Fantasy Baseball Advice

Hisanori Takahashi had a nearly identical line last night as his last start; 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks.  A) I’m chalking it up to his histrionic delivery.  All of it.  You baffle people who haven’t seen you when you throw the ball between your legs and shake your tukis afterwards.  B) Did I just say tukis?  Hey, I’m Eli Whiteside!  C) He could continue to baffle people for a good couple of months.  D) He plays in Metco.  E) I can’t believe there was a D let alone an E.  F) A long long way to run.  G) He gets the Padres next.  H) He’s in the NL on a team that can win some games.  Why not own him?  Seriously, grab him now.  I) Am writing this.  J) Buhner.  K)  There’s no K, there’s never a K.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Jose Reyes – 2-for-4 and a home run.  Thank you, Lord.

Brandon Morrow – 5 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks.  He’s shown a tendency to tie his owners to the WHIPping post this year, but the Ks have been real nice.

Mike Gonzalez – Had a setback in his rehab.  Oh, no, did he huff glue?  Oh, different rehab.  Trembley said, “Mike is fine with (throwing long toss), and we think if he does that for a week or so, his arm strength will come back to where it was.”  Where it was when he was sucking or where it was when he wasn’t sucking?  Can we get a sucking or no sucking clarification?  I think we’ll be lucky to see Mike Gonzalez save a game before the All-Star Break.  Through no design of the terrific bullpen that is covering for him.

Jacoby Ellsbury – Out with soreness on his side as he underwent a CT scan.  (I actually just had a CT scan on Sunday.  I’m still glowing in the dark from the iodine they shot me up with.)  I know this might be a bitter pill(sbury) to swallow, but I don’t think it’s going to be a great season for Ellsbury.  Getting that Brian Roberts in spring training vibe.  That is all.

Adrian Beltre – 4-for-5, 6 RBIs and 2 Homers.  Wasn’t it just yesterday I asked where his power is?  Boom goes the dynamite!

Mark Buehrle – In the 3rd inning he was ejected for arguing over a balk call, the second one called on him in the game.  Hawk Harrelson said of the ump, “He wrong.”

Carlos Quentin – 0-for-4.  He’s a mess.  I’m done defending him.  But he’s so talented!  Okay, now I’m done.  He could go off for a month or two or he can get injured, but right now all he’s doing is looking lost at the plate.  In most shallow leagues, I think it’s time to deploy the parachute and jump ship, to mix modes of transportation.  Granted, now that I’m officially moving on, CQ will begin to hit.

Bobby Jenks – 1 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners.  This was a Kazaam to make Dotel say, “Damn.”  I’d continue to hold Thornton after this smashterpiece.

Derek Holland – Got an inning of relief just to stay loose for his Sunday start.  All’s well in Holland land (stutter much?).

Jeremy Bonderman – 7 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks vs. the Mariners.  This was an easy start.  He gets the Indians next.  Again, not too shabby.

Garrett Atkins – Hit his first homer of the year yesterday.  Now Atkins is back to no carbs and weak grounders to short.

Trevor Cahill – 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 3 Ks.  He has 17 Ks to 10 walks in 35 and a third innings this year.  The left mouth says, “Bel…” The right mouth says, “ch.”  Together, “Belch.”

Tommy Hanson – 6 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 4 Ks.  A bounceback of sorts, but against the Marlins I would’ve preferred to see more Ks and less walks (5).

Brian McCann – Left the game with a sore quad.  That’s what she said!  Wait, what?

Bronson Arroyo – 7 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 3 Ks vs. the Pirates.  This season, he’s gotten the Pirates three times, Padres, the no-hitting Cards twice, Indians and Astros.  Yet, he still has a 4.30 ERA.  Though the Reds do get nice matchups in the NL Central.  Actually, everyone gets nice matchups in the NL Central.

Francisco Liriano – 7 IP, 2 ER, 10 baserunners, 7 Ks.  Sonavabench!  Why does he keep getting the Yankees?  Did they switch divisions?  Where’s the peasant Royals?  The I’m-not-making-any-derogatory-comments-about-the-Indians-for-fear-of-coming-off-racist Indians?

