Posts tagged JakePeavy at FanHouse

If you're a baseball fan who likes surprises, then the 2008 season has been a special treat. The Rays are the most notable team that has exceeded expectations, but the Twins, White Sox and Marlins are also surprise contenders.

Of course, those pleasant surprises have come at the expense of several clubs expected to be much better this season. Whether because of a big free-agent signing last winter, a deep October run last season or the (hint, hint) crushing burden of a massive payroll, the baseball landscape is littered with flops as August comes to a close.

The following is a countdown of the seven most disappointing teams this season.

7. Padres: Mired in last place in the abysmal NL West, it's easy to forget that this team won 89 games last year and was a (phantom?) Matt Holliday slide away from a playoff spot. Even when they were winning division titles, the Padres operated on a thin margin. Injuries and underperformance are at the root of their struggles.

Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Brian Giles are the only offensive regulars who have played more than 100 games. Ace Jake Peavy spent a month on the disabled list, while No. 2 starter Chris Young has made only 13 starts. Veteran closer Trevor Hoffman has also been extremely shaky.

The question as to whether the San Diego Padres need to make trades is not so much a "yes or no" thing as it is a "why the hell hasn't Kevin Towers gotten started yet?" kind of thing.

San Diego needs a lot of stuff, although mainly offense. Adrian Gonzalez is still somehow underrated, but having to carry the entire team on his back isn't good for anyone. Chase Headley is also a great future prospect, but the Fathers are too loaded with usable veterans not to make a move for some offensive upside.

You have to assume that Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Josh Banks and Cha Seung Baek can form four-fifths of a decent rotation to start 2009. No, seriously. Have you seen the NL West?

The state of the division -- 10.5 back in the NLW = epicFAIL -- is exactly why the Pads should have been peddling sooner, or at the very least trying to drive up the value of some of their pitchers, specifically Randy Wolf and Greg Maddux.

Maddux has a no-trade clause, but you have to think he'd be willing to get moved to a contender that's close to his native San Diego, and Los Angeles has plenty of prospects they want to deal.

Trevor Hoffman may be the all time saves leader and an all time great Padre, but he's also on the downslope, albeit the top, of his career and would be a superb addition to a playoff team.

Really, if they can get back some prospects or a decent offensive player for 2009, anyone on the Padres except Peavy, Gonzo and Headley should be on the market.

Remember when Tom Gorzelanny was a burgeoning fantasy stud last year? He worked over 200 innings, garnering 14 wins for a sorry Pirates squad and compiling an ERA of 3.88. He only walked 68 batters. This year he's already walked 50, in only 71 innings. The ERA is particularly gross at 6.59. His three starts of less than three innings probably didn't help matters, but he's been consistently bad. Well, this week he gets to screw you over twice in fantasyland ... against the Yankees and Rays no less. Don't let that happen. He's last in my two-start rankings, behind Eric Hurley. Who? Exactly ...

Other notes:

- Gotta love Sean Marshall's chance for a great outing against the O's at home, but he will likely have trouble on the South Side of town for his second start.

- Aaron Laffey gets two lackluster teams at home this week, so he's a quality option.
- Good sleeper for the week: Joe Blanton. He's been struggling all season, but he gets the Phillies (2-7 against the AL) and Giants at home. It's now or never for salvaging a quality campaign.

Pitcher	Team	First Start	Second Start
Jake Peavy	SD	MIN	SEA
Johan Santana	NYM	SEA	NYY
Josh Beckett	BOS	ARI	at HOU
John Lackey	LAA	at WAS	at LAD

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

New York Yankees (39-33) vs. San Diego Padres (31-42) - 1:05PM Est.

When Hank Steinbrenner came out earlier this season and basically demanded that Joba Chamberlain stopped being used out of the bullpen, and placed into the starting rotation, his general manager and manager kind of just ignored him. Hank was just doing anything in his power to try to be like his dad, and after dealing with George for all those years, Brian Cashman had become pretty adept at tuning his boss out.

Besides, the Yankees starters were just off to a rough start to the 2008 season, and things would turn around soon enough. Only they never did, as Phil Hughes struggled, Ian Kennedy got sent down, and Mike Mussina looked like a shell of a shell of his former self. So eventually Cashman and Joe Girardi had to cave, and move Joba into the starting rotation (and now that Chien-Ming Wang is out they're lucky they did).

His first start didn't go very well, but in the two starts since, Joba has improved each time out. This afternoon he'll be making his fourth start of the season, but will he finally pick up his first victory as a starter?

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

Milwaukee Brewers (37-33) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (35-37) - 8:05PM Est.

The Milwaukee Brewers have used their success at Miller Park, where they've won eight of their last ten, to pull themselves back into the NL Central race. The formula they've been using lately has been pretty simple: good pitching plus a lot of longballs.

The Brewers are binging on home runs, as they used five of them last night to beat the Blue Jays 7-0, and have hit 17 in their last six games. Why, if somebody donated $1,000 to Prince Fielder every time the Brewers went deep, he'd have that little debt of his paid off in less than a year.

Can the Brewer bats stay hot tonight against the reeling Toronto Blue Jays? Will Prince Fielder avoid jail time? The answers to these questions and more, after the jump

Finally, mercifully, the San Diego Padres have decided to bring their top prospect, Chase Headley, to the major leagues. Headley got the call this weekend and will start his first game Tuesday when the Fathers face the Bronx Bombers in Yankee Stadium. So, you know, no pressure.

