Buy High Riser #1 – Tony Cingrani – SP – Reds

Chances are, Matt Harvey and Shelby Miller are already on someone’s roster, so if you’re looking for a young pitcher with swing-and-miss stuff, or if you’re in a keeper league looking for pitching potential, Tony Cingrani might be your best option.  At 23, with just 2 years in the minors under his belt, Cingrani is young and relatively inexperienced at the professional level.  However, there’s a reason he’s been able to make it to the majors so fast.  The reason goes beyond exterior factors like Johnny Cueto’s lat strain, or Dusty Baker’s pitch counts.  Cingrani is really good.  He’s pitched his way up the proverbial ladder, which is proverbial because you cannot literally climb a ladder by throwing pitches.

Cingrani posted K/9 numbers over 10 at every minor league level, without skipping a beat.  After destroying AAA hitters in his first three games this season, he was called up to make his first start on Thursday night.  Against the Marlins, Cingrani struck out 8 batters in just 5 innings.  Marlins or not, those strikeout numbers are impressive.  He struggled with his control, something a veteran team most likely would have exploited more, but the results were great.

Note: Cingrani’s still available in 53% of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues, so act now, or you’ll miss out.  He’ll run up his pitch counts early, may only last 5 innings a game, and may even struggle with his WHIP on occasion, but he’s a solid add for Strikeouts, ERA, and Wins.

Riser #2 – Travis Hafner – DH – Yankees

Sure, Travis Hafner is 57 years old and his body only has 3 working joints, but while we may see those characteristics as, “flaws,” the Yankees see them as, “ways to relate to his teammates.”  OK, so in actuality, he’s only 35, and he still has most of his joints left, so he actually could have a couple years left in his bat.  Yankee Stadium is a haven for left-handed power, and that’s exactly what Hafner brings.  He’s already hit 4 HR, 3 of which were at home (4 of which were against RHP), and he’s slugging over 700.  Of course, we’re talking about a sample of fewer than 50 PA, so it should be obvious that he’s not expected to slug .700 for an entire season, let alone stay healthy for an entire season, but if you need some HR, and you’ve got room in your UTIL spot, Hafner could be a quality addition.

Note: If you plan to add Hafner, do it by Thursday, when the Yankees begin a 10-game homestand.

Riser #3 – Jean Segura – SS – Brewers

Nobody expected Segura to start the season as hot as he has.  He’s hitting .367/.404/.510.  He even hit a 400+ foot HR.  He only has 1 SB, but speed is still a big part of his game, so the stolen bases will come.  Perhaps later in his career, some of the extra base hits will turn into homers, but for now, he’s going to rack up the doubles and triples.  Segura’s a solid add for teams that are looking to pad their SB category, or teams looking for a stopgap at SS while Hanley or Reyes are on the DL.

Note:  One possible reason that Segura only has 1 SB, despite being on base 40% of the time is that he hits in front of Ryan Braun. With Aramis Ramirez and Corey Hart on the DL, Braun has little protection behind him to keep teams from intentionally walking him when 1st base is open.  A Segura steal is essentially taking the bat out of Ryan Braun’s hands.

Faller #1 – Sell Low – Roy Halladay – SP – Phillies

Halladay hasn’t been a very effective pitcher since 2011.  He’s still striking batters out, but he’s walking far more hitters than in his prime, and giving up a significantly higher number of home runs.  His velocity has dropped 3 mph since 2010, and his curveball is his only pitch that has had a positive value this season (Fangraphs pitch values).

Note: Halladay is coming off of a postive outing, but the overall trend of the last 12 months is alarming.  Trade him while his name recognition is still enough to tempt some owners.

Faller #2 – Jackie Bradley – OF – Red Sox

Bradley was an exciting call-up, and probably still has a bright future ahead of him, but it looks like his time with the Red Sox is over.  He’s mustered up only 3 hits in his time with the big league club, and he’s been demoted to the minors when David Ortiz came back.

Note: It’s pretty clear that he wasn’t ready for the majors, but a year in the minors will hopefully restore his confidence.  You may want to keep your eyes open for him in September.

Faller #3 – Adam Dunn – 1B/DH – White Sox

Adam Dunn has always been a good news/bad news type of player.  For the greater part of his career, the good (HR, OBP) overshadowed the bad (K, .230-.260 AVG).  Recently, especially early this year, things are a bit different.  Let’s start with the good.  1/3 of his hits have been HR.  The bad? He has 6 hits.  That leaves him with a .105 AVG.  Dunn’s only real fantasy value at this point lies in deep leagues where you can plug him in as a desperate attempt to steal the HR category.