Matt Garza – 5 IP, 6 ER, 10 baserunners, 3 Ks.  Like to Control-Alt-Delete this start.  Well, his ERA is still under 3 on the year.  Hoping this was just a blip.

Ben Zobrist – Now has three homers in his last ten games.  I don’t own him anywhere so I hope he goes into oblivion with Crystal Bowersox, but it’s still early enough in the season where he can reach all of his projections.

Roy Oswalt – 8 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 9 Ks.  Never underestimate someone’s motivation to look appealing to get the hell off the Astros.

Tom Gorzelanny – 5 IP, 5 ER, 10 baserunners, 5 Ks.  I was just admiring his K-rate the other day and now he’s probably going to get bumped for Big Z.  Too bad, so sad.

Derrek Lee – Another three hit night as he raised his average 24 points in the last three games.

Jaime Garcia – 6 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 3 Ks and a 1.14 ERA on the year.  He has 24 walks to 45 Ks.  That’s a sign that when his ERA corrects itself, it’s not going to be pretty.

Trevor Hoffman – Threw a scoreless 7th after throwing a scoreless 8th the other day.  By June, he’s going to be starting games.  In all seriousness, the Brewers want Hoffman to be their closer and he’s days away from resuming that role.

Carlos Gonzalez – Broke an 0-for-14 slump and his first homer in 10 days.  Hopefully this is the start again (restart?) of something good.

Seth Smith – Hit two homers yesterday.  I wonder if he would trade one of those homers for a more interesting name.  Say Ubaldo?

Miguel Olivo – 3-for-4 with 2 steals.  Someone probably should’ve thrown over when he was taking an 89 foot lead.

Ubaldo Jimenez – 8 scoreless innings as he moves to 9-1 with a 0.88 ERA and 0.93 WHIP.  After the game, he won the Strasburg rookie card for $16,001, traded it for a Gregg Jefferies rookie card and now the Jefferies rookie card is worth $16,002.

By request of commentator Adam, Seattle’s Carlos Peguero is going to be detailed, along with Houston’s Jordan Lyles. With June 1st just around the corner, be ready to jump on a few players bandwagons if there is any space left – I know my leagues have been pushing women and children off the cart since draft day. Better hurry before the the “putting the wagon before the horses” comments are made with 20/20 hindsight. Oh, and Hellickson just dominated the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate, and Brett Wallace is starting to get pimped by writers, and Strasburg just had his “roughest” start giving up five hits, two runs – one earned – in five innings.

Jordan Lyles | RHP-SP | Houston Astros | DOB: 10-19-90 | 6′ 4” | 185 lbs | B/T: R/R | 2008 Supplemental pick H.S. | HOU #3 ranked prospect according to Baseball America 2010 | MiLB Player Page
The Cube: Control (76) | K-Rating (90) | Efficiency (84) | vs. Power (64)

I missed writing about Lyles in the winter during the Minor League Review series. However, I did post a rather detailed analysis about him in the comments section. Not too much has changed since then. Lyles was drafted out of a South Carolina high school in the supplemental round of the 2008 draft. Many didn’t think he would be swayed from his tentative commitment to play football for the Gamecocks. Needless to say, $930,000 sure makes a high school grad change their mind. With a lanky frame and plenty of room to fill into, scouts believe that he’ll add a couple more MPH onto his 89 to 94 mph fastball, which has late life. His changeup has the potential to be a plus pitch as it has great fade and excellent sink. Lyles’ breaking balls are a work in progress. His curveball is thrown in the mid-70′s during the early portion of an at-bat, and thrown between 77 to 80 mph when he is ahead in the count. This makes his first offering a show-me pitch and the latter an out-pitch. His arm action, pitching motion and delivery are all smooth, clean and can be defined as a classic pitching form. Here is how he’s performed during his minor league career:

2010 Stats: 7.4 K/9 | 2.1 BB/9 | 57 IP | 3.00 ERA | ~3.37 FIP | 1.09 WHIP | .6 Hr/9 | 7.7 H/9 | .286 BABIP | 46.5 GB% | 12.4 LD% | 40.0 FB% | 5.9 Hr/FB
Career Stats: 9.9 K/9 | 2.4 BB/9 | 257 IP | 3.40 ERA | ~3.03 FIP | 1.18 WHIP | .5 Hr/9 | 8.2 H/9 | .328 BABIP | 44.3 GB% | 18.2 LD% | 35.2 FB%

I think John Sickels said it best, “Lyles is better than anyone expected, [especially] since everyone thought he’d go to South Carolina to play football.” Baseball America in 2009 was very cautious in his assessment, saying that his breaking ball has decent “rotation and shape,” he has trouble keeping his fastball down in the zone, and he removed a cutter from his selection of pitches. Good thing that 2009 was his breakout year. Baseball America 2010 sang his praises as he dominated the South Atlantic League with 167 strikeouts in 145 innings. The only negative was that his “breaking ball will determine his ceiling.” If you believe reports, he has a ceiling of a number two starter and a baseline of a number three starter. I’d say the Astros have a pretty good prospect on their hands.

A few things to denote when looking at his 2010 stats. He pitches in a park that is conducive to hitting home runs but suppresses other hitting stats. With that said, his Home ERA is 3.55 while allowing three home runs in 25 1/3 IP versus his 2.56 ERA on the Road and one home run in 31 2/3 IP. Furthermore, he has pitched fair better in night games this year (be wary of the small sample size). As with most pitchers, he pitches substantially better without runners on base. Lastly, he has been extremely tough on lefties to date. Lefties are hitting only .194 with no homers and a 1.91 ERA while righties are hitting .266 with four homers and a 4.01 ERA. In all dynasty leagues, he should be owned. In one year leagues, monitor towards the end of the year. The Astros have no reason to rush him through his development. They aren’t going to be winning for a long time.

Carlos Peguero | RF | DOB: 2-22-87 | 6′ 5” | 210 lbs | B/T: L/L | Signed from Dominican Republic-2005 | Not ranked in Baseball America 2010 | MiLB Player Page
The Cube: Power (89) | Batting (56) | Speed (69) | Contact (6) | Patience (21)

Who is that name below Mike Stanton on the minor league home run leader board? That would be Carlos Peguero (as of 5-22-10), right fielder for the Seattle Mariners. Interestingly, Baseball America (2010) chose not to rank him (this was prior to the Cliff Lee trade, and I would like to think he would be ranked in the low twenties for the Mariners after that trade), after ranking him 11th prior to the 2009 season. During this 2009 season, he hit .271/.335/.560 (491 AB) with 66 extra base hits of which 31 were home runs. Two things to note, his home field in 2009 was High Desert in the California League where his home field was the best hitters’ park in the league (followed by Lancaster – Houston’s affiliate). His Home/Away slash line you ask? Home: .302/.384/.671; Away: .233/.280/.439. It’s also important to note that he struck out 172 times (32.2 K%) with only 42 walks. On the plus side, the walks were the most he has ever had in a season.

All right, so I did this backwards. Peguero has a tremendous amount of power and strength. He was actually voted the most powerful hitter in the Mariners farm system prior to the 2009 season, even over Greg Halman. Defensively, his arm is about average and he is a “good runner” in both the field and on the bases – just not stealing bases. What he lacks is a patient hitting approach. He has a “swing-from-the-heels,” and a “first pitch swing” disease that he shares with Delmon Young. With an all-out approach, he has produced a 7:1 K:BB in his career prior to the 2010 season. How is his 2010 season faring?

2010 Stats: .313/.394/.572 | 166 AB | 19 XBH | 12 Hr | .259 ISO | 3/4 SB/CS | 48:18 K:BB | .377 BABIP | 39.0 GB% | 19.5 LD% | 41.5 FB%
Career Stats: .280/.331/.518 | 1552 AB | 88 2B | 31 3B | 73 Hr | .238 ISO | 18/19 SB/CS | 496:101 K:BB | .366 BABIP | 44.3 GB% | 14.2 LD% | 41.3 FB%

The power is still there, the poor stealing percentage is still rearing its ugly head, and the strikeout rate is still concerning but the walks are improving. When Sickels said, “Adapt or die [in Double-A].” Peguero is.  Slowly, like Mike Stanton, learning how to take a walk. It’s a process that takes time, and at least he’s showing improvement. His walk rate is roughly 10 percent, but his strikeout rate is roughly 28 to 29 percent. Better than last year, but nothing to write home about. However you want to dice Peguero’s stats this is for certain, the power is evident, but his slash line has been bolstered by a hitter friendly environment (he played in the California League for two season hitting 43 homers in total at that level) and a high BABIP (.366 for his career).

