Looking beyond the numbers
David Gonos takes a look at some of the numbers that are affecting Fantasy owners over the past couple months.
There's nothing more telling in Fantasy Baseball than the pure numbers.
Once again, here's a quick look at several numbers that should certainly interest you as you come down the home stretch in your search for a Fantasy title -- or look ahead to your draft next season.
0 -- The number of pitchers on pace to reach the 20-win milestone this season. According to the San Jose Mercury News, at least one pitcher has reached the 20-win mark in every non-strike season since the Modern Era began in 1900. "It's too early to start making projections like that," said Barry Zito, a 23-game winner in 2002. "But for the pitchers who have a chance, it's going to come down to run support." The absence of upper-echelon pitching has really hurt those owners that used picks on pitchers early in the draft. Remember this for next season: You can always make up ground in starting pitching.
.001 -- The batting percentage points that Dodgers rookie Andre Ethier (.344) is behind NL-leading Freddy Sanchez (.345) if he had enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title.
.115 -- That's what Angels' prospect Howie Kendrick hit in his first stint this season in 10 games.
.396 -- That's what Kendrick is hitting in 23 games so far in his second stint in the majors, dating back to July 16. Obviously, he's acclimating to the majors much better with regular playing time as the Angels' get him time at first and second base.
1.59 -- Philadelphia rookie Cole Hamels ERA in his past four starts. And even more impressive is the fact that he has walked only five batters in that span, to go with 34 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings.
2.69 -- Aaron Harang's home ERA (5.09) is that much higher than his road ERA (2.40) with 20 fewer earned runs. In his past five road appearances, dating back to July 3, Harang has a 3.08 ERA. He ranks second in the NL with 154 strikeouts and he's sixth with 12 wins. The big fella is having a career season and big things should follow from here on. The Reds have 25 road games upcoming (compared to only 19 at home), so expect his numbers to continue to flourish.
3.10 -- The ERA posted by the Brewers' pitching staff since acquiring closer Francisco Cordero from the Rangers on July 28.
3.69 -- The Rockies' pitching staff's majors-leading ERA after the All-Star break. Without question, the curveballs are breaking again at Coors Field and pitchers no longer have to worry about adding a run to their career ERA if they pitch there. Their five regular starters all have an ERA at or below 4.65, led by Jeff Francis' 3.39 and Jason Jennings 3.44. Last year, no Rockies pitcher with more than 13 starts had an ERA under 4.65.
6 -- The number of blown saves registered by Cleveland's bullpen in nine chances since the break.
6.06 -- Javier Vazquez's ERA since my article told you to trade him on May 9. The White Sox continue to get him wins (seven in that span), but he has given up at least five earned runs in nine of his past 17 starts.
7 -- Milton Bradley (112) has scored that many more basic Head-to-Head points than Ethier (107), the player he was traded for, since coming back from a shoulder injury on July 14. Unfortunately for the A's, Bradley also has that many career ejections (seven).
7 -- The number of times that the damaged Brad Radke has reached at least seven innings in his past 10 starts, despite a shoulder (torn labrum) that's barely hanging on. He's 5-1 in his past seven starts and he's only allowed more than two runs just once in that span. His ERA has dropped 3.01 runs since May 23. He can barely use his right arm on his off days and his battery-mates are calling for fewer curveballs. His Fantasy owners should realize they are getting solid stats on borrowed time.
11 -- The number of players in major league history that have eclipsed Carl Crawford's projected numbers of 182 hits, 23 doubles, 16 triples and 20 homers.
11 -- Save opportunities for Joe Borowski since the All-Star break, second only to Mariano Rivera in the majors. He has only one blown save in that span and the Marlins continue to hand him the ball regularly. He's still only owned in 66 percent of CBS SportsLine leagues.
20 -- The numbers of games that Rangers rookie Ian Kinsler has hit safely in over the past 30 games, dating back to the start of July.
23 -- The number of extra-base hits by Luis Gonzalez after the All-Star break. Only Alfonso Soriano has as many in that span. The 17-year veteran is batting .351 with a 1.084 OPS after the break.
44 -- The number of basehits for Adrian Gonzalez since the All-Star break. He leads his team in hits (127), doubles (27), home runs (20), RBI (60), slugging (.514) and total bases (216). Yet he's unowned in 17 percent of CBS SportsLine leagues.
70 -- The percentage of CBS SportsLine leagues that don't have Reed Johnson currently starting. The Blue Jays' leadoff man is having a career season and is on pace to score almost 100 runs and his .337 batting average would be good enough for third in the AL if he had enough at-bats.
94 -- The mph that Esteban Loaiza was actually reaching with his reborn fastball on Sunday. He allowed one earned run on three hits in eight innings and it appears his velocity is back. Grab him in larger mixed leagues while he's pitching well.
And here's my favorite e-mail that was sent in from Jon Kauffmann-Kennel:
1 + 3 = 0 -- Since the All-Star break, Scott Podsednik has one home run and three steals, making his Fantasy value close to zero.














