Did you look at your Rotisserie standings yet? Or in Head-to-Head leagues, are you already looking toward next week's matchup?
No, it's OK, you can tell me. Just admit it. You already peeked to see how great (or atrocious) your team is after just one day! I promise I won't make fun of you ... much.
You did? Well, here are some other questions I need you to answer:
- Are you going to cut off 1/100th of a millimeter from your hair today because it's getting too long since your haircut Monday?
- How much did your savings account increase from last night to today?
- How much weight did you lose when you walked from your bedroom to the frig this morning? How much weight did you gain after eating three slices of pizza for breakfast?
If you have already made a cut because of one day's production (or lack thereof), then just go ahead and change your name to the Bay Area Knee-Jerk Reactions. And use a picture of Barry Bonds for your logo -- referring to his multiple knee surgeries and the fact that he's kinda jerky.
Monday's events are certainly something to consider in Week 1, but don't overreact without thinking things through. Here's a link to my Opening Day Blog from Monday.
Good to know
Casey Kotchman, 1B, LAA: Baseball America had Kotchman rated as the Angels' top prospect entering the 2005 season. He has always been dinged up though, dealing with various injuries and ailments, including mononucleosis last year. He owns the first base job now in L.A., and he homered Monday against the Rangers. He hit sixth in the lineup. He's not going to hit 162 homers, I promise. To be honest, he's never really been considered a home run hitter at all, so 25 homers might be a reach. But when he's healthy, he'll help you with his batting average and his run production.
Luke Scott, OF, HOU: Great Scott! Luke owns the right field job for now, with Jason Lane expected to see some starts against left-handers, but a solid April would go along way toward cementing his position.
Brad Lidge, RP, HOU: When asked if Lidge, who blew his first save chance, would get the ball in the next save situation, manager Phil Garner told MLB.com, "Yes." When pressed for more, he responded, "Because he's my closer." Everyone is contending that the pitch he made to Xavier Nady was a good one -- fastball inside -- and that Nady just guessed right. That's fine. What I want to know is how Lidge reacts to this. Stay tuned -- with your finger hovering over the Dan Wheeler button.
Mike Napoli, C, LAA: Napoli owns the catcher job now, beating out Jeff Mathis, and he celebrated by singling, stealing a base -- and striking out twice Monday. He started off on fire last year, hitting .301 after two months, but he tailed off after that. Mathis had a horrible spring, so Napoli has time to produce.
Al Reyes, RP, TB: Reyes has rehabbed his way back from Tommy John surgery. The Rays used Juan Salas and Brian Stokes in the middle innings of Monday's game at Yankee Stadium, possibly indicating that Reyes owns the closer's job. In his last full season (2005), Reyes was very good in middle relief with St. Louis, posting a 4-2 record with a 2.17 ERA, averaging more than a strikeout-per-inning. If the Devil Rays can bridge the lead from starter to closer, Reyes will be a nice saves sleeper.
Erik Bedard, SP, BAL: The Orioles' only sure thing in the rotation got battered in Minnesota. The score could have been worse if not for some poor base-running decisions by Justin Morneau. Before you get too far down on the 28-year-old lefty, realize that he worked without starting catcher Ramon Hernandez, who was hurt with a strained oblique. Paul Bako stepped in, but that had to have some effect on Bedard on the road. He started last season 5-4 with with a 5.67 ERA. Hernandez should be back and healthy in time for Bedard's next start at the Yankees on Sunday.
Felix Hernandez, SP, SEA: I don't think we're breaking news here by saying that this Felix kid is good. But what he did Monday was impressive. He's a third-year starter (indicating a possible breakout season) and he averaged 96 m.p.h. with his fastball against Oakland. A career-high 12 strikeouts is nice too, but when you realize he didn't even allow one flyball to the outfield, you know he was dialed in.
B.J. Upton, 3B, TB: With Greg Norton out for most of this month, Upton will likely stay at second base, which means his eligibility expands back to the middle infield again. Once Norton comes back, the plan is for Ty Wigginton to start at second, with Upton moving all around, like Chone Figgins. He's only owned in 53 percent of our site's leagues too.
Helping you help yourself
Each week, I try to help out our readers with some helpful information on a player or a team, so you can do your best to win your league. But even within SportsLine's product, there are a ton of tools that you can use to help decide who to pick up and who to drop.
A tool you should know about: Emack. Another tool you should know about -- "Roster Trends." You can click on that page by looking under the "Stats" tab on the top row of your league pages. This gives you a basic idea of which players are getting picked up and dropped the most in all SportsLine leagues. (Currently, Carl Pavano heads the most-added and Kenny Rogers is the most dropped.)
Then click the "Most Scouted Players" link on the top right of the "Roster Trends" page. This page is new, showing you which players are being clicked on the most by all of SportsLine's users. Currently, Gil Meche and B.J. Upton are being scouted the most.
No pepper games!
"Maybe I can get invited to the Futures Game or something," said Mark Prior after his demotion to the minors. Would he be able to strike out Jorge Cantu right now? Something tells me that would be lame ... How much do you think Pete Rose won on yesterday's game against the Cubs?
Hit me with an e-mail! I can take it! ... Be gentle. Send your comments, hate mail, credit card numbers and suggestions to me by clicking on my Columnist page and sending a note through the feedback form.