{"id":519053,"date":"2010-04-07T10:18:26","date_gmt":"2010-04-07T14:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"urn:newsml:sports.yahoo,yhoo:20050301:fantasy,article,yhoo-ept_sports_fantasy_experts-232628:1"},"modified":"2010-04-07T10:18:26","modified_gmt":"2010-04-07T14:18:26","slug":"flames-acquire-ricky-nolasco-if-you-want-to-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/519053","title":{"rendered":"Flames: Acquire Ricky Nolasco if you want to live"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
<\/p>\n

Want to ridicule the Noise for his Billy Butler<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> obsession or misguided projections? Humiliate him in 140 characters or less on Twitter<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n

In the case of Florida’s
\nRicky Nolasco<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> looks are most definitely deceiving. <\/p>\n

Over the first several weeks of the ’09 season, the
\nhigh-profiled righty tormented his faithful backers. Though he earned the win Opening Day, his five earned runs against the lowly Nationals set the stage for
\nhis next nine appearances. By May 22nd, Nolasco’s ERA, which had pigged out on
\nBartolo Burgers, fattened to a ghastly 9.07. His breakthrough campaign the
\nprevious year quickly became a distant memory. For an unlucky pitcher (.336 BABIP in ’09) with excellent
\nperipherals, his early season demise was perplexing to say the least. <\/p>\n

Mentally drained and physically exhausted, the beaten
\nstarter was banished to Triple-A New Orleans in late May. Fredi Gonzalez blamed
\nthe hurler’s horrific start on fastball timidity. Nolasco simply wasn’t
\nattacking the zone with the same zeal. Fantasy players
\nwho shelled out exorbitant cash for his services wished to get sucked under by
\na riptide. <\/a><\/p>\n

Instead of festering on Bourbon Street, Nolasco emerged from his
\nminor league exile smelling fresher. Apparently, he finally realized he
\nwas an ex-Cub. <\/p>\n

Despite the occasional relapse, he was
\narguably one of the most dominant pitchers in the National League from June 7th on compiling 11
\nwins, a 3.83 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and insane 10.08 K\/9. His 16-strikeout fan-fest
\nagainst Atlanta
\nto end the season was spectacular. According to Baseball Monster<\/a>, his sparkling
\nfour-month line was the 14th-best among starters, ranking ahead of position
\ngoliaths Justin Verlander<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> Josh Beckett<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Cliff Lee<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span> <\/p>\n

This spring Nolasco carried momentum over. Underneath the
\nopaque shades, puffy jacket and dark cap (see above) was an intelligent machine
\nprogrammed to kill. Quite possibly the sharpest pitcher in Grapefruit action,
\nhe mowed down hitters, totaling a ridiculous 21:1 K:BB split and 1.78 ERA in
\n25.1 innings. He was Velveeta cheese fudge <\/a>nasty. The rising star credited pounding
\nthe zone for his brilliant performance. From MLB.com<\/a>: <\/p>\n

"The biggest thing I learned as far as pitching
\nis to throw strikes, not walk guys. It just makes your job a million times
\neasier. It’s something I’ve learned and thought about since maybe I was
\n12…"<\/p>\n

"As far as the innings go and the stats, I’m feeling good. They’re
\nplaying good defense behind me. We are swinging the bats. All I can do is let
\nthat carry over into the year and try to help this team win ballgames. It’s
\nbeen good. I’m just trying to keep the ball down and let the defense work for
\nme."<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The control freak is so supremely confident he’s set a goal of 25 walks this
\nseason<\/a>, a feat only six pitchers with 200-plus innings have achieved since
\n1980. Jonathan Sanchez<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> issues that many free passes over five starts.  <\/p>\n

But despite his sensational ’09 finish and otherworldly spring, many owners – presumably
\nfrightened by his misleading 5.06 ERA – avoided Nolasco this past drafting
\nseason. His resulting 97.67 ADP (SP22) tabbed him a friggin’ steal. <\/p>\n

With his command refined, slider biting and low-90s fastball
\nagain popping the mitt, Nolasco is on the precipice of an historic season.
\nGiven the plentiful run support he should receive and the pitcher-friendly
\nspecs of Sun Life Stadium, he could vie for the NL Cy Young. And fantasy
\ngreatness. <\/p>\n

Nolasco will be an indestructible mound "Terminator."\n<\/p>\n

Fearless Forecast: 209.1 IP, 15 W, 3.69 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 193 K<\/strong>  <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

DISCOUNT DEN<\/strong>
\nQuality commodity owned
\nin fewer than 20 percent of Yahoo! leagues<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Juan Uribe<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> SF,
\n2B\/SS\/3B (18 percent-owned)<\/strong>: With Freddy Sanchez<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> sidelined for the next
\nseveral weeks, the Giants’ super-utilityman is employable in deeper formats. Already
\n3-for-7 with a run and two RBI, Uribe possesses plus power and useful flexibility.
\nComing off a career best HR\/AB campaign (24.8, 16 HR in 398 at-bats), he will
\nbe a cheap pop source at middle infield in April. Uribe sears, and he may
\nforce his way into the lineup permanently. <\/p>\n

OOH STREAM WEAVER…<\/strong>
\nWidely available plug
\nn’ play starter for dilligent daily leaguers.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>Ian Kennedy<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> Ari (4\/7
\nvs. SD, seven percent-owned): <\/strong>Buried in the Yankees’ minor league system
\nafter several miserable auditions, the former top prospect was provided a new
\nlease on life in Arizona
\nvia the Granderson trade. After an eye-opening spring (25 IP, 2.88 ERA, 17:5 K:BB split), he’s a prime breakthrough candidate. The Padres are improved offensively, but will likely again
\nbe bottom feeders in runs. San Diego’s
\nblank book on Kennedy certainly gives the hurler the advantage.
<\/strong><\/p>\n

MIDDLE RELIEF MAGIC <\/strong>
\nERA\/WHIP savior, potential
\nsaves\/wins vulture<\/em>.\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>Neftali Feliz<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, Tex<\/strong> (80 percent owned)<\/strong>: After a dismal Opening
\nDay effort – Mariah Carey may have better command<\/a> – many have already bailed on
\nthe hard-throwing reliever. But Texas’
\nprimary setup man certainly has the stuff – he routinely flirts with triple digits – to develop into a reliable K-source,
\nand potential closer. Ignore the glitch. If Frank Francisco<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> fails or falls – he
\nmissed significant time last year – Neftali will log 12-15 saves. Feast on the
\nmeek. <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Image courtesy of US Presswire <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want to ridicule the Noise for his Billy Butler(notes) obsession or misguided projections? Humiliate him in 140 characters or less on Twitter. In the case of Florida’s Ricky Nolasco(notes), looks are most definitely deceiving. Over the first several weeks of the ’09 season, the high-profiled righty tormented his faithful backers. Though he earned the win […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5446,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-519053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5446"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519053\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}