Sounds like Jacoby Ellsbury will be out until the All-Star Break.  Break being the key word.  The Boston Globe reported that Ellsbury has, “a non-displaced rib fracture and edema in the left posterior-axillary line.”  Ribs and edema?  What’s that, a fusion Japanese-rib joint?  The doctors didn’t find a blooming onion in there?  Member in the preseason when I said you could have Ellsbury ten rounds later in Borbon?  Borbon has not endeared himself in fantasy owners’ hearts yet, but he’s picking up his game of late, Ellsbury can’t pick himself out of a chair.  Gotta hold Ellsbury if you have DL room and hope for a big 2nd half.  I do have my doubts though about how well a guy is going to be able to steal, most specifically slide, when this latest injury happened diving for a ball.  The good news is if you listened to me, you didn’t draft Ellsbury.  Right?  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Carlos Santana – Getting called up for Friday’s game.  Yes, the same catcher the Indians were waiting until August to bring up.  Yes, the Indians were messing with you.  Where do you think Justin Masterson:  Passive Aggressive Fantasy Starter learned it from?  As I’ve already said on the blog, I don’t expect the 2nd coming of Mike Piazza.  At least not this year.  Think about what you got from Matt Wieters last year.  Shoot, think about what you got from him this year.  If you’re starting Joe Schmohawk at catcher, sure, take a chance on some upside.  I think he can give a bit more power than Posey, but they’re in the same ballpark.  No, not literally.  For this year, I’d give him a .280 average and 13 homers.  Actually, I already wrote that.  Here’s my Carlos Santana fantasy.  In keepers, he should be owned already.  If not, grab him immediately.

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September 1st may mean autumn is around the corner for meteorologists, but you’re not Sam Champion, are you?  No, of course you’re not.  He’s handsome.  For us in the fantasy baseball trenches, September 1st means rosters expand and rookies are called up.  Unlike the September hitter call ups we went over yesterday, I’d use kid gloves with these call ups.  As Paula Dean might say, pitchers can hurt you, ya’ll.  If you need to take a flier on a rookie pitcher, tread carefully, young Razzball reader.  Anyway, here’s some potential September call ups to keep your eye on for fantasy baseball, the pitchers:

Aaron Poreda – I’m crazy for HodgePadres, what can I say?  Actually, I just said it.  But even I’d be careful with Poreda.  In NL-Only leagues, yes, please.  Elsewhere, maybe home matchups.

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Kelvim Escobar was sent to the bullpen.  His value goes from potentially good to potentially nothing.  Scioscia said Escobar will be pitching out of the bullpen for the rest of the season.  Scioscia also said Brandon Wood would start at shortstop two years ago and said Arredondo, the guy now in the minors, would be the closer and he said Rex Hudler’s got the best herb, when he wants to get wiggy with Figgy.  Escobar will probably start games again in a month or two.  But even if that is the case, he’s about as good to you now as those X-ray glasses you bought out of the back of a comic book when you were twelve.  Matt Palmer gets a boost in value, which is to say he actually has value now.

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In our 2009 fantasy baseball rankings, we’ve gone to the top 60 starters and top 60 outfielders thus far.  But since it’s advisable by me and everyone else that has every wielded a fantasy baseball quill to draft pitching late, I figured I needed to give you twenty or so more to bring the tally to the top 80.  There will be a top 80 outfielder post too.  Christmas came late, ya’ll!  In mixed leagues, if I’m drafting this late and I have a choice between an NL pitcher and an AL pitcher, I’d prefer to go for the NL pitcher.  They pitch to other pitchers and mostly weaker offenses.  That is a post in itself.  Also, a lot of these pitchers (and others which will be highlighted during the season) will be smart pickups for some match-ups but aren’t worth starting every game unless they get on a roll.  Anyway, here’s the top 80 starters for 2009 fantasy baseball:

61.

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This post picks out 20 starting pitchers who look like risky propositions in 2009.  It leverages findings from our analysis of previous year pitch counts and how this information can help predict a pitcher’s chance of breaking down (defined as less than 2000 pitches which is ~ 120 IP) or performance drops (0.50+ increase in FIP) in the following season.

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But the White Sox were able to go back-to-back-to-back-to-back. That’s quadrupling your pleasure. Or double-double-headed. Which makes you say whoopee for fantasy baseball, right? Seriously, you say whoopee. Yeah, you do. You and Bob Eubanks. But if someone asks you the most romantic place you’ve ever made whoopee, don’t say, “Up the butt.” Now there was something in the middle of this landmark real baseball feat that you should take notice of — Paul Konerko.

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