting a usual starting pitcher for the week and/or starting a usually unused starting pitcher.

Five Up

Ted Lilly -- He's struggled on several different occasions this season, including his last start against what was left of the Rockies' lineup. Still, the wind was screaming out and only one HR appeared it would have left without said wind. Now he gets the Padres in San Diego. Last time he faced them he picked up a win while striking out 11. Now they are in spacious Petco. He's an absolute must-start.

Glen Perkins and Boof Bonser -- No AL squad has scored less runs than the O's. Perkins was dealing until the hiccup at Yankee Stadium last Friday, so you can expect a bounce-back this Wednesday. For Boof, it's a huge gamble because he's been awful. I've just got a hunch he'll make good on his chance this week.

Jered Weaver -- He's struggled to fulfill his promise since a stellar rookie campaign. He's also only 4-6 for the first place Halos. This week, though, he visits the anemic Mariners offense in Safeco. I like him to deal and pick up a win.

Johnny Cueto -- Coming off a good outing, he figures to have success in punching out some Marlins Friday.

Saber Bombs are MLB FanHouse's introduction to sabermetrics, those new and sometimes unwieldy metrics that are changing the way we think about baseball

Earlier this week, Brinson issued a strong, "Sell High!" warning on the Reds' pitching phenom Edinson Volquez. It's probably good advice, but it's easy to underestimate just how good Volquez has been this year. The Cincinnati Enquirer did some digging and found that his 1.33 ERA puts him on pace for the best adjusted ERA since 1930 and it's by a wide margin.

Now since this is the Saber-Bomb and the purpose of the Saber Bomb is to educate, let's talk about adjusted ERA (more commonly known as ERA+) and just how insane the starts the Volquez and Cliff Lee have gotten off to this year. ERA+ is used to normalize ERAs across ballparks and eras and it's a very easy stat to understand. It's calculated by taking the league average ERA, dividing it by the player's ERA, and multiplying by the park factor, which is represented by a number based on 100 as neutral, over 100 favoring hitters, and under 100 favoring pitchers. The result is ERA+ with 100 being exactly average and anything over 100 being better than average. It's a quick and easy number to compare players across eras with, because it measures individual performance against league performance.

So how good have Lee and Volquez been? The best adjusted ERA since 1930 belongs to Pedro Martinez, who had a 291 in 2000. Right now, Volquez is at 336 and Lee is at 305. Unfortunately for them, their peripheral numbers don't really show a path to a record breaking season. Volquez has a WHIP of 1.27, which is a good number for a young pitcher, but nothing earth shattering. It's a good indication that his ridiculous ERA has involved some good luck and will catch up to him. Lee, on the other hand, just isn't enough of a power pitcher to stay as unhittable as he's been. It's been fun watching these two dominate, but it's not very likely to last.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Houston Astros (25-20) vs. Chicago Cubs (27-17) - ESPN -7:05PM Est.

While some people are busy spending their time pondering whether or not Chipper Jones is going to be able to maintain that .400 batting average of his (here's a hint: he's not), Lance Berkman is looking to join Larry in the discussion.

Lance is currently in the midst of a 17-game hitting streak in which he's hitting .565--Can he hit .500 for the rest of the season? I say yes--with 8 home runs and 27 runs driven in. He's used that streak to raise his average on the season up to .399. In other words, he hit ball good. Make ball go far.

Of course, Lance won't be the only player in Minute Maid Park tonight who's swinging the magic wand.

Spot starts are always risky propositions. Well, not always, unless they're guaranteed starters, like your Brandon Webbs and what have you. Anyway, if you're going to gamble, gamble large. And almost no one is larger than Bartolo Colon. He got the call-up and he'll be starting this week (with a bonus two starts next week!), so why not take the dive into the buffet bar and see what the fat man can bring you?

Five Up
Bartolo Colon, BOS -- He once won a Cy Young. Boston scores a lot. There's something fun about cheering for Bartolo. Maybe. He also recently dealt in his minor league rehab start.

Andy Sonnanstine, TB -- Sonny (does that even work) gets little to no love ... yet. But he's pitched well this year, he doesn't allow a ton of home runs and doesn't issue a ton of walks. Which means Oakland will have to swing. Like the odds.

Jered Weaver, LAA -- He's been dealing lately, since I privately called him a "loser", for nothing other than familial reasons. Which kind of makes me the loser. Play the hot hand.

Aaron Laffey, CLE -- How can you not keep starting this guy? He's white hot. And everyone's focusing on CC and Cliff these days, letting Laffey fly under the radar.

As if there was any doubt, we found out today that Cliff Lee was not abducted by aliens during the offseason and had his left arm replaced with metal parts and springs to make him a dominant force in major league baseball, enabling said aliens to take over the world while the baseball watching public was distracted by the superhuman efforts of Lee. And for that, Planet Earth is thankful.

Maybe Lee isn't so thankful, as today proved that he isn't superhuman ... yet merely human. Today's Indians/Reds game was the third time, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, that ERA leaders from both leagues faced each other. You probably didn't think that the final score of this one would be 6-4, but that's exactly what happened. Lee was tagged for five earned runs and ten hits in five and 2/3's innings, including bombs by Adam Dunn and Joey Votto. Lee's ERA went from a microscopic 0.67, to an ERA that most in the league still wish they had: 1.37.

In retrospect, this was probably the worst matchup for Lee, as his impeccable control this season was going up against a team who is encouraged by Dusty Baker to swing swing swing, and not worry about those pesky walks. Unfortunately for Lee, his book is now open, and the hitters will adjust. But don't fret for Cliffy ... his control and his stuff will give him the ability to adjust back as long as he reads the book on himself. Or, if he doesn't want to bother with that, the whole "arm made of metal" thing isn't a bad option.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Pittsburgh Pirates (21-22) at Chicago Cubs (26-19) - 2:20 PM ET

Alfonso Soriano is officially out of his mind. Going into play on May 10th, Soriano was hitting .191 with three homers. Since then, he's gone 19 for 33 with seven HR's and 14 RBI's, and he's now hitting .295 on the year. Strange part, all the damage he's done in the month of May has come after moving to the leadoff spot. So here's the question: Is Soriano hot because he's in the leadoff spot? Or should we wonder what kind of damage Soriano would be doing these days if he was in a prime RBI spot? Of his last seven HR's, five of them have been solo shots, so I would tend to think it was the latter. But the Cubs have won seven of their last nine so why should they listen to me? The real question is this: What will Soriano do today?

It took a lot longer than expected, but it's starting to look like order has finally been restored to the AL Central. After the first month and a half of the season saw the Twins and White Sox splitting time as division leaders, the two teams who were supposed to win the division, Cleveland and Detroit, were spending their time at the bottom of the division with Kansas City.

Well, although Detroit is still struggling at the bottom, the Indians have finally climbed over everybody and reached first place. Let me say, it's about damn time. Going into today's game against the Oakland Athletics, the Indians had posted four consecutive shutouts, and have won seven of their last eight.

Now the shutout streak isn't going to last forever (and in fact, it's already ended as the Indians currently lead Oakland 3-1), but it's a very good sign for the Indians. While the offense has struggled to score runs, and is currently hitting a league worst .235, the Indians strength is not their lineup. It's the pitching.

Cliff Lee has been the dominant starter for Cleveland all year, but now it appears that C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona are starting to come around, and along with Paul Byrd and the return of a healthy Jake Westbrook, the Indians are poised to have the best rotation in the AL Central.

I also feel that the offense is going to come around at some point, it's too talented not too, and even though today is just their first day back on top of the division, don't be surprised if the Indians hold onto it for the rest of the season.