I’m back!!! I apologize for the absence, but real life has taken priority over my “fantasy” baseball career. After spending a majority of my day in meetings, writing memos and planning for activities all I want to do when I get home is sit down, watch some baseball. Writing about fantasy baseball was the furtherest thing from my mind – especially when one of my teams is suffering so tragically. That being said, let’s take a look at this team and why it’s doing so poorly.
This is a roto team in a 12 team league, with 10 bench spots (yes 10 bench spots – I’ll get to this in a bit). This team has produced 24 points for me in the roto format, and over the past week I’ve watched my total points from from a season high of 40 points to season low of 24 points. Overall here is how my team stands in each category:
Offense:
Runs: 1 point
– OK, when I drafted this team I didn’t expect to have so many issues scoring runs. But it has. Andre Either, Domonic Brown, Jose Altuve, Torii Hunter and Matt Carpenter were expected to be the guys I could rely on to score a bunch of runs. Altuve has been solid, but he plays for the Astros who are pretty much the joke of major league baseball (much like my team should be the joke of roto baseball right now). Either, Brown and even Carpenter had gotten off to slow starts, although Carpenter has been the most solid of the bunch scoring 33 total runs while atop of the St. Louis Cardinals’ lineup.
Home Runs: 2 points
– Nelson Cruz has the most homers on my squad, but I honestly think I have seen more home runs from my players who are benched then those in my lineup. Alejandro De Aza has hit seven homers, but I’m sure that those were all hit while he was riding the pine for the team. Suffice to say, I haven’t played match ups very well this season and it seems everytime I bench a player they hit a homer, and when I start a player they end up going 0-4 in a game. This is probably the most frustrating part of the game for me right now.
Runs Batted In: 2 points
– Nelson Cruz (33) and Allen Craig (30) lead my team in RBIs, but clearly I need more production from those players I thought could have a breakout season. Craig has racked up 30 RBIs despite having a slow start and he has come around lately. I’m inserting Yonder Alonso more and more into my lineup these days, as the San Diago Padres’ offense seems to have found a nice groove in recent weeks. I’m still getting massive underproduction from Victor Martinez, Matt Carpenter, David Freese, and Andre Either in this category.
Stolen Bases: 2 points
– When the draft was completed, I thought my team had a decent shot at being in the middle of the pack in the SB category…sadly, that hasn’t been true. Alejandro De Aza has the most stolen bases on my team with five, but he’s rarely been in my lineup given his inconsistency with the bat (maybe 2012 was a career season for him). Jose Altuve who, I expected to steal at least 30 bases has stolen four to date…which is sadly well off the pace. Hopefully my team finds some speed in the near future and I’m able to climb out of this gutter.
Batting Average: 3 points
– This teams batting average has plummeted in recent weeks. As a whole my team is now batting .260 from a season high just under .300. Victor Martinez and his struggles haven’t helped (nor has my adding of Evan Gattis and John Buck after their early season success). I know as a collective this team can bat around the .300 mark and hopefully they find their groove soon.
Overall: This team is offensively challenged and its has largely to do with my gamble on non-marquee players as hitters. I anticipated some big things from certain players that haven’t panned out. Despite this, I think the offense can turn it around and produce middle of the pack scoring for me as the season continues. Alonso has been hitting well of late, as have Craig and Carpenter, to go along with Altuve. Victor Martinez has got to be the most disappointing of my offensive players – especially in a lineup that features Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. The only real good news is that my offense is so bad, that I can only really climb out of the basement in most of these categories.
Pitching:
Wins: 1 point
– A pitching rotation that features Stephen Strasburg, Zach Grienke, Brendon Morrow and David Price should not be dead last in wins…but it is. Strasburg has struggled for parts of the season and his command of pitches seems to have regressed this year. Grienke was lost after the idiot ape Carlos Quentin charged the mound and broke Grienke’s collarbone. Brandon Morrow…well has been absolutely brutal for the Toronto Blue Jays, but there are signs that he is finding his way back. I recently lost David Price, but last year’s AL Cy Young winner seems to have lost a little something in his fastball and doesn’t look quiet himself these days. Hopefully he finds his 2012 after this short DL stint.
Saves: 9 points
– ok, this is the bright spot on my team. Jason Grilli and Craig Kimbrel have been solid and this is probably the only reason why my team’s scoring isn’t in the mid-teens right now. I’m considering moving one of these two solid closers to improve in other areas, but they would only be moved for players who vastly improve my offense.
Strikeouts: 2 points
– Again, a team that features the starting rotation I have should be more capable but none of my starters are really producing the swing and misses that they should. I expect to climb in this category as my SPs find their way.
ERA and WHIP: 1 point each
– Again, this is a reflection of how bad my starters have been, and the struggle that I am having with dealing with an elite set of starters who aren’t performing. I expect to see steady improvement as the season progresses.
Overall:
I’m totally surprised by my pitching staff’s inability to produce points. After investing heavily in starting pitching I expected far better things from my rostered players. Sadly this hasn’t happened that it speaks greatly to why my team is struggling so badly. If anything I should be mocked for attempting to build a team around starters.
Other Challenges:
This league utilizes 10 bench spots, which I feel is terrible for keeping the league competitive. With 10 additional spots, each team is able to “stash” players for long periods of time without having their main roster impacted. I have long argued that it takes more skill to manage a roster which has 3-5 bench spots than 10 with the other managers in this league. Adding and dropping players should require some thought (and gamble). By having ten, there is no real risk – so this league is severly lacking in waiver wire talent that could help lower place teams improve during the season. Our waiver wire list looks like a wasteland of fantasy baseball…all the “handcuff” relievers are taken, and even the handcuff to the handcuff are taken. When Chad Qualls is on someone’s roster in a 12 team league, that should say something about the state of this leagues waiver wire.
All isn’t lost for me though and I don’t expect this team to be in the basement all season long. I recently traded Kyuji Fujikawa for Adam Eaton, who should provide some power and speed to my offense. I’m actually surprised I was able to trade a handcuff (Kevin Gregg is the current closer of the Chicago Cubs) for such a value in Eaton, who will be coming off the disabled list at the end of this month.
Ok, since I’ve taken a look at one of my terrible teams…I’ll take a look at one of my better teams in the next piece.
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