Friday, June 24, 2011

2011 NHL Entry Draft: Predictions

Every year, there are a few top names that normally go according to form. This season will probably not be much different, though the order of those players from 1 through 4 may not be exact. In John Tavares's draft year, it was about the big three of Tavares, Victor Hedman, and Matt Duchene. Last year, the forward tandem of Taylor Hall and (Stanley Cup Champion) Tyler Seguin were all the rage. This year, there are three forwards and a defenseman that are around the top.

This is great news for the New Jersey Devils, who pick fourth, and less so for the New York Islanders, who select fifth, if they elect to make their selections. There is always the possibility of trading the pick to move up, down, or out of the first round. The Islanders could speed up their rebuild by trading down in some sort of package and, for the Devils, salary cap relief is mighty important to them if they want to be able afford to sign Zach Parise before arbitration or afford the award without breaking up the team.

In most publications and prognostications, with available time and money to watch these superteens play, have the top four pegged, in some order, as forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Sean Couturier, Gabriel Landeskog, and defenseman Adam Larsson.

My picks for the first five selections:
1. Edmonton - C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
2. Colorado - D Adam Larsson
3. Florida - LW Gabriel Landeskog
4. DEVILS - D Dougie Hamilton
5. ISLANDERS - F Sean Couturier
8. FLYERS - F Ryan Strome
9. BRUINS - D Ryan Murphy
15. RANGERS - RW Tyler Biggs

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Fantasy Weekend - MLB Week 9

Each week on our Fantasy Weekend show (Saturday mornings, 11am ET), we look back on the last seven days and reveal our picks for the best of the past week. Our regular installments of the Weekly Best, the Lines of the Week, our Stock Up/Stock Down segment, as well as Local Leaders for the four local teams we cover (Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, and Mets).

Listen to the podcast (Sports With The StatMan - No. 148) for all of this and more, including a look at injuries around baseball, and a look at the upcoming week with two-start pitchers and a look at next week’s schedule.

This post covers the past seven days leading up to the Saturday morning show from Saturday, May 28th and Friday, June 3rd.

WEEKLY BEST
HITTERS
#1. RF Nelson Cruz TEX – 39 points
#2. RF Justin Upton ARZ – 37 points
#3. 1B Mike Napoli TEX – 36 points

PITCHERS
#1. SP Jered Weaver LAA – 57 points
#2. RP Heath Bell SDG – 56 points
#3. SP Cole Hamels PHL – 50 points

LINES OF THE WEEK
HITTERS
#1. 1B Aubrey Huff SFO - 4-5, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 3 R (22 pts) (6/2 at STL)
#2. C Chris Iannetta COL - 4-5, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 R (18 pts) (5/28 vs STL)
#3. RF Justin Upton ARZ - 5-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 SB (17 pts) (5/30 vs FLA)

PITCHERS
#1. SP Clayton Kershaw LAD - 2-hit CG ShO W, 1 BB, 10 K (48 pts) (5/29 vs FLA)
#2. SP Ubaldo Jimenez COL - 4-hit CG ShO W, 0 BB, 7 K (44 pts) (5/30 at LAD)
#3. SP Bartolo Colon NYY - 4-hit CG ShO W, 0 BB, 6 K (43 pts) (5/30 at OAK)

STOCK UP
HITTERS
#1. RF Endy Chavez TEX – O/S: 0%/0%, .435/.469/.696, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 SB, 11 R, 46 AB (54 pts); last 11 GP: 20-37, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 2B, 1 3B, 11 R, 55 pts (6 5-pt games)
#2. CF Rajai Davis TOR – O/S: 56%/45%, .288/.323/.418, 1 HR, 14 RBI, 16/23 SB/O, 24 R, 153 AB (97 pts); last 22 GP: 32-87, HR, 12 RBI, 14 R, 8 2B, 3 3B, 9/14 SB/O, 71 pts (10 multi-hit games)
#3. OF Juan Pierre CHW – O/S: 68%/48%, .261/.329/.313, 1 HR, 14 RBI, 10/18 SB/O, 28 R, 230 AB (118 pts); last 8 GP: 9-34, HR, 5 RBI, 9 R, 1 3B, 5 BB, 3 K, 3 SB, 36 pts

