07.31.11 Box Score Breakdown: Fantasy MLB News and Notes

Pence to the Phils, Bourn to the Braves? Yeah, two teams wanting a ring. I love it. That’s what the trade deadline is all about! Gonna love watching the NL East into September this year. And be careful of my Mets who are going to play spoiler this year…

Onto it, friends!

4th and Home Player of the Day: Raul Ibanez – 3/5, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI…All he needed was for Dom to be sent down?

The Bats:
Joey Votto – 2/4, 2 R, HR, 4 RBI…Four HR in the last 6 games, the big stick is back!

Alex Gordon – 2/4, 2 R, HR, RBI…A .302/63/14/58/9 line from Gordon? Yeah, it’s a bounceback since he’s on pace for .300/90/20/90. Very, very nice.

Scott Hairston – 2/2, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI…Two HR as a pinch-hitter? We should pinch-hit him every night!

Jason Bourgeois – 1/4, 2 R ,HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB…Goodbye, Bourn. HELLO, BSFU!

07.26.11 Box Score Breakdown: Fantasy MLB News and Notes

Brian McCann heads to the DL, so he won’t be the No. 1 Catcher for too much longer. Jose Bautista left another game and Collin Cowgill goes 0/4 with 2 K in his debut.

Onto it!

4th and Home Player of the Day: C.C. Sabathia – 7/1/1/14:3…Sabathia has been so dominant that you have to wonder if he turned it on too fast. I am feeling post-season meltdown out of C.C.

The Bats:
Chase Utley/Ryan Howard – 4/8, 4 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI…Just like old times.

Greg Dobbs – 3/5, 2 R, HR, 5 RBI…What is this, the all ex and current Phillies BSB?

Derrek Lee – 4/5, 2 R, HR, 5 RBI…5 HR and 17 RBI through July, he looks to have another decent second half. I think I’m buying.

J.J. Hardy – 2/5, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI…What a waiver steal for all you luckies.

Dustin Pedroia – 4/5, 3 R, RBI…Who is the No. 1 Fantasy Second Baseman?

Billy Butler – 3/4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI…Look out! With 8 HR, Butler is on pace for 30…over 3 seasons. Who told you to take Logan Morrison before Butler? Oh yeah, the same guy who told you to pass on Ellsbury for Gardner!

07.21.11 Box Score Breakdown: Fantasy MLB News and Notes

Pretty light day for games, but enough action to warrant a post. I tell you, it was over 100 again here in the Northeast so it wasn’t easy! 103 tomorrow!

Onto it…

4th and Home Player of the Day: C.J. Wilson – CG/2/0/8:1…A CG loss. That sucks. Know what else sucks? Knowing he was going to have a great year and then having Jesse draft him right before you!

The Bats:
Cameron Maybin – 4/5, 2 R, 2 SB…9/15 in this series, just one extra base hit but five stolen bases. I’ve been wanting to get excited by this guy since Opening Day 2007. Remember “Strobe Light Honey” by Black Sheep? Yeah, they wrote that song for guys like Maybin, not girls at the club.

Ichiro – 3/4, R, SB…Batting .265 and it’s safe to say the wheels have fallen off. Ichiro is waiver fodder if you ask me.

Jason Heyward – 2/5, R, HR, 3 RBI…J-Hey with another rare homer. I am hoping he’s not falling into the “what if” category, but color me concerned – just don’t color me badd.

Freddie Freeman – 2/5, 2 R, HR, RBI…He remind anyone else of Votto-lite?

Evan Longoria – 2/2, R, HR, RBI…Longo trying to get over .240.

07.07.11 Box Score Breakdown: Fantasy MLB News and Notes

All-Star break is coming, so is the trade deadline. July is such a great month.

Onto it…

4th and Home Player of the Day: Derek Holland – 4-hit SHO/7:2…Jekyll showed up. Or Hyde.

The Bats:
Jason Heyward – 3/4, R, HR, 2 RBI, SB…J-Hey with the BSFU! Good to know he’s still alive. What a keeper!

Freddie Freeman – 3/4, R, HR, 3 RBI…I thought he was owned in my league and then I saw he got picked up. Idiot! Note to self: Never assume someone is owned. Always check the wire.

B.J. Upton – 2/4, R, HR, 3 RBI…Well, one Upton homered!

Ben Zobrist – 3/3, 2 R, HR, RBI…The Year of the Zobrist!

Travis Hafner – 3/5, R, HR, 4 RBI…Walk-off Salami!

Justin Upton – 1/4, R, HR, 2 RBI…The other Upton homered! Wonder how many times that has happened in the same day? Anyone? Anyone?

06.20.11 Box Score Breakdown: Fantasy MLB News and Notes

Batters headline today’s Breakdown, but a pitcher headlines the Bats and Arms…

4th and Home Player of the Day: Tim Hudson – 8/2/0/8:1…Hudson also hit a 2-run shot to secure victory for the Braves.

The Bats:
Carlos Santana – 3/4, 2 R, HR, RBI…Ok, it is ON!

