So how was your weekend? Mine included news that Jake Peavy could be out for as long as 12 weeks with a tear in his ankle. Could’ve been worse, he could’ve hurt his ankle kicking me in the groin. He was fitted for a cast the other day. I’d like to sign his cast, “But your FIP’s a 3.00!” Wasn’t it the flu stopping him from pitching last week? What’s this, the influenzankle? That’s some Nomar shizz right there. As of right now, I’ve DL’d Peavy in all leagues where I own him, hoping for news that he’ll only be out the shortest possible time of 4 weeks or I’ll drop him if news comes out that he will miss the rest of the season. Now begins the part of our program where I jump from matchup to matchup waiting for someone to stick. Obviously it depends on the league, but, as of right now, I’m giving Dallas Braden a whirly-bird. Braden gets the Dodgers and Padres this week. If he’s good and his matchups are decent, I’ll hold him. If not, I’ll move onto the schmohawk starter behind door number three. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Roy Halladay – His right groin is hurt. He has two groins?! The Blue Jays are hoping he can make his next start against the Nats. I’m sure the Jays are not the only ones holding out hope.
Johan Santana – 3 IP, 9 ER. Rumors are he prepped for this start with Livan Hernandez.
Mark Teixeira/Alex Rodriguez – Yanks scored 15 runs, these two went for 1-for-8 with one run scored. Ticker Tease!
Brad Bergesen – Complete game, 2 ER. Here’s one those guys I wouldn’t try and force onto my team just because Peavy was hurt. Bergesen is just as likely to give up 5 in four innings next time out.
Derek Lowe – 2 1/3 IP, 7 ER. Didn’t I just say he was about as reliable as they get? Lowe obviously let my praise go to his head. This start was so egregious, I’d think about sitting him next time out.
David Ross – Hit two homers yesterday. Is it me or does it feel like David Ross has more two homer games than one home run games?
Yunel Escobar – Was pulled from the game after he botched a rundown. After the game, Bobby Cox said, “Grrr.”
Ty Wigginton – 2 HRs yesterday. Deep league spoiler alert! Wigginton gets crazy hot at least once a year. Maybe this is the start of one of those streaks. He isn’t guaranteed playing time, so don’t try and jam him into your lineup in 12 team leagues just yet.
J.A. Happ – 5 2/3 IP, 5 ER. Told you to loss him after his previous start.
Rocco Baldelli/Nick Green/Josh Beckett – All homered yesterday for the Sawx. If you picked them in some kind of depraved, baseball home run challenge trifecta, you deserve the loot.
Corey Hart – 2 HRs yesterday. Now 6 for his last 12 with two homers and one steal. Helped that this was a day game, but he was still wearing his sunglasses.
Casey McGehee – HR yesterday. Now 9 for his last 16 and occasionally batting leadoff for the Brewers. He has no speed, but some light power. Think 10 homers.
Miguel Olivo – 4 homers in his last 6 games. He’s a liability on average, but while he’s hot it’s worth taking a flier for some pop.
Coco Crisp – Heads to the DL. To take his place, the Royals called up Franken Berry.
Kosuke Fukudome – After batting .277 with one homer in May, he’s batting .135 in June with no homers and no steals. On May 1st, I said to sell him. Now, I’m saying why are you still holding him?
Jason Hammel – He was a one week flier to fill-in for Peavy last week. He went 11 1/3 innings with 3 ER. He gets the Pirates at home and the A’s in Oakland next so I’m going to press my luck. Though I’m benching him for the Pirates game to avoid the whammy, then will start him against the A’s.
Chad Billingsley – 7 IP, 2 ER and his 9th win. Oh, and he got stronger as the season went on last year. Zoinks!
Nelson Cruz – On June 5th, I said, “…he’s just about at .300, that’s when the patented Cruz Stall takes over and he ends up back at .265 by June 20th.” He’s at .278 and batting .200 in June. Cust kayin’.
Frank Francisco – To the DL. Is it me or does it seem like Frank2 goes to the 15-day DL every 16th day? C.J. Wilson will take over closing duties. Or I should say he’ll continue closer duties. Francisco is dealing with shoulder tendinitis, which is obviously not a great thing for a closer. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is an ongoing issue for the rest of the season. Obviously there’s safer closers out there than C.J. Wilson, but he could rack up some saves for the rest of the season. SAGNOF!
James Shields – 6 1/3 4 ER. Should’ve been a gimme today vs. the Nats. Now sits at a 3.52 ERA on the year, so it’s not like he’s been terrible, but I was expecting more.
Dan Wheeler – Got the vulture Win yesterday, which is nice, but he’s not the guy the Rays are going to for saves. At this point, I’d hold Howell for saves and no one else. I’m currently holding Wheeler as an MR, but my leagues are hella deep. He will be the first one to go if there’s a need to drop someone.
Scott Kazmir – Should be back soon. If he was dropped by an impatient owner, I’d grab him just in case he gets his shizz together.
Jered Weaver – 9 IP, 0 ER, 5 Ks. The Padres had five hits, surprisingly three by Adrian Gonzalez. I say surprisingly because why is anyone even pitching to him? Challenging themselves?
Juan Rivera – Coming off the heels of making Friday’s Buy/Sell, he hit 2 HRs yesterday. I told you! Then again, Kendry Morales hit two over the weekend and he was a sell. *sighs*
Sean Rodriguez – Kendrick got sent down and Rodriguez was recalled. So what does Scioscia do? He doesn’t start Rodriguez. Brilliant! I’d hold Rodriguez for a few more days to a week to see how or if he’s used. Because if he’s used and starts hitting homers, you’ll want to be the one owning him.
Jose Lopez – With a 4 HR / 12 RBI June, he’s somehow on pace for 24 HR / 102 RBI, albeit with an Ugglay .247 average.
Ian Kinsler/Aaron Hill – Proof that if you’re going to take a 100 AB vacation, you’d best do it right after a hot start. Last 102 AB for Kinsler: .176/13/4/13/3. Last 101 AB for Hill: .248/6/3/11/0.
Garrett Atkins – Proof that if you’re going to take a 200 AB vacation, you’d best get used to sitting on the bench. He hit 3 for 4 on Sunday for his ONLY start in the week. Yikes.
Cliff Lee – A 3 H / 2 BB shutout against the Cards with a no-hitter bid broken up in the 8th inning by the youngest Flying Molina brother. Only 4 wins this year but the biggest regression for him has been in his run support vs. his ERA (2.88 ERA).
Josh Johnson – Complete game win giving up 3 earned. The box score doesn’t show it, but this start was a bit of a nail-biter. More of a nail-biter than the Lakers clinching win. Speaking of which, the Lakers didn’t even seem to care. Pile on someone. Dump a Gatorade jug over Phil Jackson’s yellow Malcolm X hat. Fog up Stuart Scott’s coke bottle glasses. Something! What a bore. Then again, I don’t like basketball at all. How hard is it for any of these guys to dunk? About the same as me throwing a piece of paper in the trash. You know what I want to see? A basketball league of five-seven and under guys. Now that would be interesting. Where’s the skill? He made a layup… He better, he’s six-seven! /tangent