PITCHERS
#1. SP Josh Collmenter ARZ – O/S: 26%/15%, 4-1, 1.25/0.67, 43.1 IP, 24 H, 5 BB, 26 K (136 pts); as a starter (5 GS): 3-1, 29.1 IP, 16 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 15 K, 94 pts
#2. SP Philip Humber CHW – O/S: 31%/14%, 4-3, 3.06/0.98, 67.2 IP, 52 H, 14 BB, 38 K (132 pts); last 7 GS: 49.1 IP, 33 H, 14 ER, 9 BB, 27 K, 118 pts
#3. SP Kevin Correia PIT – O/S: 51%/23%, 8-4, 3.40/1.20, 76.2 IP, 75 H, 17 BB, 34 K (135 pts); last 3 GS: 3-0, 20 IP, 17 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 10 K, 61 pts

STOCK DOWN
HITTERS
#1. 2B Dan Uggla ATL – O/S: 98%/78%, .172/.242/.312, 7 HR, 16 RBI, 215 AB (74 pts); last 13 GP: 3-43, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K, minus-1 pt
#2. 1B Adam Dunn CHW – O/S: 97%/70%, .182/.327/.324, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 72 K, 176 AB (59 pts); last 20 GP: 9-68, HR, 7 RBI, 4 R, 3 2B, 14 BB, 32 K, 7 pts (11 “minus” GP)
#3. RF Nick Markakis BAL – O/S: 96%/82%, .239/.305/.311, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 4 SB, 222 AB (106 pts); last 15 GP: 14-63, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 6 R, 5 BB, 10 K, 1 SB, 19 pts (5 GP of 0 pts or fewer)

PITCHERS
#1. RP Joakim Soria KCY – O/S: 90%/71%, 3-3, 7 SV, 6.00/1.54, 24 IP, 19 K (64 pts); since 5/22 (6 APP): 0-3, 0/3 SV/O, 6.1 IP, 12 H, 7 K, minus-24 pts
#2. RP Carlos Marmol CHC – O/S: 95%/87%, 1-2, 10 SV, 3.33/1.32, 24.1 IP, 32 K (121 pts); since 5/19 (6 APP): 0-1, 1/2 SV/O, 5.1 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 7 K, minus-4 pts
#3. SP Justin Masterson CLE – O/S: 94%/66%, 5-4, 3.28/1.31, 79.2 IP, 58 K (138 pts); since 5/12 (5 GS): 0-4, 32.2 IP, 35 H, 14 BB, 24 K, 9 pts

HOT PICK-UPS
HITTERS
#1. OF Corey Patterson TOR – O/S: 24%/20%, .285/.314/.446, 4 HR, 27 RBI, 7 SB, 193 AB (113 pts); last 6 GP: 11-29, 17 TB, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 28 pts
#2. OF Josh Willingham OAK – O/S: 33%/24%, .250/.327/.467, 10 HR, 37 RBI, 184 AB (110 pts); last 7 GP: 10-27, 23 TB, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 31 pts
#3. 1B Ty Wigginton COL – O/S: 22%/11%, .254/.308/.459, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 122 AB, 1B/3B/OF elig. (71 pts); last 5 GP: 6-17, 15 TB, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 17 pts

PITCHERS
#1. RP Aaron Crow KCY – New CL (Soria); O/S: 11%/6%; 2-0, 1.33/1.04, 27 IP, 26 K (93 pts); last 8 APP: 2 HD, 10.2 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 10 K, 32 pts
#2. SP Dillon Gee NYM – O/S: 20%/15%; 5-0, 3.83/1.15, 47 IP, 37 K (95 pts); last 3 GS: 3-0, 20.2 IP, 11 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 15 K, 62 pts
#3. SP Jordan Lyles HOU – 1st ML start: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (17 pts)

LOCAL LEADERS
HITTERS
#1. DH David Ortiz BOS – .474/.524/1.053, 9-19, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B (32 pts)
#2. SS Derek Jeter NYY – .318/.467/.409, 7-22, RBI, 2 2B, 6 BB, 0 K, 2 SB (27 pts)
#3. SS Jose Reyes NYM – .529/.556/.941, 9-17, RBI, 2B, 3 3B, 2 SB (25 pts) (Cano 25 pts, 8-25, 2 HR)

PITCHERS
#1. SP Cole Hamels PHL – 1-0, 2 QS, 1.80/0.73, 15 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 14 K (50 pts)
#2. SP Bartolo Colon NYY – 4-hit CG ShO W, 0 BB, 6 K (43 pts)
#3. SP Jonathon Niese BOS – 1-0, 2 QS, 1.29/1.29, 14 IP, 13 H, 5 BB, 13 K (42 pts)

Key – O/S: Owned/Starting in CBS Sports fantasy leagues; “minus” GP: a game in which a player scored negative fantasy points; statistics are season totals unless otherwise noted

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