I had planned on writing my Friday column about Chris
Young, the Padres pitcher making a comeback Monday at Dodger Stadium. Young
has been one of the top twenty fantasy starting pitchers over the two seasons
preceding this one, but he's encountered some difficult times this year. Between
nearly having his head cut off by an Albert Pujols line drive and then
straining his right (pitching) forearm, Young was no longer considered a top
starter. Indeed, the owner in my NFBC league who had Young cut him, and I had the
foresight to pick him up.
With Young scheduled to face the Dodgers on Monday and then pitch at Milwaukee on Saturday,
I had the unique opportunity to activate Young and take advantage of his two-start week. So, had I written this column on Friday, I would have explained why
I activated Young and sat Bronson Arroyo, Mark Buerhle, and John
Lannon.
Well, family commitments came in the way, and this Friday
column is actually being written Monday night, following the Dodgers-Padres
game. I was so excited about Young’s return (he was drafted in the 6th
round and I got him off of the waiver wire) that I called in a favor and got
tickets for the game.
Within about six pitches, I was sick to my stomach. Young
had no movement on the ball, not enough velocity to throw the ball by anyone
(including Greg Maddux), and no real fielders in back of him. The Dodgers
hit Young reasonably hard, the Padres made one physical error and about a
half-dozen of the mental variety, and Young and the Padres lost to the Dodgers
5-2.
Sometimes you hear something to the effect of, “the game was
closer than the score would indicate.” Not this time. Had the Padres kept Young
in the game longer than five innings, I might be writing about two Dodgers
hitting for the cycle in one game. (Parenthetically, having Adrian Beltre and
Stephen Drew both hit for the cycle in one day is truly remarkable.)
While I’m on a tangent, you may wish to move Drew way up in
your list for next season. Drew, who is 25 and in his second full season, finally
seems to have put it all together. His .289 average and 15 home runs don’t
tell the entire story. This young man is growing up, right before our eyes. He’s
hitting over .330 after the All-Star break, and a season of .300 with 20 home
runs is well within reasonable expectations.
Back to Chris Young, regrettably. Young’s next start is, as
indicated, at Milwaukee, making him
a poor play. In one regard, I was in need of wins, with a smaller, but
discernable, need for strikeouts. I figured that two Young starts were better
than a lone start by Arroyo, Lannon or Buehrle. I was obviously wrong.
My NFBC team is currently leading Las Vegas League 9 by
twelve points, with three teams within two points of one another. With second,
third, and fourth place changing daily, I never know who to root against. I’ve
had about a ten-point lead for almost a month now, and things are looking
reasonably strong.
Concurrently, my team is now in 14th place (out
of 390) in the overall competition. This leads to some difficult decisions. While
I want to maintain my twelve-point league lead, I also want to move up on the
overall to cash there (the top eleven cash, with first place worth $100,000.00
and second place worth $20,000.00).
I’m solid on league wins, but every win in the overall is
worth almost ten point; hence the Chris Young play. I also need saves, which
necessitates using three closers (Luis Ayala, B.J. Ryan, and Joe
Nathan), so to maximize wins, I figured I need two-start starters. Instead
of getting wins and strikeouts (Young had 3 Ks), I hurt my ERA and ratio,
with a game at Milwaukee to come.
The morale here is clear. Putting an inferior two-start play
ahead of a safe one-start play is certainly not the best move. Taking care with
starting pitching over the last month is paramount. Like any parent says, “do
as I say, not as I do.” Don’t take the risk, it isn’t worth it.
Until next week, best of luck.
Buster