Like Stanton, I believe Peguero should probably play a few weeks at Triple-A to face more experienced pitching. Not necessarily better pitchers, but pitchers who know what they are doing and have been around the block a few times. Also, Seattle’s Triple-A home park is a pitchers’ haven but the PCL is not. If I was forced to make a play comparison, it would be a less powerful and patient Adam Dunn, Carlos Pena, Mike Stanton or a Chris Davis look-a-like. To be honest, I don’t want to peg him as any of those guys until he plays a full season at Double-A or a partial at Double-A and Triple-A in the same season. In really deep dynasty leagues, he’s worth grabbing and stashing for a cheap price. Or if you’re savvy, ride the hype and trade him for a “better” prospect and by “better” I mean a prospect that is more of a lock for the majors.

Chris Tillman will start Saturday for the Orioles.  He’s yet another prospiñata for the Orioles.  They’re fun to play with until they get the stuffing beat out of them by the Yanks, Sawx, Rays or Blue Ks.  Before picking up Tillman, do me one favor.  Ask Matusz’s owners how the experience has been owning him.  Though since they’re probably your competition they may lie to you.  Those bastards!  Maybe you can ask Matusz yourself since he’s probably on your waivers.  Can Tillman be lights out?  I suppose.  Is he worth a flier in 12 team leagues?  Eh, if expectations are in check.  You should proceed with caution.  Or you can pull the ol’ “You gotta use your waiver claim, sucker” trick with Tillman.  Let me explain the unfortunately named “You gotta use your waiver claim, sucker” trick.  You grab Tillman off waivers, then the next day you drop him so someone (<– the sucker) uses their waiver claim to get roofied.  Ah, yes.  That stings.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Frank Mata – Will Ohman seems to be the leading candidate for saves, but Mata’s a dark horse for saves (that’s not racist).  He was the closer in Triple-A Norfolk, which is only slightly below the Orioles in the ESPN power rankings.  I don’t think the O’s will/should throw Mata right into the fire, but they did that with Alfredo Simon, so there’s that.

Will Ohman – Ugh, too many Orioles stories today.  It’s like Senator Clay Davis took over the blog.  Sheeeeeeet!  I don’t think it’s clear cut that it’s Ohman over Meredith for saves.  It’s not like one is Rollie Fingers and the other is his lesser known brother, Stank Fingers.  But Ohman did come in yesterday for the scoreless ninth.  Then again, it wasn’t for a save.  Then again II, it was a save opportunity when he started warming up.

Dallas Braden – Left the game in the 4th inning for an undisclosed reason.   A-Rod said, “Maybe he missed his grandma.”  Those two!

Jake Peavy – 6 IP, 6 ER, 9 baserunners, 5 Ks vs. the Indians.  Peavy may just be the secret poison pill you can drop in your opponents’ drink.  I’ll explain.  You drop him and someone will undoubtedly pick him up.  Then when they put him in their lineup, he fizzles in their drink and their ratios die.  Right now, that might be the best you can hope for.

Mike Leake – 7 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 11 baserunners, 3 Ks and now has a 2.70 ERA on the year.  In the preseason if I would’ve told you to draft Leake instead of Peavy, you would’ve punched me in my virtual mouth.  Crazy game this fantasy baseball, huh?  On the bright side if you don’t own him, I fully expect Leake to hit a wall at some point in the summer and be unusable.  Think Cueto last year.  On the not so bright side if you own him, see the previous two sentences.

Ryan Doumit – Now has two homers in his last three games.  If you’re sitting on a catcher you’re not happy with or recently just found yourself saying Goddoumit, Ryan could help.

