Well, lookie lookie! If it’s not Carlos Beltran really back from over a year layoff after leaving the lineup initially with what was described as a day-to-day issue. Those sure are long days, New York Mets? They’re like Alaska in the summer days. Beltran returned briefly last year in September, but he’s claiming that he wasn’t 100% at that point. He is now. How far you can throw Beltran is how much you should believe him. As I mentioned in the top 100 for the 2nd half when I gave him the projections of 35/12/45/.270/4, “He comes with injury risk, might not be ready to hit major league pitching and who knows if he’ll be able to steal any bases…” And that’s me quoting me! We’re just as likely to see Beltran reinjure himself, come out of the closet and take Claire Danes to the People’s Choice Awards as a friend. (On a sidenote, in a meeting I went to yesterday, I held a People’s Choice Award for about 12 seconds. I knew I was in trouble when I picked it up and said, “I’d like to thank the 16 million Guatemalans who I paid a nickel each to vote for me. This is as much yours as it is mine, but you’re still not invited to come visit it,” and was met with silence.) About two weeks ago, I told you to sell Beltran. Nothing’s changed on that front. You do what you do, I’ll do what I do and we’ll run parallel and wave to each other. Hey! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Jose Reyes – Manuel said Reyes won’t return until he’s 100% pain free. As someone who has struggled with oblique soreness… Oh, who am I kidding, I don’t even know where it is. I’m not sure why they don’t just DL Reyes so I can at least do the same in my fantasy leagues. Doesn’t anyone care about fantasy?! C’mon, I’m juggling Bartlett and Hardy in my SS spot! I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see Reyes for another week to ten days. <–optimistic
Matt Wieters – To the DL. I have a suggestion for a new Matt Wieters Fact. A Houston Astros fan swung a bat at a Brad Ausmus piñata and Matt Wieters fell out.
Justin Morneau – To the DL with side effects from his concussion. Too bad side effects are never positive. Oh, well. You knew you were gonna have to deal with some sorta injury concern at some point with Morneau.
Gordon Beckham – 2-for-3 as he went deep for his 4th homer. You’re probably wondering why he went deep. Saying to yourself, “Why, Grey, why did he go deep?” Let me answer that for you. Cause I traded him. This will almost guarantee Beckham has a solid 2nd half.
John Danks – 6 IP, 6 ER, 11 baserunners, 5 Ks. In the preseason, I said I liked Floyd more than Danks. I forgot the modifier “after April.”
Kevin Slowey – 3 IP, 5 ER, 9 baserunners, 2 Ks. Wow, what happened to this young brother? Actually, I know what happened. He got screws put in his wrist and now he’s putting the screws to his owners.
Ryan Howard – 3-for-4 with his 18th and 19th home runs. I’m like a broken record here, but he will go on one of his crazy 10 homers in 15 game streaks one of these days– one of these days– one of these days.
Geovany Soto – Hit his 10th homer as he hits .282 on the year. Aren’t you glad you Ron Popeil’d him? You didn’t? Rats to you.
Derrek Lee – 3-for-5, 2 RBIs with his 11th homer as he bats .239. He’s never hit less than 20 homers in a full season or under .270 since his rookie year. Cust kayin’.
Jason Heyward – 0-for-4 as he returned from the DL. On one play, he chased down a fly ball and ran into the outfield wall. The crowd went silent as Heyward laid on the field for 5 minutes. Finally, when Heyward popped up and smiled, the crowd erupted. Find the replay, it was seriously like watching the end of Jerry Maguire. I was waiting for Tee Pee to walk into my room to announce he was keeping it real.
Bengie Molina – 1-for-4 with his 1st homer as a Ranger. I was eating dinner, so I didn’t see him hit it. When I was done eating 25 minutes later, I saw him cross home.
Josh Hamilton – 3-for-4 with 3 doubles. When he ran into 2nd on his last double, he looked like he was favoring his knee. He probably would’ve been fine to stay in the game, but he was immediately lifted. That cracking you hear is the eggshells the Rangers are walking on trying to avoid a Hamilton injury.
Manny Ramirez – 0-for-3, batting cleanup as he returned from the DL. Another Vladimir Shpunt success story!
Chris Carpenter – 8 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks as he looked fine for the first time in a few starts. I left him off my top 100 for the 2nd half because I was worried about his forearm and his health, in general. Better safe than sorry, now finish your milk.
Dontrelle Willis – Signed with the Giants. Sabean signing him would’ve made more sense if Willis were 40. Going young, I guess. Perhaps Matt Cain wanted to help out a young kid named Willis that’s going through tough times….Oh wait, Mr. Drummond was played by Conrad Bain not Matt Cain.
Ryan Braun – We enjoy funny. We really enjoy unintentionally funny. But Ryan Braun’s extended commercial with SI model Marissa Miller hits a third level of “So bad that it’s funny someone signed off on this idea.” And you’d think if you’re going to hire an athlete to promote Remington razors, you’d find a player whose name isn’t your main competitor. That’s like Perdue hiring Mike Tyson for a chicken ad.
