Fantasy Baseball's first week of action is about to come to a close and now it's time to gear up for week two.  While some of you maybe licking your wounds from a disappointing week 1, others will be celebrating their early success.  However, now is not the time to either be too high, nor too low.   If you lost your head-to-head matchup or find yourself in the cellar of your Roto league, it's important not to make any rash decisions.  While most experienced owners know that the season is a marathon and not a sprint, it's important to keep that perspective no matter how pitiful your team may look.  The best thing you can do at this point is have faith in the players you have drafted and make the most of your lineup decisions.  Fortunately the GNUru is here to guide you in those very decisions.  So without further adieu, here is the GNUru's look at the hitter and pitchers of Week 2.

Week 2 - GNUru Batter Banter

While you certainly cannot analyze a player based on just 1 week of play, you can determine who is hot and who is not.  While your not going to sit an Alfonso Soriano (.217 AVE) for the hot hitting Eric Byrnes (.384 AVE, 2 HR), looking a who doing well can help you decide between a Chad Tracy (.184 AVE) and a Melvin Mora (.292 AVE, 2 HR, 7 RBI).

 Who's Hot

 Also of interest are the teams that play a full schedule of games:

 8 Games                     7 Games

 
Week 2 - GNUru Rotation Ramblings

With an abundance of rainouts, snow outs, and the utilization of 4-man rotations, predicting who will make 2 starts this week is better left for Miss Cleo.  That said, here who is slated to make 2 starts during fantasy week 2.

Probable Week 2 Double Starters

With an uncertain slate of double starters, it's important to note which pitchers have gotten off to hot starts.  In weekly head-to-head (H2H) leagues, it's often the better strategy to avoid weak double starters and go with pitcher with proven track records (or at least look to be in mid-season form.  Here is a list of which starting pitchers have impressed early and warrant rotation consideration.

 Who's Hot

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As an avid Chicago Cub fan and self-proclaimed fantasy guru, the GNUru had to take the opportunity to look at tonight's matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs.  Not only is this game intriguing because there are bound to be plenty of Cubs fans invading Milwaukee for the weekend series, but it also features two pitchers who have become popular Sexy Picks- Rich Hill and Dave Bush.

Let's start with David Bush.  The 27-year old (yes, that magical pixie dust year according to some) right-handed product of the Toronto Blue Jays organization is coming of his first complete MLB season.  In 2006, Dave won 12 games and posted a mediocre 4.41 ERA.  However, what has fantasy owners intrigued is the fact that he proved durable pitching 210 innings and racked up 166 strikeouts.  His .717 OPS (the GNUru's favorite measure of a pitcher's hittablity) is slightly better than average and is within range of Jake Peavy (though he had a very down year) and Jeremy Bonderman.  Despite these promising numbers, Dave Bush has never shown he can be a dominant pitcher and it's unlikely at this stage in his career that he is going to turn into one.  So what does Dave Bush give you as a fantasy pitcher?  He is going to give you innings, a respectable ERA, a fair amount of K's, and a few wins.  Every fantasy team needs a few players like Dave Bush to provide that consistent effort even if the results are mediocre in fantasy terms.  Mr. Bush will not be a top of the rotation guy for your fantasy squad so set your level of investment and your expectation accordingly.

GNUru Fantasy Analysis:  A career 4^th or 5^th Starter 

Rich Hill is another 27-year old pitcher being looked at to do big things in 2007.  Hill has always been a promising prospect in the Cubs organization but to this point has been slow to develop.  Rich Hill saw the majority of his major league action in 2006 and his cumulative totals were unimpressive- 6-7 with a 4.17 ERA and 90 K's in 99 IP.  What those numbers don't tell you is how dominant he was in the second half of the season.  Hill went 6-3 with a 2.93 ERA in the second half and even more impressive was his 3-1 record and 1.93 ERA in September.  So what changed?  Nothing really.  After a poor start to his MLB career, Hill got sent down to work on his mechanics.  With the Iowa Cubs, Hill went an impressive 7-1 with 1.80 ERA and 135 K's in just 100 IP.  After even more injuries decimated the Chicago Cubs rotation, Hill got the call again and was lights out from there on out.   Although, the left-hander has yet to pitch a complete season in the majors, Hill managed to pitch nearly 200 innings last year.  So what does the future hold for Rich Hill?  The verdict is still out, but, with Rich Hill you have a starting pitcher with a lot of upside that should be a dependable innings eater.  Even though Hill will certainly have a few bumps along the road, he makes a great back of the fantasy rotation pitcher. 

GNUru Fantasy Analysis:  A solid 4^th of 5^th starter with potential to be a #2 down the road   

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EXCERPT: Read the Rest at The Extrapolater  

Voodoo Sabermetrics reminds us that our love for the team includes our love of individual players. We usually have a favorite superstar hitter or pitcher or both. But what about those guys that you just… like? Maybe someone who pinch hits or steals a base now and then. Maybe an aging vet who is like an extra coach in the dugout. Rather than judge everyone by their stats, we’re going to use unique categories and scoring methods to check out baseball’s characters.

Our High Voodoo Council are:

Jack Cobra from 3manlift.com Neighbor Quotient and Scrappiness
Texas Gal from Ladies… Hottness and Behavior
Uncle Sunil from Hurricanes Are For Drinking Atomic Mass and Exposure
Gary Gnu from The GNUru Fantasy Sports Clutchness
Sooze from Babes Love Baseball Jollyness
TC from Mr. Thursday’s Curious Mechanism Appearance and Quotability
Extra P. from The Extrapolater Name Quality (including nicknames)

Today we’re looking at a pitcher with a very bright future ahead of him. If I were starting a pool on when he’d stop carrying Todd Jones’ golf bag and take the closer job for himself, I’d pick a date in the near future. In addition, his personality can go from fastball to off-speed at a moment’s notice.

Clutchness: How fitting we feature the man who takes the mound to the Jimi Hendrix song “Voodoo Child” in this week’s edition of Voodoo Sabermetrics. Joel Zumaya’s legendary fastball and rock star attitude are reminiscent of Voodoo Sabermetrics’ poster boy Pedro Cerrano’s teammate Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn- talk about Deja Voo Doo.

Although Zumaya has garnered much attention due to his +100 MPH heater, Zumaya’s reliability in the clutch is questionable. Much like Rick Vaughn (as well as former Cub Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams), Zumaya has been known to add a few grey hairs to Jim Leyland’s already silver locks. In 6 save opportunities, Zumaya was able to produce just 1 save. On top of that, Zumaya was sidelined during the 2006 American League Championship Series by a wrist injury while trying to emulate his idol Jimi Hendrix on the Play Station 2 game, “Guitar Hero”.

Despite that, opponents hit only .187 off Joel Zumaya. Even more impressive is the fact that opponents hit just .197 against him in the 7th inning or later with the batting team either ahead by one run, tied or with the potential tying run at least on deck. While Zumaya can’t be considered one of the Clutchiest relievers in the league, he is well on his way. The scary thing is he is only 22 years old!!

GNUru Clutchness Factor: 7.25

Read the Rest at The Extrapolater 

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