Note: Dunn may not be finished yet, but if you drop him and he picks it up, it’s unlikely that somebody will pick him up before you want him back.

The rankings are a bit different this year, but we have all the positions covered and even have added Tier Rankings in for some of the positions. I’ll be updated these rankings the rest of the way until the 2013 MLB season kicks off, bumping up and dropping guys based off of health and performance, while also adding notes when and where appropriate.

But enough blabbering. Here are my fantasy baseball player rankings for the 2013 season:

Since the San Francisco Giants are the current World Series Champions, it would be safe to say that they are coming up with a proper strategy to make sure that they don’t lose the title in 2013. They were able to display a great deal of expertise last 2012 season. The professionalism of the players during the previous seasons is one of the key ingredients that they hope to uphold to win the World Series championship again this year.

The Giants’ team manager seems to be adopting the same kind of strategy that they applied in the previous seasons to trounce opponents this coming round. This would be a major factor to put into consideration, especially with many people holding the view that the San Francisco Giants would have to alter their mode of play to keep the game neutral. It would be safe to assume that this is not going to happen. Expect the gameplay strategy that gave the Giants the World Series championship to hold until positive results are achieved at the end of the day once again.

When Brian Wilson got injured only a few days into the 2012 season, many fans of the San Francisco giants started panicking. However, it only came to dawn on them that the giants still have lots of talent in their roster when they won the World Series later that year. Romo will be the man in charge as the SF closer and you can expect good piece of action coming from his side. People who wager on MLB may feel that the San Francisco Giants are still the team to beat in the upcoming 2013 season. The team’s actions only indicate that they are still hungry for another World Series Championship.

I’m actually here to tell you that it wasn’t the wrong call. Note: I’m not saying it wasn’t the right call either. I’m saying according to the letter of the rule the call wasn’t wrong.

I believe the call was made essentially because the umpire was a replacement official. He was a regular umpire, of course, but he was positioned in left field. Umpires are only positioned in the outfield during post-season games, meaning even the best umpires only officiate a handful of games in the outfield throughout their entire careers.

I won’t post the entire rule here, because I want you to keep reading, but essentially it says on a fair ball that in an umpire’s judgment is “catchable by an infielder with ordinary effort” that he “shall” call the infield fly rule. The rule was set up so that you couldn’t intentionally drop the ball and set up an easy double play on runner who would be forced to fun to the next base.

I think the ball was catchable by the shortstop with ordinary effort, for sure. The problem was that it was at least one-third of the way into the outfield and if the ball had dropped, no possibility of a double-play existed. And the call, which is usually made right away, was made extremely late.

Now, let’s pretend there was no left-field umpire in last night’s game. Does the third base umpire judge that the shortstop would make the catch with ordinary effort? Probably not because the ability of the player to make the play was evident so late in the play, and so far from the infield.

But the left field umpire called the play as he saw it, and he wasn’t exactly wrong.

He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So the question should be: Why don’t we eliminate the outfield umpires in the postseason? What are their duties that couldn’t be accomplished by instant replay (and that first and third base umpires routinely call correctly anyway)?

The umpire was just doing his job, calling the game according to the rulebook. He followed the letter of the rule to a T. But because he was baseball’s post-season version of a replacement official, he didn’t know how to be a left-field umpire.

Nobody knows how to be a left-field umpire, and therefore this kind of “mistake” is inevitable. The larger question should be why was he there in the first place.

Torii Hunter, OF, Los Angeles Angels

The veteran Hunter has turned back the clock here during the past week. Over the past week he has hit three home runs while driving in seven runs, but all three of those home runs were against the Rockies at Coors Field. Whether or not he keeps hitting for power, there is no doubt that he is one of the hottest players in baseball at the moment.

Paul Goldschmidt, 1B Arizona Diamondbacks

Goldschmidt is one of the very few young position players that hit for power. And over the past week Goldschmidt showed us why the Diamondbacks have so much faith in his power bat. He hit .474 with three home runs while driving in six runs. His power swing is something that can’t be ignored, but he could easily go in a slump, so let’s track him over the next couple weeks.

Mike Trout, OF Los Angeles Angels

I can guarantee you one thing, Trout won’t be the last Angel to appear on this list. But really, who doesn’t love Mike Trout? He’s only 20 years-old, and he has a legitimate chance at winning the American League batting title in 2012. Trout is hitting .500 over his last seven games with four stolen bases. He’s a five tool player, and he’s only 20 years-old. That’s all I have to say.

