Player of the Week for Week 4

Aaron Harang: 2-0, 15.2IP, 14/2 K/BB, 7ER, 67.25 Pts.

Harang ended a great week with an 8IP victory on Sunday. He had a chance for a CG, but gave up a HR to lead off the 9th and was removed.

I'm sitting at 18-12, and I can't really gain ground on Otto. I had a very good week to keep pace with him, taking 3 0f 4 from Brook and 2 of 3 from Flash. Unfortunately, Otto never loses.

Player of the Week: Week 3

Jonathan Papelbon: 0-0, 4IP, 4 Saves, 7 K, 4 BB, 1 H, 62.25 Pts.

It was a tight race between Papelbon and Tom Gorzelanny (who went 2-0, 14.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 K, 5 BB, 60 Pts). Both were instrumental in a big upset victory over Otto yesterday. Otto had 4 SP going, and I only had one (Gorz). But, those 2 really came through. Heading into the Sunday night game, I was losing and needed a big night. Manny had a good game, and Paps put me over the top with his save. My hitters also had a great game; Markakis, Miggy, and Pujols all were beasts.

I had a pretty solid week as I try to climb back towards the top of the week. I took 2 of 3 from Otto over the weekend. I would have taken all 3, but Solomon Torres blew a win for Snell. And, that game ended with a Russ Martin Grand Slam in extra innings. Otto has Martin, and he won by 0.25 pts.

My 2 Buccos....

I must admit, I started the season a little nervous abotu having 2 Pirate SPs. And, after the horrible spring by Tom Gorzelanny, I was even more nervous. I wanted to deal 1 of them, but no one made me any legit offers. Reluctantly, I kept them both.

And now, I look forward to every start. Here are there numbers to start the season.

Ian Snell: 1-1, 1.80 ERA, 20 IP, 20/6 K/BB, 0.95 WHIP
Tom Gorzelanny: 2-0, 1.33 ERA, 20.1 IP, 11/4 K/BB, 0.93 WHIP

Gorz went 8.1 IP yesterday before tiring in the 9th to beat the Cards. Snell is near the NL lead in strikeouts. These guys have been awesome so far. And, I know it's early, but I'm liking what I see. Snell is 25, Gorz is 24, and they are both coming into their own. I'm excited to see what these guys can do in a full season.

Minor League Report

It's early in the minor league season, but here is a look at how my minor leaguers have started.

Starting Pitching
Phillip Humber (2-1, 3.86, 14/6 K/BB), Eric Hurley (1-0, 0.82, 10/2 K/BB), Clint Everts (1-1, 1.74), and Jimmy Barthmaier (1-0, 2.45) lead the way. Some other starters are off to solid starts as well.

Scott Baker: 0-0, 3.38
Pedro Beato: 0-0, 3.60
Jaime Garcia: 1-1, 3.60
Franklin Morales: 0-2, 3.18, 9/1 K/BB
Garrett Olson: 0-0, 3.27

Donald Veal, Matt Albers, Clay Bucholz, and Ubaldo Jimenez are slow coming out of the gate. But, all are expected to turn it around and have solid seasons.

Relief Pitching
I have quite a few RPs off to nice starts. Andrew Brown, James Hoey, and Wes Littleton have yet to be scored on. Eric O'Flahetry is sporting a 1.50 ERA.

Offense
No one on the guys in the minors have gotten off to great starts. Chris Duncan is mashing at the major league level. He's hitting LHP so well that he's getting more ABs against them than he did last year. Carlos Quentin just came off the DL and had 2 2Bs last night. I'll be trying to find room for both of them in my lineup by the end of the year.

Week 2 Completed

Player of the Week for Week 2: Daniel Cabrera (47 pts, 12.2IP, 1-0, 10K, 1BB, 5ER)

After completing a weekend sweep of J24ktARM, my team pulled their record over .500 to 8-7. I'm still 5 games behind Otto who also swept his weekend series and seems to never lose. I'm currently 3rd in points, and if that keeps up, my record will continue to improve. Unfortunately, Otto is 1st, and if that keeps up he'll be damn hard to catch.

