CC Sabathia left his start with biceps tightness. Or is it bicep? Hmm… Either way, it’s not great to hear about an arm issue with your fantasy ace. Right now they’re saying no tests are even necessary. Give me two hundred CCs of a White Russian and I’m asking this, you pay one hundred trillion dollars for a player and then you don’t send him for tests when he hurts his bicep(s)? Are they joking? Seriously, is this Candid Camera? I thought I saw my Adam Lambert poster’s eyes move. Is there a camera behind there? Send me a signal, throw me a line. Hopefully, tests aren’t necessary because it’s so obviously not a problem. They don’t need to administer tests for how Sabathia feels about his new home park, The Jetstream. To the left, to the left… Now, up, baby, up… He has a 3.99 ERA at home and 3.35 away. His 6 K/9 is more troubling. That would be the lowest mark of his career. Even last year in April when he was struggling, he was K’ing more than one batter per inning. Hopefully in the 2nd half of the year he can rearrange the girth and makes things right. (Fun with anagrams!) Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Daisuke Matsuzaka – Disgraceful List just got one more as the Sawx made room for Smoltz. Neither funny nor that insightful, but you’d think there would be some kind of rule by the MLB that teams can’t just DL someone because they’re ineffective.
Ryan Howard – In and out of the hospital with a fever. Phillies doctors said he’d be fine, he just ate a quart of ice cream too fast and his body temperature was trying to overcompensate.
Carlos Beltran – Going for an MRI on Monday for his knee even though he complained days ago and played on Sunday. Um, okay. Supposedly he only has pain when he decelerates abruptly. Here’s an idea, slide!
Endy Chavez – Out for the season so Transylvania’s favorite son, Wladimir Balentien, should get the starts. Now the Mariners just need all of their major league and minor league catchers to hurt themselves so they have to play Jeff Clement.
Casey McGehee – HR yesterday. Has 10 homer power, but right now he’s scorching hot, batting over .400 for the last week. He’s worth a flier over the schmohawk behind door number 3. For what it’s worth, last week I dropped Kennedy for McGehee in one league.
Chris Coghlan – 3-for-4, 3 Runs. According to ESPN, Coghlan’s only owned in 3.1% of leagues. Actually, I kinda understand that. In June, he has 1 homer and 3 steals. Excuse me while I burp.
Don Kelly – 2-for-4 and batting .417 since his callup. He’s a minor league journeyman who has some light speed. Not speed of light. Totally different thing.
Aaron Harang – 7 IP, 3 ER, 7 Ks. It’s like 2008 never happened. But, you know what? I remember it.
David Ortiz – HR yesterday. Note from the author (me). This was sent in by a longtime reader, Tarasco’s Secret Stash, “Ortiz’s swing this year has been interesting to watch evolve lately, and it’s finally clicking. Dave Magadan first tried the Drew back-shoulder tap as his first timing correction, but that didn’t really seem to get him out of his funk. Papi was rocking that timing mechanism for a couple weeks in May, until they started trying his current approach, which is much quieter and more vertical. He’s setting his hands smoothly now, Hideki Matsui style, instead of waggling the bat or cocking his wrists, and he’s instead leaving the hands up higher and the wrists more loaded. That’s letting him dip slightly to load his weight back while keeping the wrists much more steady, and it’s keeping his swing plane on the ball better. His hip rotation is still strong, which is the best sign for him going forward. He’s able to turn through balls as well as years past, and he seems to have rediscovered his bat path over the last couple weeks. He’s drilling the ball to left center at Fenway of late.”
Dallas Braden – 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 Ks. Solid fill-in for this week without Peavy. I’m sticking for now and going with him in Oakland vs. the Rox in his next start. If I were feeling particularly lucky, I’d roll the dice with Cahill (vs. SF, COL) or Garrett Olson (vs. Padres, LAD) this week. I’m not feeling lucky, but some of youse may be.
Wandy Rodriguez – 7 IP, 1 ER, 8 Ks. The Wandwagon rolls again.
Ricky Romero – 7 IP, 2 ER. Nice start vs. the Nats. I’d take a flier on him for a fifth to sixth fantasy starter.
Lyle Overbay – Hit his 9th homer yesterday with 5 RBIs. You’re showing Derrek Lee and the dealer’s showing Lyle Overbay. That’s a push.
Khalil Greene – Two games, two homers. Now that he has his emotional baggage safely stored in his overhead compartment, he’s mollywopping the ball. Worth a flier for cheap power at your MI spot.
Gil Meche – 3 1/3 IP, 9 ER. It was the Cards, man. The Cards. Pitch around Pujols (who had 6 RBIs in this game). Pitch. Around. Him. Come on!
Michael Cuddyer – HR yesterday. Hitting .444 over his last week with 2 homers, which is also known as Joe Mauer every week.
Geovany Soto – HR yesterday. Clearly he’s found his power stroke with 3 homers this month, but he’s still batting .238 in June and only has 6 RBIs all month.
Randy Wells – 6 2/3 IP, 2 ER. Got the Win after 6 starts when he could’ve easily been victorious. I’m still not endorsing him past matchups and his next matchup’s kinda eh.
Kevin Millwood – 7 IP, 2 ER, 10 Ks. Finally listened to Nolan Ryan as he emphasized the importance of the K.
Chris Davis – Over the weekend, Davis became the fastest man ever to 100 Ks. Maybe Nolan Ryan should be careful about to who he’s emphasizing the importance of the K.
Troy Tulowitzki – 3-for-3. His average has been on the rise all monthowitzki.
Matt Holliday – 0-for-4, batting .269 on the year with 8 homers. Where’s that blogger/guy/doode who in the preseason said Holliday just needed to get familiar with Oakland then it would all start clicking? Is he familiar yet?
Jeremy Accardo – Left yesterday’s game after tweaking something on his right side. Eddie Vedder says, “Jeremy’s broken…”