Mark Trumbo, 1B, Los Angeles Angels

Trumbo’s power is exceptional, and there’s no doubt that he should be an all-star. Over his last seven games he has hit four home runs while driving in 12 runs. On the season he is hitting .326 with 14 home runs and 39 runs batted in. I can see why the Angels wanted to trade him prior to spring training…not.

Alfonso Soriano, OF, Chicago Cubs

The Cubs were willing to practically give away Soriano a couple weeks back, but now he’s worth something even with his massive contract. The Cubs will still have to eat up most of his contract if they really want to trade him, but he has hit four home runs in his past seven games, and he’s a legitimate power threat again.

Jason Kubel, OF Arizona Diamondbacks

Kubel is driving in runs like there’s no tomorrow for the D-Backs. He’s driven in 13 while hitting .310 over his last seven games, and Arizona is starting to make a push in the N.L West.

Dan Uggla, 2B, Atlanta Braves

Uggla led the Braves to a nice week with three home runs and ten runs batted in. More impressively, he hit .318 during that stretch. It seems like if Uggla gets hot, the Braves win, and that might be the case because during the Braves’ eight game losing streak, Uggla was struggling, but now he’s hitting and the Braves are soaring. That’s might hypothesis.

Russell Martin, C, New York Yankees

Martin went on a tear this past week, hitting four home runs while hitting an impressive .364, and the Yankees were able to salvage a game to their crosstown rivals on Sunday. If Martin keeps this up, the Yankees might start winning a few more games because he had been struggling for the majority of the season prior to week 11.

So let’s get into it. From the cool winds of Chicago to the rocky shores of Lance Berkman’s knee, here is your patriotic Week 8 in Review.

5. The Chicago Cubs will get worse before they get better.

When the Cubs lost their 10th straight game on Thursday, their losing streak became the franchise’s longest such streak of the century. Don’t worry, though, the century is still young, and there is plenty of time to break that record. The pitching has been awful, and since Bryan LaHair has gone ice-cold, the hitting has been absent.

In the midst of a rebuild, the Cubs are trying to put bad contracts behind them and build a team filled with young talent. Anthony Rizzo will be called up any day now. LaHair, Starlin Castro, and he could make up a nice core of young offensive talent to build a team around. I would expect them to flip Garza and Dempster for pitching prospects at the deadline, turning the rebuilding process into a building process.

4. Giancarlo Stanton hits the ball hard.

To start the year, the Stanton formerly known as Mike was a prime example of how much of a pitchers park Miami’s new stadium is. As a matter of fact, he hit .247 with just 1 HR through April. Now, as we approach the end of May, he’s hitting .292 with 11 HR. This week alone, he’s hit .370 with 3 HR and 10 RBI, including a bomb that temporarily broke Miami’s scoreboard.

The Marlins find themselves just 3.5 games out of first, and Stanton has found himself playing All-Star level baseball.

3. The Dodgers are for real.

The Los Angeles Dodgers got off to an incredibly hot start, mostly due to the bats of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. But they’ve kept it up, going 8-2 over the last 10 games, and building a 7.5 game lead over the second place Giants, and more than 10 games ahead of the third place Diamondbacks. The Dodgers have done it with a combination of hitting and pitching. The pitchers have been tremendous as of late, allowing 3 or fewer runs in 6 of the last 10 games.

2. The White (the hell?!) Sox.

OK, so that’s a terrible ChiSox pun. Terrible enough to remove from the article? Sorry.

The White Sox have gotten red hot and made a somewhat surprising push to the top of the AL Central. They now sit just half a game back of the Indians after winning 9 of their last 10 games. They’ve done it with their bats, as over those 9 wins, they’ve averaged 8.2 runs scored. In fact, Paul Konerko has hit .518 with 3 HR and 10 RBI in the last 7 days. With the Tigers just 3 games back, the AL Central is getting very interesting.

1. Lance Berkman tore his meniscus.

Since leaving Houston, Lance Berkman has turned his career around. The Elvis doppleganger has done nothing but hit with the Cardinals, but he won’t be able to do any of that for 8-10 weeks, after undergoing surgery on his knee this week. Luckily for St. Louis, the injury didn’t turn out to be as bad as expected, and they could see Berkman back in the lineup by August. That’s a long time to be without one of their best hitters, however. It’s enough time for Reds to open up an insurmountable lead in the division. A division that has seen both Prince Fielder’s and Albert Pujols’ replacements go down with knee injuries.