Neil Walker – Hit in the two hole going 1-for-4 as the Pirates brought up their 2004 first round pick to fill-in for LaRoche.  If this were a reading comprehension test, how many context clues can you get out of the previous sentence?  Let’s see, the Pirates suck yet they left a first round draft pick in the minors that long, what does that say about Walker?  Yeah, he’s had his struggles.  I’d take a flier in NL-Only leagues because he has been hitting in the minors so far this year, but my hopes ain’t sky high.

Jon Lester – 6 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hit, 5 BBs, 9 Ks as he beat James Shields.  Ha!  Though Shields’s line was 8 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks and his ERA is 2.99 to Lester’s 3.15.  Dah!

Jose Reyes – 3-for-5, 3 Runs, 1 RBI and 2 steals.  Could it finally be the end of Spring Training for Reyes?  Fingers crossed, rabbit’s foot rubbed, juju idol kissed.  Hopefully Reyes goes on a SB tear rather than a hamstring tear.

Anibal Sanchez – 6 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 6 Ks.  No matter what the Slightly-Less Filthy Sanchez has done recently, I wouldn’t touch him in his next start vs. Philly.

Leo Nunez – 1 IP, 2 ER.  Kazaam!

Coco Crisp – Headed back to the DL.  Hey, Coco felt a pop so I guess that’s cheerio.

Derrek Lee – 3-for-3, 3 RBIs and his 6th homer.  I think I said this last week, but since I don’t remember you surely don’t.  Lee broke out around this time last year.  Cust kayin’ (maybe for the second time).

Clayton Kershaw – 6 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 4 Ks.  Was a bit touch and go for a little while in April, but Kershaw’s ERA is now at 2.90 on the year.  Sure, the walks are atrocious, but that’s how Kershaw do.

Andre Ethier – Saw that Ethier took BP.  Where, to see the fish they’re killing?

Vladimir Guerrero – 3-for-5, 5 RBIs and 2 homers to bring his season total up to 12.  He’s making the knees he stole from Ron Kovic very proud.

Ricky Romero – 5 1/3 IP, 7 ER, 14 baserunners and 8 Ks.  His K-rate has been terrific so far and he gets the O’s next, I’d hold tight.

Jose Bautista – Hit his 15th homer yesterday to lead the majors.  Can’t wait for the All-Star Game Home Run Derby when Bautista takes on the other major league homer leaders:  Konerko, Wigginton, Jose Guillen, Kelly Johnson, Dan Uggla and Scott Rolen.  That could outdraw the M.A.S.H. finale.

Rickie Weeks – 3-for-5, 2 RBIs and a homer.  Understandable if he was dropped in your league, but Weeks is also one of the streakiest hitters around and this could be the start of something.  Or more bluntly, Weeks streaks.

Billy Butler – 2-for-4 with 2 WTFs (Warning Track Flies).  Hey, Royals, forget investing in free agents just move the fences in 10 feet.  You’re welcome.

Justin Verlander – Makes perfect sense that Verlander K’d 8 Mariners and gave up 5 runs while Fister struckout 1 Tiger and gave up only 2 runs.  Excuse me while I go shove my head in the oven.

Chris Iannetta – Was recalled yesterday.  Iannetta was tizz-errible earlier in 2010, you hurd.  Really bad, and not bad as in good, but bad as in bad.  Yet, he still hit 16 homers in only 289 at-bats in 2009.  Wait, what about Miguel Olivo? Ah, random italicized voice, you had to bring up the elephant in the room.  Olivo doesn’t seem like he’s in the best of shape, but an elephant? Okay, random italicized voice, you interject, we don’t converse.  My bad. As just said, in 289 ABs, 16 homers.  Even with Olivo, Iannetta can get that many ABs.  Olivo and Iannetta can coexist.  In deep, mixed two catcher leagues and NL-Only leagues, I’d grab Iannetta again.

