The Sports Idiot

Over at InsideTheMajors.com, Bart Given looks at things from a front office perspective.  He should know, since he is the former VP of Baseball Operations and GM of the Toronto Blue Jays.  Mr. Given has a great entry up breaking down the Prior List, and he will be posting a second entry about it soon.  I am going to refrain from doing any cutting and pasting, or quoting so that you will check out his entry if you are interested in learning more about how the Prior List is used and why.

The Atlanta Braves have pushed Kenshin Kawakami’s next start back due to soreness in his right shoulder.  He was blown up on Sunday by the Reds, giving up eight earned runs in just 4.2 innings of work.  When he was pitching in Japan, he was part of a six man rotation, so it is understandable that he needs time to adjust to taking the hill more frequently.  However, it is never a good sign when a pitcher is experiencing discomfort in his throwing shoulder.

The Braves have not announced that they have any intentions of placing Kawakami on the Prior List, as far as I know.  This move allows them to give dude three extra days of rest, while taking advantage of today’s off day to keep all of the other starters on their regular fifth day schedules.  My fantasy advice is to cut ties with Kawakami until he shows that he can pitch in the Majors.

What in the blue hell is wrong with the Kansas City Royals?  Joakim Soria has not pitched since April 13th due to a sore pitching shoulder.  That is already 15 days of roster space wasted for the Royals.  They are hoping to get Soria back this weekend, so at this point it could be a moot point, but this is just puzzling to me.  Why would you not put him on the Prior List and use the roster spot?  If anyone knows a reason, please fill me in.

NC State fans know Andrew Brackman pretty well, as he was a two sport star during his time in Raleigh.  New York Yankee fans will one day know the kid’s name pretty well themselves.  The sports betting guys will learn to love him also. The Yankees took Brackman with their first round pick in the 2007 draft.  When they did so, Brackman was experiencing elbow pain, which lead to him getting Tommy John surgery later that year.  Just to make sure he would not see any time on the diamond in 2008 he went ahead and had an appendectomy.

Now Brack is back, however, and he is working on getting back into form.  Andrew is a big kid, going for 6′10″ and 270 pounds.  With a high 90’s fastball that he can reach back and get triple digits on from time to time, Brack can overpower batters.  He can also fool them with his curve, choosing either the conventional style or a knuckle curve.  Brack is developing a changeup, and when he masters it look out.

While he is not expected to contribute to the big league club this year, Brack is on the 40 man active roster.  Baseball America pegged him as the number three prospect in the Yankees’ system, and they think that with his athletic ability that he surpasses other tall pitchers in his ability to be consistent with his delivery and his “aptitude” of the game.  If you check out Brack’s stats so far this season, you will not be overly impressed.  He touts a 5.23 ERA through four starts.  In those four starts he has only logged 20.2 innings, but of course he is on a tight pitch count to open the year.  His K/9 is sitting at 8.9, but his B/9 sits at 3.5.  Credit much of that to rust; Brackman did miss about a year and a half of time due to his injuries.

So while Brack sits here on April 30th with a record of 0 – 2, a 5.23 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP, you should still take notice of him.  At age 23, he should begin his climb towards the Majors this season.  So if you live in Charleston, go see him pitch for the RiverDogs before it is too late.  I do not expect him to be there too long.  I also do not expect him to be called up this year, and if he is it will be late in the season.  Brack should have zero impact on the 2009 fantasy baseball season.

Back on April 16th we told you to add Nick Swisher.  It has taken him a while, but he finally paid us back tonight by going yard not once, but twice against the Tigers.  In the process he brought home four RBIs and brought his OPS back up to 1.136.  Dude is still available in 50% of Yahoo leagues, so those of you riding out Berkman need to consider picking up Swisher.  He is eligible at first and in the outfield, so he has flexibility value as well.

Yovani Gallardo struck out 11 Pirates on his way to a 1 – 0 win today.  Gallardo also provided all of the run production for the Brewers as he jacked a solo shot over the left field wall in the bottom of the seventh inning.  Gallardo wound up going eight innings, and only surrendering two hits and one walk to the Pirates.  Carlos Villanueva pitched the ninth for his second save of the season.

Contact Lenses Make My Eyes Red

So last night Brian McCann made his first of two rehab games for Class A Myrtle Beach.  How did it go?  That depends on your logic.  McCann thinks it went really well, and says that he could see better than he has in a long time.  Maybe I’m just a skeptic, but when dude strikes out looking while facing a single A pitcher I get my doubts.  We’ll see how he does tonight, but I still say he needs to quit playing around and have Lasik again.

Thanks guys.  No really, I mean that.  I did not want to watch the end of Game Seven between the Canes and Devils last night.  The preferred programming was indeed watching your round table of mullets talk about the Rangers and Caps.  Makes more sense than showing the end of what will go down as another classic series between New Jersey and Carolina.  Luckily for me, my good friends over at 850 The Buzz have the video up.

Question, who did Coach K root for during that series?

Joel Hanrahan is the latest victim of the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen killing offense.  After getting blown up by Raul Ibanez on Monday, Hanrahan is sitting with an 8.64 ERA and has already given up three long balls.  As a matter of fact, dude has blown three of his five save opportunities, which makes him pretty much worthless right now.

This does not mean that Hanrahan can not reclaim the closer’s job, but Nats’ Manager Manny Acta has already declared a closer by committee.  That is pretty funny to me, because the Nats’ bully has combined for six blown saves on the year.  Kip Wells and Julian Tavarez are the expected players here, but unless you are in dire need for saves, stay the hell away until Hanrahan gains control again.  If I were going to choose one of the two, it would be Wells.  Proceed with caution.

Brad Lidge has not pitched since Saturday.  Why?  His right knee, you know, the one he was cut on twice before, is acting up.  Apparently his knee is inflammed, and an MRI on it showed no real damage. The Phillies have not announced that Lidge is going on the Prior List, mind you, but Brad is going to need to go to time out for a few days while he rests his knee.  Thus it would be in their best interest if they went ahead and did so.  It would also be in Lidge’s fantasy owners best interest. Ryan Madson is not available in your league, but he is the guy who will be getting saves while Lidge is out.