Melky Cabrera, San Francisco Giants

Cabrera has been one of the best hitters in all of baseball during the month of May. He leads the Major League in hits, multiple hit games, and he’s approaching Willie Mays territory. The Melk Man needs two more hits to tie the San Francisco Giants all time hit record in the month of May. Oh and he’s hitting an impressive .368 to add to everything else he has accomplished.

Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox

Like Cabrera, Konerko has arguably been the most consistent hitter in his respective league. Yes, Josh Hamilton is still raking, but Konerko leads the American League in batting average, and is second in Slugging Percentage and OPS. Expect Konerko to cool off a little, but he’s going to hit for a high average throughout the entire year.

Mark Teixeria, New York Yankees

The Yankees haven’t been as nearly as dominant as they have been in the past, but Teixeria’s recent play could be the spark plug that the Yanks have been looking for. Over his last seven games, Tex is hitting .417 with three homeruns and nine runs driven in. He’s been known to get off to slow starts, but that excuse is no longer available as we are a few games past the quarter mark of the season.

Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins

By season’s end, Stanton should just write the Marlins a check for all the damage he has done so far. He’s broken a scoreboard; hit the Budweiser sign in left field, and it won’t be long before he puts a dent in the centerfield sculpture. He’s hit four homeruns in his past 10 games, and the Marlins are starting to heat up.

Dayan Viciedo, Chicago White Sox

Viciedo has been a pleasant surprise for the White Sox. He’s only 23 years old, but he’s hitting homeruns like players in their prime tend to do. During his last seven games he’s hit three dingers to go along with an impressive .375 batting average. Viciedo could be replaced for a running back in the NFL, but he is a baseball player. His power numbers will continue to rise as his career progresses.

A.J. Pierzynski, Chicago White Sox

Pierzynski is the third White Sox to make this list, and that’s no coincidence. The Sox have been scoring runs like the Rangers of late, and A.J. has been a big part of the success at the plate. He’s hitting .389 with two homeruns and five runs batted in over his last seven games. This hot start is nice, but I don’t think he will keep his dominance up for much longer.

Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates

McCutchen has been dominating all season for a struggling Pirates offense, and I think it’s time we give him some credit. Over his last seven games, Cutch’ is hitting .381 with a homer and five batted in. The slugging numbers just aren’t going to be on his resume because he has no one to drive in and no one to drive him in. But nevertheless, the Pirate’s franchise centerfielder is tearing it up.

Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies

Cargo had a bit of a power outage during the middle of last week, but he launched two homeruns against the Reds on Saturday to end that drought. Over his last seven games he’s hitting just .292, but he is going back to Coors this week, so expect some big numbers.

I will let you find out who that veteran is.

Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers

The Rangers organization must have seen something special in Yu Darvish when he was pitching in Japan because it’s not too often a team forks up $50 million to just talk to the player and his agent. On top of the $50 million posting fee, the Rangers inked Yu to a six-year, $60 million contract, which brings the total up to $110 million.

Did they overpay him?

Considering that Yu is 6-1 with a dominant 2.60 ERA, the Rangers definitely aren’t overpaying him, but let’s check in with him later this summer. Darvish has also shown the baseball world that he has some pretty nasty stuff as he has struck out 58 batters in only 52 innings of work. Just ask some of the Yankee’s hitters about Darvish’s filthy pitches as Yu arguably had his best start of the season against the Bronx Bombers. He pitched 8.1 innings, allowed no runs, and struck out 10 batters on just two walks.

Anyone who pitches for the Rangers is going to pile up wins, simply because the power bats in the Ranger’s lineup produces a minimum of five runs per game. This means that Yu’s ERA will be the barometer for his success and so far he’s done very well in that department.

Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers

Verlander carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning on the first day of interleague play Friday night, only to have it broken up by a single up the middle by Josh Harriston. But his dominance hasn’t been limited in 2012. In nine starts, Verlander is 5-1 with a sensational 2.14 ERA and it’s clear that the success he had last year wasn’t a fluke nor will the high expectation affect him.

The combination a lights out 100 MPH fastball backed up with a nasty curveball is unhittable. That lethal combination has fans on no-hitter watch every five days when Verlander toes the rubber. Power pitchers like Verlander are prime candidates to win the Cy Young award nowadays, and Verlander is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball when it comes to power pitching.

Derek Lowe, Cleveland Indians

The Indians certainly didn’t expect Lowe to have a 6-1 record with a 2.05 ERA in mid May, but he’s been lights out in his first eight starts this year. His most impressive start of the year came against the Twins on Tuesday where he tossed a complete game shutout.

Lowe’s sinker ball hasn’t been a big strikeout pitch this year. The former Brave has only struck out 13 batters in 52.2 innings pitched, but he’s been effective.