Ian Stewart – 2-for-2 and the two hits were off his old high school teammate, Ian Kennedy.  Elias Sports Bureau said this was the first time two old high school teammates both named Ian squared off in a Major League game.  Actually, they didn’t say that, but something that was overheard recently at the Elias Sports Bureau, “Bobby, from Human Resources, wore a “Glee” t-shirt for a record 10 weeks straight while maintaining his heterosexuality.”

Yesterday’s short schedule day reminded me of an old Chinese proverb.  Since a lot of you don’t speak Chinese, I’ll translate it for you.  If you can grab a hitter or two on a short schedule day, you should.  In bed.  I’d take a season of 0-for-4′s from my one day hitter pickups just for that outside chance I get one homer.  There is nothing more rewarding in fantasy, except maybe the one day pitcher grabs that nets you solid ratios and a Win.  Those are kinda sweet too.  So I decided to look at some guys that are probably owned in less than 50% of most leagues who could get you some value in fantasy baseball.  Because it’s just under two months into the season, a lot of names listed are fluky.  For instance, Luke Scott gets hot for 7 games and they’re all at home then suddenly he’s the best home slugger.  Most times picking up a hitter for one day really is about the hitter vs. pitcher matchups, but sometimes more general situations matter.  Anyway, here’s some potential hitter pickups for one day in fantasy baseball:

Best Hitters vs. Lefties – Francisco Cervelli.  Batting .483 in 45 ABs.  As I once told my girlfriend, it may be a small sample size, but it packs a powerful punch.  Some other names to look at include:  Cristian Guzman, Marcus Thames and Orlando Cabrera.

Best Hitters vs. Righties – Mike Aviles.  Hitting .440, but it’s only through 50 ABs.  Of course most of the top hitters vs. righties are just the top hitters overall.  Some other names to consider are Eric Hinske, Ryan Hanigan and John Jaso Jingleheimer Schmidt.

Best Hitters at Home – Miguel Olivo.  Putting up some serious home/away splits through the first two months of the season.  As with the good righty hitters, home hitters tend to just be good hitters, but some other names are Cristian Guzman, Marlon Byrd, David Freese and Cody Ross.

Best Hitters in Away Games – Jeff Keppinger. .350+ away, .250+ home.  And that may be the only time Keppinger is mentioned in a favorable light on the blog.  Some other players are Francisco Cervelli, Austin Kearns and Ramon Santiago.  Wow, that’s a sexy list.

Best Sluggers in Away Games – Mike Napoli.  A lot of catchers on this list so far and Rod Barajas, who I sometimes call Rob Darajas, is another name that appears.  But picking up a catcher on a short schedule day usually isn’t ideal because they tend to sit, so here’s some other names:  Austin Kearns, Kosuke Fukudome and Jim Thome.

Best Sluggers at Home – Luke Scott.  I ignored Miguel Olivo because he was mentioned already and there’s already enough catchers on this list of names.  Some other names are Seth Smith, Josh Willingham and Brennan Boesch.

Victor Martinez left the game after fouling the ball off his foot.  Wanna know our trade luck?  We just traded Jason Bay, Cervelli and Mike Gonzalez for V-Mart, Boesch and Desmond.  Is this karma for punting catchers in so many leagues over the years?  I hate you, fantasy baseball Gods.  You smite my team while I give you love.  I.  Give.  You.  Love!  Oh, bee tee dubya, V-Mart’s day-to-day.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Mike Cameron – Returning on Tuesday.  Didn’t I already talk about this schomhawk?  Oh, yeah, I did.  (The “I did” link we lead you to the answer.  If you ignore the answer, skip 7 pages ahead and slay the dragon.)

Adrian Beltre – 3-for-4, 1 RBI.  If you would’ve popped your head out of a DeLorean in the preseason and told me at the end of May Adrian Beltre would be hitting .335, I would’ve told you he’s headed for fantasy MVP honors.  Crazy how far his power has disappeared.

David Ortiz – Hit his eighth homer this month.  I think the average will level off around .260, but the power seems to be back.  He should be owned everywhere while he’s hitting.

Carlos Zambrano – Completed a simulated game.  Hey, this weekend I threw a simulated 150 in Wii bowling.  Eat it, Big Z, and the 15 foot baguette you rode in on!