'He's on his way,' [GM Kevin] Towers said before Saturday's Interleague game against the Indians.

[...]"I think the environment is much better than it was three weeks ago," Towers said. "We have got a lot of guys contributing offensively. When he gets here, he shouldn't have to feel like he's got to carry this ballclub. We're playing good baseball now.

"To me, now is kind of the right time to have him here, when things are going well."

And by "going well", what Towers means is "after his June 1 arbitration date; well enough after, in fact, to make sure everyone forget that's why I kept him down in the first place."

Although, in fairness, the Padres have won seven of their last ten while leapfrogging the Giants and Rockies and somehow climbing within 6.5 games. Additionally, Jake Peavy is back, so maybe things aren't as bleak as they were earlier. Convenient, really.

Fantasy Spin: Headley is going to be OF eligible and likely 3B eligible as he'll spell Kevin Kouzmanoff. He's an impact player, who I would grab in most leagues (if you need 3B help), especially keepers. Of course, he is also a rookie and an OF, so be patient and don't expect him to pull a Ryan Braun or anything.

Just this week there were two enormous injuries in the world of fantasy baseball: Alfonso Soriano and Albert Pujols. There were also significant returns in Jake Peavy and Matt Holliday. Those are four elite echelon players changing places in the span of only a three days.

They weren't alone. All around the league players are dropping like flies while also returning. It's been an onslaught. For the value machine, it actually makes sense at this point in the season. Sure, players are bound to get hot and cold, but for the most part we are approaching the dog days of summer ... most movement in fantasy leagues will be triggered by injuries.

We've covered Pujols, Soriano, Holliday, and Peavy already this week here on Fantasy FanHouse. Obviously the former two would have an evil next to their respective names while the latter two would have the nice, reassuring residing next to theirs. Here are the most notable of the rest:

Vernon Wells -- Returned Saturday to the Jays' lineup and announced his presence with authority on Sunday (3-4, HR). He stormed out of the gates this year, but he is a pretty inconsistent performer. Studly in 2003 and 2006 while disappointing owners in the other seasons of his career. Sell high time, as far as I'm concerned.

There was such little press about Jake Peavy's return yesterday, that for a minute I thought it was in a non-regulation game or something, or maybe he was just tossing around in a rehab start. But, no, Peavy did actually return to the hill for the first time since May 12 and he did actually dominate.

The reigning Cy Young winner went six innings against the Dodgers, allowing a scant three hits while striking out four and picking up the win. But if you listen to the man himself, you would think he gave up five gopher balls over four innings or something.

'I got a long way to go to be where I want to be, obviously,' Peavy said. 'I made some good pitches, I guess, when I had to.'

I suppose it is worth noting that he was on a pitch count of 90 and that he only struck out four, but to me, that seems like he was just being more efficient than anything.

On the other hand, if Peavy thinks he was not all the way there and this is the effort he produced, then all of a sudden, Brandon Webb better watch his back on that early Cy Young run.

Fantasy Spin: Get Peavy active ASAP, clearly. Guy looked pretty sharp from this end, and there is zero reason, after he goes six shutout innings, why he shouldn't be in your starting lineup. Maybe make a stab at him in a trade with the minimal pub he's getting but that almost seems fruitless.

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

San Diego Padres (29-38) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (31-34) - 3:35PM Est.

As much of a disappointment as the 2008 season has been for the San Diego Padres, looking at the big picture, things aren't nearly as bad as they seem. They've won five of their last six games, and even though they're still nine games under .500, they play in the NL West so they're still alive.

The Diamondbacks have plummeted back to earth after starting out so hot this season, and the Friars find themselves only 6.5 games out of first place. If San Diego's offense could ever manage to consistently score some runs, the Padres could find themselves right back in the thick of things.

Of course, it's entirely possible they could do it without their offense as they get their ace back on the mound this afternoon. Will Jake Peavy's return be the spark the Pads need?

There is so much freaking room on the San Diego Padres bandwagon these days, it is kind of awkward. You could jump on the back, look around and you might not even see General Manager Kevin Towers. And with the recent news that Jake Peavy is bound for the disabled list, it should come as no surprise that there are shake-ups a-plenty coming around the bend. Assuming you base that on Towers' little post game freak out last night.

'We're bad, no question about it,' Towers said Monday. 'You can't just say it's early in the season. I haven't seen any signs in the last couple weeks that lead me to believe or our fans to believe we're going to turn this thing around.

'It's up to the guys in this clubhouse. I am certainly not going to watch this for four more months.'

[...] 'You're looking for even a little bit of progress,' Towers said. 'It's like Groundhog's Day, over and over.'

+1 for the Bill Murray reference. -10 for throwing your squad under the buss and acting like it's not your job to assemble the team. But wait, there's more!

'I hear morale is good, but I can't believe it's good,' he said. 'When you hear the morale is good, then we've got major issues. If morale is good, then they have no expectations of getting better. That's not what championship ballclubs are about.

'Morale should be horrible right now.'

What rules the shouting!!! Sorry, I got caught up in the late 90's slapstick references. Look, Towers is panicking and lobbing Bud Black's nearly fired corpse underneath the nearest set of moving wheels. It's kind of embarrassing, yeah, but what do you expect? The guy wants to protect his job.