I would be surprised to see him in the running for the Cy Young award at the end of the season, but as of right now, he has the best ERA out of all starters in the American League so give him some credit.

I like to use those opportunities to load up on one-dimensional steals players. I’ve included a couple I would employ in this week’s edition.

(The number in parenthesis is the percentage a guy is owned in a standard Yahoo Sports league. Only guys owned in less than 50% of leagues will appear in the column.)

Jordan Schafer, OF, Houston Astros (49%)

I think the only reason that Schafer dipped below 50% percent is his recent ankle injury. It is troubling for a player who relies on his speed for most of his value to suffer any leg injury, but I don’t think this one is the type to linger. He will hurt your batting average, but he will make up for it with a bunch of steals and runs.

Brennan Boesch, OF, Detroit Tigers (46%)

Boesch started the season miserably which caused a lot of people to drop him, but he has been tearing it up the last two weeks and seems poised to move back up into the Tigers’ lineup. It can’t be too much longer before the potent Tigers’ line really gets heated up and this is one of the last chances to grab a piece of it.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C, Boston Red Sox (26%)

Hmm … a catcher hitting .282 with seven homers, 19 RBIs and 14 runs scored? Yes, I will take that all day long.

AJ Ellis, C, Los Angeles Dodgers (24%)

Another catcher I can’t believe isn’t more owned. Ellis has reached base in 31 of 32 games he has played and is batting .321 with 19 RBIs and 13 runs scored. There’s a lot to like here.

Tony Campana, OF, Chicago Cubs (14%)

He probably won’t hit a single home run and might drive in less than 35 runs this season, but if you need steals and runs scored Campana will help you out. He’s one of the fastest players in the majors, which greatly helps his batting average as well. He’s far from a stud, but if you need a fill-in he could easily provide a five steal week.

Erik Bedard, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates (45%)

I’m surprised that Bedard is still available in 55 percent of all fantasy leagues. Talent has never been a question with Bedard, it’s only health. So far so good there and he is also providing more than a strikeout per inning. The WHIP is a little high, but his career number suggest that will come down.

Anthony Bass, SP, RP, San Diego Padres (28%)

Bass has been consistently solid all season posting a 2.89 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He won’t get many wins on the Padres, but his home park does help his other stats, which balances that out a bit. He strikes out about a batter an inning and has the bonus of position flexibility because his RP status.

Guys getting saves that I can’t believe are still options;

Dale Thayer (45%), Addison Reed (43%), Brian Fuentes (41%), Casey Jassen (35%), Rafael Dolis (35%).

J.D. Martinez, OF, Houston Astros

Martinez was a bright spot for the Astros at the beginning of the season, but he’s cooled off of late. In his last seven games he hasn’t even recorded a hit, let alone an RBI or homerun. Young players tend to go in slumps, so that’s probably what this is for Martinez.

Nick Hundley, C, San Diego Padres

Hundley also started the season at a torrid pace, but he too has cooled off of late. The Padres young catcher is hitting just .080 over his last seven games, and has only recorded one RBI. Hundley is also young, so this too is probably just a mini slump.

Erick Aybar, SS, Los Angeles Angels

The whole Angels lineup is in a rut, and Aybar is just adding to the collective effort. Aybar is hitting just .125 over his last seven ballgames, but has also only stolen just one base. Speed is usually Aybar’s best asset, so that’s also a concerning sign.

Dee Gordon, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers

Gordon is another struggling Los Angeles shortstop whose speed is also his best asset. Ironically Gordon hasn’t stolen a base over his last seven games, and is hitting just .161 during that stretch. Gordon can go on long slumps because he doesn’t have any power or line drive hitting abilities so, we will see what happens.

Rickie Weeks, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers

Weeks has been in a season long funk, but this slump has been particularly bad over his last seven games. Weeks is hitting just .080 over his last seven games, and he’s hitting just .157 on the year. The Brewers need his bat, though, so he should continue to be in the lineup.

Eric Hosmer, 1B, Kansas City Royals

Hosmer was a highly touted fantasy first baseman coming into the season, but that hasn’t shown of late. He’s hitting just .200 over his last seven games with only two runs batted in. Hosmer is a guy I expect to breakout soon because he’s just a solid hitter in general.

Adam Lind, 1B, Toronto Blue Jays

I think fantasy owners have expected a few more homeruns from Lind this season. So far he only has three dingers, and is hitting just .143 over his past seven games. But last year Lind went on a torrid streak, so let’s give a few more weeks before taking action.