Cliff Lee - Last year was special, but when something comes completely out of nowhere, it'll likely return there soon enough...think Esteban Loiza . Many have credited Lee's season to new pitch, and whatever it was, it worked. However, the scoutting report got out and the first game was no good. Be worried Lee owners, sell him now for 90 cents on the dollar before its too late. This is actually the best time to sell. He had a nice game against the Yankees yesterday. But how good was it? He put 10 men on base in 6 innings. That's not the components that make up a 1-run outting. AAAAND as good as the Yankees are, let's remember right now their bottom third is the struggling Hideki Matsui, Cody Ransom and Brett Gardner.
Cole Hamels - I'll give you the ingredients, you guess the stew: pitcher who's been labeled as fragile, pitcher who throws into October, pitcher who has arm trouble in spring and then on top of that he gets shelled in his first outing...
FantasyPros911.com
We've only just completed Day 12 of the baseball season, so I can't possibly say that anyone's "cold" start concerns me. The sample size is simply way too small to mean anything whatsoever. Aside from changes in role or playing time, my projections would remain the exact same at this point as they did in the pre-season. The only players I would worry about are those with obvious injury issues. Closers such as Matt Lindstrom and B.J. Ryan (who claims is healthy) have seen drops in their velocity and are off to poor starts, but again, it's in so few innings it could mean nothing. These are the only types of players fantasy owners might be concerned about. It is simply too early to make any judgments as all hitters go through peaks and valleys through the season, while all pitchers mix in good starts with bad.
https://www.rotoauthority.com/
One cold start that jumps out to me is Cliff Lee. (answer submitted before start against Yankees) I thought he was going too early in March - 6th, 7th round. I was willing to write off his lousy spring, but now his two regular season starts are worse than any two-start stretch he had in 2008. And he doesn't seem to be flashing the elite command he had in his Cy Young season.
I am also worried about Cole Hamels, even though it's only been one start. The risk of significant injury seems strong and he threw more pitches than anyone in baseball last year.
So those two cold starts are the most concerning to me. But if I were to trade those guys I'd still hold out for fair value. I'm talking some kind of hitter I considered worthy of the first eight rounds in March drafts. Otherwise I would just hold 'em and hope for the best
razzball.com
I typically ignore cold starts except in two cases: 1) the player has a good chance of losing playing time/getting demoted because of the cold start. Players who fit that category include Seth Smith on Colorado, Cameron Maybin on Florida, Alex Gonzalez on Cincinnati, Rick Ankiel in St. Louis, Brian Fuentes in Anaheim, and Huston Street in Colorado. 2) the player might be hiding or downplaying an injury - Cole Hamels, Chien-Mien Wang, Scott Baker and Mike Pelfrey fit this category..
advancedfantasybaseball.com
What "cold" starts are most concerning to you? Who would you look to trade before their value plummets even further? What makes you convinced that this is not just a slow start to 2009?
Unless I panicked during a draft, I will not have any players I am willing to give up on less than two weeks into the season. I think a fantasy owner should show a little faith in the strategy that led him or her to select a given player in the first place. That said if there was little strategy involved or if auto-draft or mistakes made during the draft/auction resulted in an undesired player being rostered I would drop the offending player with quickness.
I avoided some players in drafts that have begun the season rather slowly. We have very little information about Alexei Ramirez's career in Cuba. I had him lower on my draft list than most because I had no minor league or career numbers to compare with his rookie season. But Ramirez was so popular in drafts and auctions that his present owner should have very little problem moving him if their faith wanes. Based on last year Ramirez is a strong contact hitter with some power but little patience. However even this could be faulty information. Little information should mean difficult to draft but instead owners went crazy for him drafting him before Derek Jeter and other very safe (if no longer spectacular) choices.
Newsday
One of the most concerning players to me that is off to a putrid start is David Ortiz. He doesn't look the same. He's having a hard time catching up to fastballs. His numbers declined last season, but part of that is attributed to the wrist injury. There are no excuses this season. It is a small sample, but Ortiz is hitting .176 with one extra-base hit and no home runs in 34 at-bats. He has struck out eight times. The other concern his is body type. You can get away with that weight when you're younger, but it gets much tougher after you hit 30. We have seen players his weight start to go through a steep decline around his age (33). See Mo Vaughn and Cecil Fielder.