Niktigs's Baseball Blog

Power Rankings: 5/5/13

niktigs — Mon, 06 May 2013 04:43:07 +0000

Tigers
Cardinals
Rangers
Red Sox
Braves
Giants
Yankees
Royals
Reds
Rockies
Athletics
Nationals
Orioles
Diamondbacks
Pirates
Rays
Dodgers
Mariners
Phillies
Indians
Brewers
Mets
Twins
White Sox
Padres
Cubs
Angels
Blue Jays
Marlins
Astros

MLB Power Rankings: 4/17/13

niktigs — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:27:22 +0000

RANK	TEAM
1	Braves
2	Nationals
3	Athletics
4	Tigers
5	Red Sox
6	Giants
7	Rockies
8	Reds
9	Yankees
10	Cardinals
11	Diamondbacks
12	Orioles
13	Rangers
14	Dodgers
15	Blue Jays
16	Mets
17	Phillies
18	White Sox
19	Royals
20	Twins
21	Rays
22	Brewers
23	Indians
24	Angels
25	Pirates
26	Mariners
27	Cubs
28	Padres
29	Marlins
30	Astros

Opening Home Series Preview: Yankees @ Tigers

niktigs — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:03:37 +0000

PREDICTIONS:
Friday: Yankees 3 Tigers 7
Saturday: Yankees 1 Tigers 10
Sunday: Yankees 4 Tigers 5
PITCHING MATCH-UPS
FRIDAY- Doug Fister vs Ivan Nova- Nova is good and usually lucky, but a team like the Tigers can get to him. Fister always looks impressive in big games and his first start should be just that. he should mow down Yankees hitters PREDICTED LINE: Nova: 4 IP 5 ER 11 H 4 K 2 BB Fister IP 2 ER 6 H 8K 1 BB
SATURDAY- Max Scherzer vs David Phelps- Phelps shouldn’t even be a match for the Tigers. Scherzer should be pumped and pitch well at Comerica. Expect him to be in the form he was in during August of last year. And expect a ton of K’s. PREDICTED LINE Phelps 3 IP 7 ER 10 H 3 K 4 BB Scherzer 7 IP 1 ER 4 H 11 K 3 BB
SUNDAY- Justin Verlander vs CC Sabathia- The battle of the aces is going to be a good one, but Verlander should win, because he is the ace after all. He has everything working for him and should kick off 2013 with a bang, like he did 2011. Sabathia should do good but I can’t see him winning this one. PREDICTED LINE Sabathia 6.2 IP 3 ER 7 H 8 K 2 BB Verlander 7 IP 2 ER 5 H 10 K 1 BB
HITTING: It should be a slugfest. Expect big series from the Tigers big guns and the Yankees should have good series from Hafner, Boesch, and Cano.
ANALYSIS: The Tigers always play the Yankees well and the Tigers also usually play well during their first series of the year. With the team they have they can handle the Yankees, just like they did last year with the Red Sox. I expect a lot of guys on the Tigers to come out of this series with impressive stats.
KEYS: Fir the Yankees it’s to hold the offense like the Twins were able too and for the Tigers it’s too heat up and gain momentum
Series Hero: 3B Miguel Cabrera

2013 MLB Predicitions

niktigs — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:39:31 +0000

TEAM	W	L
TOR	98	64
TB	94	68
NYY	87	75
BAL	79	83
BOS	77	85
	W	L
DET	95	67
CLE	82	80
KC	78	84
CHW	74	88
MIN	70	92
	W	L
LAA	94	68
OAK	88	74
TEX	84	78
SEA	76	86
HOU	54	108
	W	L
WSH	96	66
ATL	93	69
PHI	82	80
NYM	69	93
MIA	65	97
	W	L
STL	95	67
CIN	92	70
PIT	83	79
MIL	77	85
CHC	71	91
	W	L
LAD	97	65
SF	88	74
ARZ	83	79
SD	73	89
COL	67	95
PLAYOFFS
WC	ATL	over	CIN
	TB	over	OAK
NLDS	ATL	over	LAD in 5
	WSH	over	STL in 4
ALDS	TB	over	TOR in 5
	DET	over	LAA in 5
NLCS	ATL	over	WSH in 7
ALCS	DET	over	TB in 6
WS	DET	over	ATL in 6
AWARDS	WINNER	SECOND
AL MVP	Fielder	Cabrera
AL CY	Verlander	Hernandez
AL ROY	Myers	Bauer
AL MAN	Maddon	Gibbons
NL MVP	Votto	Ramirez
NL CY	Bumgarner	Kershaw
NL ROY	Fujikawa	Brantly
NL MAN	Gonzalez	Johnson
AL/NL CP	Ellsbury	and	Votto

