Matt Lindstrom threw 1 IP, 2 ER and his second blown save in two games and third in his last four. If you’re not reading this until Sunday, he probably blew another game. Oops, there goes another one. I grabbed Brandon Lyon in two leagues where he was available. If it was simply Lindstrom sucking, I’d say you can hold off, but Lindstrom said he has mechanical issues. You know what mechanical issues are code for, right? A breakdown. In the mean’s while, Lyon is just okay. If I said he was good, I’d be (Mad Lib in your own pun). But Lyon does have closing experience, so there’s that junebug on the duck’s back or some other yokelism. As for Matt Capps, his rope is a bit longer, but his shakes haven’t been great either. Yesterday, he went 2/3 IP, 3 unearned runs and the third time he was Cappsized this year. Ticker shock due to Cristian Guzman playing about fifty feet too far behind 2nd. It was Guzman’s third error of the game. [mind-boggling] I realize the Nats are the Nots without Guzman and all, but there really should’ve been a defensive replacement in this game. [/mind-boggling] I’d pray that Capps rights his own ship and grab Lyon if you have room. Besides, Clippard’s probably owned anyway because he has, like, 17 wins. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Jack Cust – It took forever and a day, but Cust hit his first home run. He’s streaky like your hair when you used to wear Zubaz, so if there’s a time to grab Cust, now would be it.
Kurt Suzuki – 2-for-5 with 2 HRs and his 3rd in two games. I was about to say it doesn’t matter because he’s probably owned everywhere, but then I saw he’s only owned in 35% of ESPN leagues. Zoinks! Hey, I’m not a huge fan of Suzuki, but I can’t imagine he’s not better than who some of you own.
Brett Anderson – Left the game after 2 innings with a sore elbow. I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you; it’s a bad sign. If I were to read his tea leaves, I’d say he’s probably out until the All-Star Game. But if I were the type to read tea leaves, I’d probably just spray his elbow with Windex and tell him to go pitch. I’d hold him for now and hope for the best and expect the opposite.
Kevin Kouzmanoff – Hit his 2nd homer in two games. He’ll be in this afternoon’s Buy/Sell. How’s that for a hard sell?! Or is it a hard buy? Or is it hard up?
Kris Medlen – 7 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 6 hits, no walks, 4 Ks. He actually looked even better than the line. Two infield singles in the 8th scored with one being a broken bat jobber. Yes, I’m a big fan, but he has a 2.79 ERA on the year; you should be too.
Troy Glaus – 2-for-4 and his 4th homer in his last five games. He should have 5, but Ibanez robbed him on Wednesday. Can’t Ibanez do anything right? No, no he can’t. BTW, Glaus is only owned in 77% of ESPN leagues. Glaus who was the NL Player of the Month for May. It really takes this long to add a guy? If you’ve abandoned your team, why are you reading this? For the funnies? Then skip ahead to Bush, Maggs, Freddy Garcia and Fuentes.
Jason Bartlett – Headed to the DL with moans over his hammy. The strain was considered mild when it happened last week and now he’s going on the DL. You deduce what you want from that, but for a guy who gains value for fantasy with his legs this is not a good sign.
Carlos Lee – Back-to-back games with a homer. I think I said this before, but Lee will hit 25 homers and bat around .270. At some point, he’s got to get there. And that’s me thinking I said something I might not have said!
Dave Bush – He said that the scratching this weekend has nothing to do with his finger’s blister. Maybe the scratching has to do with his lip’s blister.
Mark Teahen – Had surgery on the tip of his middle finger. Medical name of the surgery is “Fixin’ The Bird.” Teahen will miss 4-6 weeks.
Carlos Quentin – 1-for-3 with his third homer in his last five games. As Ozzie said on Twitter: #it’saboutfreakintime.
Magglio Ordonez – 3-for-5 and came within a single of the cycle. He would’ve had a single but Jim Joyce called it a homer.
Austin Jackson – 4-for-6 with a .341 average on the year. It’s nice and all, but he also has only 8 steals and 1 homer. Also, his BABIP is totally, flippin’ out of control. Okay, you know how I feel about this guy. Moving on…
Adam Jones – Hit his 6th homer yesterday. I was thinking about Adam Jones’s year so far (while laying on my couch, sipping a blender drink). Really, what’s the best case scenario for Jones? He had a 19/10 year in ’09, batting .277. So if he doesn’t take a huge step forward, what are we getting? We’re getting a poor man’s Pence. It’s okay, but his team’s offense is terrible, which will limit Runs and RBIs. When in doubt, I’d still go with the upside, but I think we need to start tempering our expectations.
Josh Johnson – 7 IP, 1 ER, 10 baserunners, 8 Ks and a 2.10 ERA on the year. Getting lost in the Ubaldo craze is the fact that Josh Johnson actually has a better xFIP and K-rate than Ubaldo. Hey, maybe Keith Law will vote for Johnson instead of Ubaldo for the NL Cy Young.
Chris Coghlan – 2-for-3 while raising his average from .213 to .249 in ten games. Yup.
Bobby Jenks – As reported here after being read elsewhere, Jenks is the closer again as he pitched a scoreless inning yesterday to get the save.
Freddy Garcia – 7 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 4 Ks vs. the Rangers who can’t hit in away games. No matter what Gavin Floyd has to say about it. BTW, this is Freddy Garcia before the game, this is him after when he let his hair down.
Pat Burrell – Likely getting called up by San Francisco this weekend. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the bears are gonna love Pat the Bat. And I’m not talking about the Golden State Bears. Burrell could be a bat off the bench and he might see a few games a week in the outfield against lefties. In NL-Only leagues, it’s worth a look.
Felix Hernandez – 8 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks, including a 4 strikeout 8th inning as he had his way with the Twins. His ERA is now down to 3.26 and he looks like the ace you drafted.
Jose Lopez – 2-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 3rd homer in the last 7 games. On a struggling team, I made a bold (read: dumb) move last week, trading Cano for Lopez and Garza. So far, it hasn’t looked terrible, but it’s still early and I have plenty of time to regret it. Pray for me, Razzballers.
Zack Greinke – 6 IP, 4 ER, 13 baserunners, 6 Ks. I think how badly he was outpitched by Jered Weaver (7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 9 Ks) says all that needs to be said.
Torii Hunter – 2-for-4 with his 9th homer. He also has 5 steals. I understand everyone wants 5 Ryan Braun’s in their outfield, but I don’t understand when I get comments about dropping guys like Hunter. Maybe he’s a bit yawnstipating, but he’s on pace for exactly what he should be. Somewhere in the 25/17 neighborhood. What were the royal you looking for when you drafted him?
Brian Fuentes – 1 IP, 2 ER for the save. He gave up a two-run homer to Willie Bloomquist. That’s like when a prostitute has sex with a hobo out of pity.
