Making Eric Young Jr.’s return possible, Brad Hawpe heads to the 15-day DL as he loses his hop. In the last four years of the minors, Eric Young Jr. has 87, 73, 46 and 58 steals, respectively. Or disrespectfully, holy effin’ hey, are you kidding me? That’s so good, Rickey Henderson talks about Eric Young Jr. in the third person. Young could play in the outfield for a few days and will occasionally spell Barmes — B-A-R-M-E-S. I think Young will see four to five days a week, but for those needing steals, you know the drill. I grabbed him in one league and dropped Priscilla Barmes. (How awesome would it be if DeWitt played on the same team as Barmes? Then Todd Helton would have to pretend he was gay to get playing time.) Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Miguel Olivo – Now leads all catchers with 5 homers. Ain’t that a nicker in the kads.
Seth Smith – 2 homers yesterday. Sure, go and get hot right when Eric Young Jr. gets called up. Smith will see extra starts with Hawpe out, but he’ll still sit vs. lefties, which the Rockies get two of this week.
Chad Billingsley – 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks and only one walk that wasn’t intentional in his last two games. Right now, his FIP is over a run below his ERA. I don’t think we’re out of the woods completely, but his next start vs. the Pirates can’t hurt.
Manny Ramirez – Hits the DL. Garrett Anderson filled in for him yesterday. Manny’s birthday is 5/30/72. Garrett Anderson’s birthday is 6/30/72. Nice that the Dodgers can fill Manny’s spot with youth.
Vicente Padilla – Heads to the DL. Before the DL, after the DL.
Ryan Zimmerman – Wants to avoid the DL, but is still having moans over his hammy.
Scott Olsen – 7 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 8 Ks. Keep moving, nothing to see here.
Kelly Johnson – Hit his 7th homer yesterday. No, that’s not a typo. Aren’t you glad you drafted Aaron Hill in the 5th round?
Mark Reynolds – 3-for-5, 4 RBIs as he hit his 7th homer too. Sure, I wrote a schmohawk post about Reynolds, but you can’t stay mad at a Mini Donkey. They’re too lovable.
Krispie Young – 7 for his last 13. If you’re hoping for the breakout, you have to accept that there will be stretches of 0-for-22’s.
Chad Qualls – After he completed his 1-2-3 save, his owners threw their gloves into the air and fell to their knees like Jesse Orosco.
Ryan Doumit – Going into the game, the Astros had stolen 6 bases. Now, the Astros have 12 steals. 4 were stolen off of Morton and Doumit. Which is also known as *pinkie to mouth* a salt and battery.
David Price – 9 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 9 Ks. There ya go.
John Jaso – 2-for-3, 2 RBIs. Anyone see this guy’s name in the box score and think there’s a typo? Maybe it’s just me. So get out your revolver, because it’s time for another round of Catcher Russian Roulette. Jaso sported a solid OBP in the minors and pretty limited power. So far, he has 5 walks, only one strikeout and a homer. He’s immediately more valuable than Dioner, but that’s like saying your feet smell better than your socks. In AL-Only leagues or deep mixed, 2 catcher leagues, I’d grab him and see if he can keep up his hot hitting.
Colby Lewis – 6 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 9 baserunners, 10 Ks as he battled for the Win. Colby’s a Survivor! I feel bad penalizing the people who are paying attention for the ones that aren’t, but here’s what I said previously about Lewis, “No one’s career has seen a bigger boost after going to Japan since Cheap Trick. Feels like every year the Rangers have someone who’s way overhyped. Has everyone forgotten that Lewis had a 6.71 ERA in his major league career before being rejuvenated in the Japanese Bubbling Spring of Soba Noodles?” And that’s me quoting me! I also went on to talk about how I like strikeout pitchers, but Colby Lewis is prone to walks and his home park is hitter-friendly. And that’s me paraphrasing me! On certain teams, I could see grabbing Colby Lewis if you need Ks or upside. I do not own Colby Lewis anywhere and don’t plan on it. I also don’t like how his name only sounds right if you say the whole thing. Really slows things up for someone whose WPM is 17.