Carlos Gonzalez – 3/5, 2 R, SB…Lead-off hitter excelling!

Nick Markakis – 3/4, 2 R…Don’t look now, but Markakis has 9 hits in his last 4 games. Where da power at?

Adrian Gonzalez – 3/5, 2 R, 3 RBI…Man On Fire.

Chase Headley – 4/5, 2 R…Batting .297 now. Career year? Still not exciting!

Orlando Hudson – 3/5, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI…O-Dog showing us he’s still alive.

06.14.11 Box Score Breakdown: Fantasy MLB News and Notes

A great show last night. You have to listen to hear the crazy Killboy story. Too insane to believe!

Onto it!

4th and Home Player of the Day: Justin Verlander – 2-hit SHO, 12K…Verlander walked Brantley in the 7th to end the perfect game and then gave up a single to Cabrera in the 8th to end the no-no. Besides that, another dominating outing by Verlander.

The Bats:
Domonic Brown – 2/4, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI…The Rook is holding his own. I think he may explode this summer.

Jimmy Rollins – 2/5, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI…J-Roll needs to get going for owners and the Phillies.

Chase Utley – 2/3, R, HR, 2 RBI…I think he is just about BACK.

Shane Victorino – 3/5, 2 R…Look for him also to explode this summer when the Phillies offense starts clicking.

Brett Gardner – 3/4, 3 R, RBI, SB…Time for him to get going while Loverboy is on the DL.

Curtis Granderson – 2/4, 2 R, HR, 4 RBI…The HRs just keep on coming.

Nick Swisher – 2/3, 2 R, HR, RBI…Been a rough year so far for Swish.

05.18.11 Box Score Breakdown: Fantasy MLB News and Notes

It was a “night” dominated by the pitchers. Killboy had his wonderkids going in Dempster and Gallardo. Dempster blew it, but how did Gallardo do?

Anyway, onto it…

4th and Home Player of the Day: Jake Peavy – SHO, 3 H, 8:0…Uhm, where did this come from? You know people had him stashed on their DL for this one. Now they will activate him and he will implode.

The Bats:
Alex Rodriguez – 4/7, 2 R…Two straight appearances in this column. Perhaps he is heating up.

Hanley Ramirez – 2/5, 2 R, HR, RBI, SB…BSFU! Nice to see HanRam make an appearance here.

Matt Joyce – 1/3, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI…He also had two walks and he is not slowing down. I’ve had him plugged in since I picked him up. Against righties, he is mashing.

Elliot Johnson – 2/3, R, 3 RBI…In his last 3 starts: 5/10, 3 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI. Maddon said he’d play him while he’s hot.

Eric Hosmer – 1/5, R, HR, RBI…Game-tying solo shot off Neftali Feliz to send it to extra innings. After the game, Boras told the Royals they could lock him up now for a 10 yr/100MM contract.

05.02.11 Box Score Breakdown: Fantasy MLB News and Notes

Andre Ethier kept his hit-streak alive with a weak infield blooper to the left side.28 and counting!

Anyway, here’s what else I saw:

The Bats:
Alex Avila – 2/4, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI…Hey, Brian told you he had power last weekend!

David Ortiz – 2/4, R, HR, 2 RBI…He’s batting .277 now. Surprised me too!

Jacoby Ellsbury – 2/4, 3 R, 2 SB…Good one, Mike. Sure Brett Gardner will put up equal stats…

Paul Konerko – 2/4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI…Drop-off from last year? I think not! 8 HR and 24 RBI while hitting .302. Nice!

Alex Rios – 2/4, 2 R, HR, RBI, SB…Box Score filler-upper!

04.25.11 Box Score Breakdown: Fantasy MLB News and Notes

The Bats:
Chris Coghlan – 3/4, 3 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, BB…”The Mighty Kong has awoken!” Must have had a Freaky Friday experience with Mike Stanton. Switch back already!

Jerry Sands – 3/4, RBI, SB…4 doubles in 8 games? That is like 80 doubles in a full season! (And 40 steals to boot) So I like the Sandsman. Sue me.

Jose Bautista – 1/2, R, HR, RBI, 2 BB…Why even pitch to this guy? He’s up to 8 ding dongs and I think 40 is in the bag.

Ryan Braun – 2/5, R, HR, RBI, SB…Again filling up the box score. 8 HR and torching pitching right now.

Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season

Welcome back to Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season! In the “Today’s Games” section, you will see my picks to win for the day. I will post either the “Money Line” or the “Run Line”. The money line is always a “straight up” bet which means your team will never need to win or lose by a specific amount of runs. The money line odds represent what amount has to be wagered or what can be won. For example, if there is a minus sign (-) next to an amount, you have to wager that amount to win 100. If there is a plus sign (+) next to an amount, you will receive that amount for every 100 wagered. When you see a “Run Line”, that means a spread is involved. In Baseball, the spread is always 1.5 runs but you can find alternate run lines on some websites. When I post a run line of -1.5, that means our team must win by two runs. When you see a run line of +1.5, that means our team can lose by one run and still win the wager. Listen to our show from April 5th, 2011 for more explanation and tips.