MLB Pick’em: Opening Day 2013

niktigs — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:05:17 +0000

WINNER	LOSER
Yankees	Red Sox
Marlins	Nationals
Mets	Padres
Pirates	Cubs
Brewers	Rockies
Reds	Angels
White Sox	Royals
Dodgers	Giants
Braves	Phillies
Athletics	Mariners
Diamondbacks	Cardinals
Tigers	Twins

2013 MLB Bold Predictions: One for every MLB Team

niktigs — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:49:09 +0000

Boston: Jon Lester finishes the Year with an ERA under 3.20
New York: They fail to make the playoffs for the first time since 2008
Tampa Bay: Price, Hellickson, and Moore become three of the top pitchers in the MLB
Baltimore: Manny Machado leads the team in most offensive categories
Toronto: Lead the league in ERA and Home Runs

Detroit: Fielder and Cabrera combine for over 80 homers and Verlander wins 23
Kansas City: Eric Hosmer breaks out in Freddie Freeman type fashion
Cleveland: Drew Stubbs contends for a 30-30 season
Minnesota: The team finds an ace mid season- Kyle Gibson
Chicago: Addison Reed emerges as an elite closer

Houston: They start off decent, but do what everyone expects after, then call up their prospects and go .500 in September
Oakland: The rookies don’t have sophomore sumps and they stay hot
Texas: The offense weakens and is one of the worst in the league
LA Angels: Their offensive saves them and they lead the league in walk-off victories
Seattle: Jason Bay is one of their top hitters

Atlanta: The whole outfield has 20-20 seasons
Washington: Win 100 games
Philadelphia: Ben Revere steals 60 bases
New York: David Wright gets 200 hits, 30 HR, and is second best 3B in baseball
Miami: Jacob Turner becomes their ace

St Louis: They find a way to scrap out another division title despite the injury plague
Chicago: They improve by 10-15 wins
Cincinnati: Zack Cozart becomes a breakout star
Milwaukie: John Axford and Rickie Weeks repeat their 2011 seasons
Pittsburgh: Garrett Jones dries in 100 runs and leads the team to 83 wins

LA Dodgers: Kershaw and Grienke become top 1-2 pitching punch in baseball quickly
San Francisco: Miss the postseason the year after winning it all, like they did in 2010
Colorado: The offense is top 5 in the NL
Arizona: The starters have a combined ERA under 3.50
San Diego: Andrew Cashner and Yonder Alonso become the starts of the Padres

2013 Tigers Hitting Projections

niktigs — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 04:42:22 +0000

POSITION	PLAYER	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	R	SB
C	Alex Avila	16	70	280	361	65	3
1B	Prince Fielder	42	118	310	423	96	1
2B	Omar Infante	9	53	285	329	79	10
3B	Miguel Cabrera	40	128	337	420	116	5
SS	Jhonny Peralta	19	76	279	330	62	1
LF	Andy Dirks	14	64	294	349	72	7
CF	Austin Jackson	18	70	304	390	102	16
RF	Torii Hunter	21	82	287	359	80	5
DH	Victor Martinez	17	100	317	378	83	0
C	Brayan Pena	3	23	265	301	18	0
UT	Don Kelly	7	36	258	298	25	7
IF	Ramon Santiago	2	22	247	290	23	2
UT	Matt Tuiasosopo	10	34	270	309	20	2
OF	Quintin Berry	1	22	247	307	29	13

Fantasy Baseball 2013: Relief Pitcher Rankings

niktigs — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:11:12 +0000

I have Storen and Soriano high because whoever closes will do great and whoever sets up could be a closer on almost any other team in baseball.