Brennan Boesch – 0-for-4 as he hit 5th. Well, with Guillen out of the lineup it’s only natural that Leyland, who doesn’t believe in new lineup cards or Liquid Paper, would hit Boesch 5th. (BTW, Poor Ryan Raburn. Him and every prospect Scioscia ignored for an Izturii should start a support group.) Boesch has 20 homer power and decent speed, but there’s no indication that he’ll stick once Guillen returns. He also likes to swing and miss. In AL-Only leagues, I’d grab Boesch, but, unless he gets hot, I’m not touching him in mixed leagues.
Rhyne Hughes – Hughes has moderate power and the penchant for the strikeout. Unless the O’s are benching Atkins completely, which I don’t think they are (though I’m not against it), Hughes doesn’t have value outside of AL-Only leagues. Could be mixed league worthy if he gets every day ABs.
Nolan Reimold – 2-for-5, as he hit leadoff. Wait, what? Leadoff? You know that guy in your league who drafted terribly and is now scrambling to kick start his team? Yeah, that’s the Orioles.
Lou Montanez – Sounds like someone working for Miami Vice.
Geovany Soto – 2-for-4, as he hit his 2nd homer yesterday. This is a question for everyone that doesn’t own Soto but who has seen how many times people have asked in the comments if they should drop him. Soto is now batting: A) .366 B) 100 points higher than .266 C) Almost two hundred points better than Clement. D) All of the above. If you answered D, you’re right. If you refused to answer, you probably dropped him and were hoping for the best.
Kosuke Fukudome – 3-for-4, 3 Runs, 2 RBIs and his 3rd homer. He’s what Matt Diaz sees when he looks in the mirror. If you can afford to bench Fukudome vs. all lefties, you could have yourself a valuable 5th outfielder.
Jeff Suppan – Suppan’s being sent to the bullpen. There’s a fly in The Soup’s ointment.
Dave Bush – 3 2/3 IP, 7 ER, 12 baserunners. Some people who were pushing their luck in their H2H league, got a Cleveland Streamer.
Justin Masterson – 4 IP, 7 ER, 12 baserunners. Speaking of Cleveland Streamers. Blech. This is the kind of soul-crushing loss that forces you to either bench him for his next start or drop him.
Gio Gonzalez – 7 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 3 Ks and he only threw two walks. If he can keep his walks in check, he could be in for huge uptick in value.
Brett Anderson – Lifted from Saturday’s game with elbow tightness. I steered away from Anderson in all my leagues because of his IP jump from 2008 to 2009. I will say that when/if healthy, he has nasty stuff. As of right now, they’re reporting Anderson will make his next start. No idea who they are, but they’re usually right.
Javier Vazquez – 3 2/3 IP, 5 ER. I predicted rough times ahead when he moved to the AL, but wow. Someone in our fantasy baseball forums, mentioned there should be a glossary term for a pitcher going from the AL to the NL or vice versa. I agree. Anyone have any ideas?
Everth Cabrera – Cueto hit him on the knee with a pitch, which forced him to the bench for Sunday’s game, but EverCab did get in late and stole a base. Cueto should stick to screwing Cueto owners, and not EverCab ones.
Brad Penny – 7 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 8 baserunners, 0 Walks, 2 Ks. I have this strange feeling that Penny’s going to get named to the All-Star Game then get pummeled by the AL because Duncan won’t be on the staff.
Paul Konerko – Hit his 8th homer yesterday as he takes the lead in The Battle For Best Value From A Draft Pick That Everyone Yawned At. Vernon Wells is a close 2nd.
John Danks – 8 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks as Jenks finished the game. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this was the first time a team’s game pitchers shared their last three letters since teammates, Rollie Fingers/Hans Wringers. Actually, they didn’t say that, but something that was overheard this week at the Elias Sports Bureau compound, “Billy, from Accounting, said, ‘I’ve had it with these monkey-fighting snakes on this Monday to Friday plane!’ over a hundred times, beating his old record by 37.”
