Just Some Thoughts on the Blue Jays vs. White Sox Game Today...
A lot going on in this game for me today...
Mark Buehrle vs A.J. Burnett, Paul Konerko, Jim Thome's on base streak, and the latest display of power from Alexis Rios....
Let's start with the pitchers...
So I have Mark Buehrle on 3 of my fantasy teams . Since the 2001 season he has averaged 16 wins with an ERA of 3.60 and yet still doesn't get the draft respect he deserves in most fantasy leagues. I love guys that just quietly fly under the radar. Sort of like Garrett Anderson before the Angels made their run and he got all that media attention. But the media didn't focus like that on Buehrle and for that reason, I targetted him for all of my teams. He certainly hasn't disappointed. Look at today's game: He goes 8 innings, strikes out 4, walks 2 and the only blemish was a 2 run HR to Alexis Rios (which we'll get to in a second) in the first inning. After that he allowed only 1 runner to reach second base. C'mon...5 hits he gave up....look for him to put up the same old numbers....the same old solid 16 win sub 4.00 ERA numbers.
And now it's on to A.J. Burnett. Not one of my favorites, as you know. Well, starting the season on the DL because of a scar tissue problem just solidified my thoughts. And now today he gets to make his season debut -- his Blue Jay debut -- against the World Champs from Chicago. His line of 6 innings, 7 hits 4 runs with 1 walk and 5 K's is decent. He didn't look awful out there as the four runs came off a pair of Paul Konerko HRs. That's right baby....Paul's power is back. 40-100 again!!!! He got off to a slow start but has really started to turn it on. Enjoy this all season long.
In any event, while Burnett's line was respectable, I still don't think it's going to get much better than that for the year. I still think he's going to have trouble with AL sluggers like Konerko and the injury bug could be looming still.
O.K. So Alexis Rios.....what to do with this guy!?! He was a highly touted prospect a few years ago and people talked about him being a 5 tool guy. But we never saw the power from him. He didn't show it in the minors and he definitely didn't show it the past 2 years; 11 major league HR to be exact. Now all of a sudden he's got 4 in 35 AB!?! I just don't buy it with him yet. If you have him, wait until he gets the RF job all to himself and then trade him. His value probably won't be higher for this season. However, keep him in mind for the next 2 years. If he continues to progress, he will be primed for a 27 year old breakout season. He's just not ready yet.
Jim Thome extended his streak to 11 games that he has successfully reached base. Oh yeah...THE DUDE HAS 6 HR!!!!!!!!!! I love this guy. If you were fortunate enough on draft day to have picked him up in spite of the injury risk, then great job. He and Konerko are going to make life miserable for AL pitchers.
Keep your eyes on both these clubs...they may be playing hard through October.
Mark Buehrle vs A.J. Burnett, Paul Konerko, Jim Thome's on base streak, and the latest display of power from Alexis Rios....
Let's start with the pitchers...
So I have Mark Buehrle on 3 of my fantasy teams . Since the 2001 season he has averaged 16 wins with an ERA of 3.60 and yet still doesn't get the draft respect he deserves in most fantasy leagues. I love guys that just quietly fly under the radar. Sort of like Garrett Anderson before the Angels made their run and he got all that media attention. But the media didn't focus like that on Buehrle and for that reason, I targetted him for all of my teams. He certainly hasn't disappointed. Look at today's game: He goes 8 innings, strikes out 4, walks 2 and the only blemish was a 2 run HR to Alexis Rios (which we'll get to in a second) in the first inning. After that he allowed only 1 runner to reach second base. C'mon...5 hits he gave up....look for him to put up the same old numbers....the same old solid 16 win sub 4.00 ERA numbers.
And now it's on to A.J. Burnett. Not one of my favorites, as you know. Well, starting the season on the DL because of a scar tissue problem just solidified my thoughts. And now today he gets to make his season debut -- his Blue Jay debut -- against the World Champs from Chicago. His line of 6 innings, 7 hits 4 runs with 1 walk and 5 K's is decent. He didn't look awful out there as the four runs came off a pair of Paul Konerko HRs. That's right baby....Paul's power is back. 40-100 again!!!! He got off to a slow start but has really started to turn it on. Enjoy this all season long.
In any event, while Burnett's line was respectable, I still don't think it's going to get much better than that for the year. I still think he's going to have trouble with AL sluggers like Konerko and the injury bug could be looming still.
O.K. So Alexis Rios.....what to do with this guy!?! He was a highly touted prospect a few years ago and people talked about him being a 5 tool guy. But we never saw the power from him. He didn't show it in the minors and he definitely didn't show it the past 2 years; 11 major league HR to be exact. Now all of a sudden he's got 4 in 35 AB!?! I just don't buy it with him yet. If you have him, wait until he gets the RF job all to himself and then trade him. His value probably won't be higher for this season. However, keep him in mind for the next 2 years. If he continues to progress, he will be primed for a 27 year old breakout season. He's just not ready yet.
Jim Thome extended his streak to 11 games that he has successfully reached base. Oh yeah...THE DUDE HAS 6 HR!!!!!!!!!! I love this guy. If you were fortunate enough on draft day to have picked him up in spite of the injury risk, then great job. He and Konerko are going to make life miserable for AL pitchers.
Keep your eyes on both these clubs...they may be playing hard through October.
posted by Howard Bender at
4:56 PM