RANK

PLAYER

TIER

Craig Kimbrel

Mariano Rivera

Fernando Rodney

Jason Motte

Drew Storen

Jim Johnson

Joel Hanrahan

Rafael Soriano

Huston Street

Jon Paplebon

Joe Nathan

John Axford

Sergio Romo

Chris Perez

JJ Putz

Steve Cishek

Ryan Madson

Greg Holland

Jon Broxton

Brandon League

Addison Reed

Grant Balfour

Tom Wilhelmsen

Glen Perkins

Bruce Rondon

Jason Grilli

Casey Janseen

Carlos Marmol

Frank Francisco

Ernesto Frieri

Jose Veras

Brian Wilson

Jose Valverde

Sean Marshall

Ryan Cook

Joakim Soria

Sergio Santos

Kyuji Fujikawa

Rafael Bentancourt

Kenley Jansen

Vinnie Pestano

Tyler Clippard

Luke Gregerson

Joaquin Benoit

Phil Coke

David Hernandez

Santaigo Cassia

Bobby Parnell

Jake Mcgee

Joel Peralta

Kelvin Herrera

Tim Collins

Aaron Crow

David Robertson

Brad Ziegler

Heath Bell

Joba Chamberlin

Scott Downs

Alfredo Aceves

Sean Doolittle

Wilton Lopez

Steve Delabar

Octavio Dotel

Antonio Bastardo

Trevor Rosenthal

Fantasy Baseball 2013: Third Base Rankings

niktigs — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 04:22:09 +0000

RANK	PLAYER	$	TIER
1	Miguel Cabrera	44	1
2	Evan Longoria	32	2
3	David Wright	30	2
4	Adrain Beltre	29	2
5	Ryan Zimmerman	26	2
6	Pablo Sandoval	22	3
7	Chase Headley	22	3
8	Aramis Ramirez	20	3
9	Brett Lawrie	19	3
10	David Freese	17	4
11	Mike Moustakas	16	4
12	Michael Young	13	4
13	Will Middlebrooks	13	4
14	Martin Prado	12	4
15	Kyle Seager	11	4
16	Kevin Youkilis	10	5
17	Manny Machado	10	5
18	Todd Frazier	10	5
19	Pedro Alvarez	9	5
20	Chris Johnson	8	5
21	Alberto Callaspo	7	5
22	Lonnie Chisenhall	7	5
23	Josh Donaldson	6	5
24	Luis Cruz	6	5
25	Jordan Pacheco	5	5
26	Matt Carpetner	5	5
27	Trevor Plouffe	4	6
28	Mike Olt	4	6
29	Juan Francisco	3	6
30	Ian Stewart	3	6
31	Josh Vitters	2	6
32	Alex Rodriguez	2	6
33	Eric Chavez	2	6
34	Jedd Gyorko	2	6
35	Greg Dobbs	1	6
36	Placido Polanco	1	6
37	Wilson Betemit	1	6
38	Kevin Frandsen	0	6
39	Luis Valbuena	0	6
40	Zack Cox	0	7
41	Taylor Green	0	7
42	Matt Dominguez	0	7
43	Nolan Arrenado	0	7
44	Anthony Rendon	0	7
45	Brent Lillibridge	0	7

Fantasy Baseball 2013: Shortstop Rankings

niktigs — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 03:52:46 +0000

RANK

PLAYER

TIER

Troy Tulowitzki

Jose Reyes

Hanley Ramirez

Starlin Castro

Elvis Andrus

Ian Desmond

Asdrubal Cabrera

Jimmy Rollins

Derek Jeter

Alcides Escobar

Alexei Ramirez

JJ Hardy

Zack Cozart

Jhonny Peralta

Erick Aybar

Andrelton Simmons

Stephen Drew

Yunel Escobar

Jean Segura

Evereth Cabrera

Jed Lowrie

Dee Gordon

Cliff Pennington

Brandon Crawford

Mike Aviles

Sean Rodriguez

Ruben Tejada

Hiroyuki Nakajima

Eduardo Nunez

Pete Kozma

Alex Gonzalez

Brian Doizer

Adieny Hechevarria

Clint Barmas

Brendan Ryan

Jason Donald

Willie Bloomquist

Nick Franklin

Ronny Cedeno

Rafael Furcal