Alfredo Simon – Headed to the DL with a bad hammy.  Doesn’t Alfredo know that with ham it’s carbonara?  A messy O’s bullpen just got messier.  I grabbed Cla Meredith and Will Ohman, in that order.  I grabbed both in some leagues where I had room.  That means every run the O’s give up after the 7th inning will be all mine.  Emphasis on “will.”

Wade Davis – 3 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 10 baserunners, 0 Ks.  I told you to sell him in this Buy/Sell.  Not because a lack of stuff.  He’s just in a terrible division for matchups and he doesn’t go deep enough into games to get decisions.  It’s kinda hard to sell a guy who’s only teetering on number four fantasy starter value, but he might push another trade you have over the top if you have a believer, or a Wadvocate, if you will.  Obviously in keepers, you ignore the previous few sentences and continue to eat your breakfast.

Gordon Beckham – 2-for-4.  You ever have a guy who you want to get sent down just so you can drop him?  That’s how I’ve felt with Beckham in a 20 team league for about three weeks.  Well, Beckham’s the spiting type.  He’s now batting .500 over his last three games.  It’s not incredible, but it’s something.

Bobby Jenks – Pitched a clean inning to avoid the Kazaam.  On a side note, he covered first on one play and it looked like he just ran a marathon.  He’s got Jenk in the trenk.

Andruw Jones – 1-for-4, now batting .239 and hasn’t hit a homer since May 5th.  He sold his soul for a good April?

Justin Masterson – 4 IP, 5 ER, 11 baserunners, 0 Ks.  I’m just going to assume he pissed off the Fangraphs Database and that’s why his xFIP and FIP are so out of line with his ERA.

Austin Kearns – Hitting third for the Indians tonight.  Fitting since that team is going through a mother of growing pains.

Aaron Harang – 6 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 10 baserunners, 3 Ks.  At 100 pitches, Harang was at 2 earned runs, then Dusty sent him out there for a third of an inning and two more runs.  On the bright side, Dusty didn’t make him don a blonde wig and close out the game.

Roy Oswalt – Rumors swirl (clockwise or counterclockwise?) that the Nationals are interested in him.  You know it’s a sad day in Houston when their franchise is so lost that they seem much more like the flash-sideways team than Washington.  Must be because Desmond brought the Nats together.

Steve Phillips – The ex-Mets GM and ESPN talker blurted out that, if he was the Nats GM, he’d trade Strasburg for Oswalt.  Surprising because you’d think Strasburg hangs around with younger, hotter girls than Oswalt.

Brett Cecil – 7 1/3 IP, 4 baserunners, 3 Ks.  He usual strikes out more than he did in this game, but his season WHIP is 1.15 and ERA is 4.10.  If you take away one start where he was pounded vs. the Rangers, he has an ERA of 2.53.  He’s owned in only 5.9% of ESPN leagues.  Zoinks!

Rafael Furcal – Oh-for-cal is returning today.  If this is the guy you’ve been waiting for to ignite your team, you might need to reevaluate.

John Axford – He notched a save the other day, but it was because Villanueva was tired.  I know what you’re thinking, why not have some *pinkie to mouth* Coffey?  Yeah, oddly enough he was tired too.  So the Brew Crew went with Axrod.  Say that fast twelve hundred times!    I don’t think Axrod’s worth owning right now outside of NL-Only leagues.  The Brewers want Hoffman, Villanueva, Coffey and Axrod, in that order.  Mostly, they just want Hoffman.

Miguel Cabrera – Missing the Tigers series for the birth of his kid.  Crazy that Miguel Olivo wasn’t showing at all.

Steven Pearce – Was walking on crutches after the game.  No, it’s not a new dance craze, he was hurt in the game.  This should free up time for Clement again.  Though he wasn’t doing anything with his playing time before but wasting it.

Andy LaRoche – Might end up on the DL.  LaOuch for him, LaShouldn’tbeonyourteam for you.  Could these injuries open up the gates for one of the Pirates prospects?  Not a rhetorical.  Seriously, could it?  Wouldn’t that be exciting?  My favorite fantasy baseball palate cleanser is rookie announce-mints.