Carp to the DL...

Well, apparently Carpenter's injury is worse than initially thought. Apparently he has "mild arthritis and a mild impingement" in his pitching elbow. It doesn't sound too clear how long he'll be out, but it could be a couple of weeks. I should be OK with the rest of my rotation, but I'd obviously rather him not be hurt. For now, I've picked up Randy Keisler who will be placed in the rotation while Carp is hurt. I didn't pick him up in time to get him active for his start today because I had to wait for Carp to be eligible for the DL. So, I'll see how he does before deciding to keep him or not.

First Week Completed (3-4)

Player of the Week - Johan Santana: 2-0, 13IP, 15K, 5BB, 4ER, 67.5 Points

After extending a losing streak to 4 with an opening game loss to Brooklyn (47.75 - 57.5), my team caught fire winning the second 2 games by a combined score of 296.5 to 118.55. The resurgence was led by a pitching staff that went 5-0 with 3 saves in the 3-game series. The wins came from D-Train, Harang, Lackey, Johan, and Hoffman. The saves were contributed by Papelbon, Valverde, and Shields. Pujols finally got his bat going with a big day on Sunday, and Markakis and Edwin Encarnacion had solid weekends offensively. I'm currently the leader in overall points (723 points through 7 games...over 103 points per game) and have a sub-500 record. That comes from losing some close ones and winning some blowouts. Hopefully the points keep coming like this, and the record will sort itself out.

In the real baseball world, my beloved Orioles took 2 out of 3 from the Yankees. And, if it were not for a disgusting Saturday Night collapse, the Os would (and should) have a sweep under their belts. For all the cash they spend, the Yanks appear to have zero viable starting pitchers. They have taxed their bullpen so much (no starters this season making it into the 6th inning), that they were forced to have Andy Pettitte come out of the bullpen to collect some work since it was his day to throw anyway.

The Orioles got great starting pitching from Bedard on Sunday and Trachsel on Saturday, while Loewen looked pretty good on Friday. The bullpen looked shaky at best, especially during their monumental collapse on Saturday. Kevin Millar's bat came alive, Markakis was very solid, and even Paul Bako showed some pop against the weak Yankee pitching. The Home Opener is today, and unfortunately I'm stuck at work and cannot attend. What a bummer...

Opening Series (1-3)

Well, here comes the good, the bad, and the ugly after the opening series.

The GOOD: Opening Day. Carpenter got lit up, but my other 4 OD starters went 4-0. Lackey, Dontrelle, Harang, and Johan all got wins to start the season with a bang. My bullpen has also been solid. Shields and Speier have gotten holds for me like expected. Valverde looked dominant twice and horrible once. Paps got his first save of the season. And, my 2 Pirate starters both looked good. Snell got 11 Ks in a ND, and Gorzelanny picked up a nice win.

The BAD: A 1-3 record in my first series against division rival Otto. After racking up over 180 points in the first game, I lost the next 3 (2 of 3 were extremely close...1 game decided by 1 point). But, my team is still getting points like I thought it would, so I'm not terrible concerned.

The UGLY: Carpeneter's elbow is bothering him after 1 start. He will miss his next start (and hopefully no more). It's still early, but I don't like when my aces have trouble early. If he goes down, my deal to get him will really hurt (losing B-rob and Connor Jackson).

My offense is off to a decent start despite having only 1 HR (Miggy). No one is kncking the cover off the ball yet, but it's been a solid performance. My next series is against Brooklyn. He has 3 starters in game 1, and I have none. So, my offense and bullpen will need a big day to keep me in this one and avoid a 4 game losing streak. The swelling is gone in his elbow, and his start has only been moved back from Friday to Tuesday. Hopefully, this will be the end of it...but, it has me a touch nervous.