The Magic Wand

Thank God I'm not and Astros fan. Those Jerseys make sick to my stomach.

Once upon a time, there was a starting pitcher for the Houston Astros named Wandy Rodriguez. Wandy Rodriguez was a little slow to make himself known in the National league, finally showing his true potential in 2008 around the ripe old age of 29, putting up a 3.54 ERA with 131 Ks in 137.1 innings pitched. It seems like ages since that time and Wandy Rodriguez has since shown that he means nothing but business (most of the time) by putting up numbers and following trends very similar to his 2008 season. Ok, no more half-assed story. All of Wandy’s peripherals are in line with his previous seasons except for a few things that could be worrisome. Wayrod’s K/9 is down a minute amount while his BB/9 is up as well and his FIP suggests he’s pitched like a guy with a mid-high 3 ERA as opposed to the 2.96 he’s posted thus far. If you were to ask me how I think Wandy will finish the season, I’d respond by sharing with you that I think he will finish in the range he finished in last season as I believe we’ve seen the best he has to offer and we also see the worst he has to offer when he gives up seven earned in any given start. If you own Wayrod, you’re probably not getting a ton of offers or you’re not getting blown away with these offers, so I can’t really advise you to buy or sell. My best advice is to wait for a good offer or just hold onto him since you have for this long.

Lance Berkman- I remember hearing just about everyone and their second cousin panicking about Berkman’s slow start and I also remember us mentioning improvement when we put up our first basemen rankings. He’s still got a BABIP a bit lower than his average and has a nine game hit streak currently, so I’m expecting more improvement over the course of the season where he may end with a line of .280, 33 HR, 95 RBI and maybe toss in a couple more stolen bases.

Andrew McCutchen- Presently hitting .290 and I once said he = Dexter Fowler. If McCutchen were to have 100 more at bats, the numbers would be very similar to Fowler with a bit better average. I still think Fowler ends up with more stolen bases on the season and very easily could have better all around numbers besides average. Gotta remember that McCutchen plays for the Pirates and they are the sucks.

Martin Prado- Hit .316 in AAA for the Braves in 2007 and is currently hitting .324 in Kelly Johnson’s absence. So, if you think you’re one category away from winning your league and have Kelly Johnson as your starting 2B, I’d grab Prado.

Milton Bradley- 0/4, 1 K, hitting .236. After he struck out, he broke the bat over Bobby Cox’s head who then put the wrong reliever in for the save.

Rafael Soriano- See above.

Troy Tulowitzki- I love you. Even though you nearly ruined two of my fantasy baseball teams, you’ve really improved your game as of late. I actually received a trade offer for you, which I rejected on the spot. Don’t let me down, homes.

Ross Detwiler- Hey! He’s a rookie and he’s 0-5! Shocking! I hope my using many exclamation marks has helped you to realize that rookies mostly hurt more than they help!

Chad Gaudin- 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K. How dare you be this talented, yet so wildly inconsistent. Gaudin is the Nicholas Cage of fantasy baseball. One day you’re like Cage in Adaptation and Leaving Las Vegas, the next you’re like Cage in The Wicker Man. The main difference is that Gaudin has already had more than three good performances in his career.

Max Scherzer- 7 IP, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K. Hello Mr. Less Inconsistent, But Sometimes Pretty Bad.

Dan Uggla- Hit his 16th home run on the season. Even on your good days, you still manage one hit, granted that one hit knocks in a handful of runs.

Chris Volstad- Volstad tosses a CG, allowing five hits, walking none and striking out six against the Giants. No wonder they’re looking for a big bat already. Be careful soon-to-be Giants power hitter, I hear Pablo Sandoval gets very territorial with his Double Cheeseburgers. Ok, I’ll give some advice on Volstad now that I’ve gone completely off track. Are you ready? Here is it….He’s just blah.

Ryan Sadowski- The only reason I’m mentioning him is because he’s getting me tons of hits on search engines. To all of you search engine-ites, Ryan Sadowski is boring and far more blah than Chris Volstad.

Ronny Cedeno- I hope to Christ you don’t own Cedeno. If you do, you’re not smart or are in an 8 team AL West League. It’s bad when Yuniesky Betancourt’s offensive production is missed.

David Aardsma- 3 ER, BS. Aardsma, like any closer not named Brad Lidge in 2008 blew the save. I wouldn’t be worried at all.

Jayson Werth- You’re becoming another  hero of mine. Sure, you won’t make it to Justin Upton’s level, but you’re trying. Werth has 19 home runs on the season and I’m still calling for a 30/20 from him this year which is Grady Sizemore lite.

Rodrigo Lopez- Left in the bottom of the fifth with shoulder inflammation. Hello Carlos Carrasco?

Zack Greinke- After seeing Greinke be amazing for the first part of the season, are you guys disappointed when he puts up starts where he gives up three earned, while striking out nine? I’m just happy he doesn’t get all anxietized.

Scott Kazmir- 6.1 IP, 7 ER. I’m amazed he made it out of the fifth. How many times have you seen him dominate hitters and barely pitch five innings? I’d tell you I like him as a buy low, but I’d be lying.

Tim Wakefield- 6 IP, 10 H, 1 ER, 8 K.  I spot started him today and I’m pretty happy about that. I think he must be trying to prove he’s worthy of being selected to the All Star game over Jered Weaver.

Oliver Perez- 5 IP, 2 ER, 7 BB, 2 K. The Ks are the opposite of what you’d think…Wait, it’s Oliver Perez. if you own him, you got off easy.

Andruw Jones- At the time of my writing this, he’s hit three home runs. I’m so glad Manny Ramirez came back when he did. I sat Jones for him in a deep league I’m in…..Ugh.