By the dawn’s early light, why are you unhealthy again, Jose Reyes?! Tough week for MIs. Rollins must be contagious. It’s the Middle Infieluenza Outbreak of Twenty-Ten. This is like in 1918 when Skeeter McGillicuddy sneezed and the Brooklyn Robins entire team was in the hospital for two weeks with the Robins forcing a team of jailbirds and hooligans onto the field in the heart of the pennant race. Or maybe that was a movie pitch I overheard in a Hollywood Starbucks. Neverthehoo! Right now, Reyes doesn’t sound too bad with only a stiff back and not an issue with his oblique, the mystery ailment that sidelines players and no one has any idea where in the body it is. Reyes said he could’ve even played last night. Excellent, now keep him away from any Met doctors that treated Beltran’s day-to-day thing last year that knocked him out for over a year. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Jimmy Rollins – 0-for-4 as he hits third for the 2nd straight game. Yeah, it didn’t work for Reyes either. Rollins is now batting .270 after returning from the DL with a .341 average. Granted, that was only through 11 games, but they’re my small sample sizes and I’ll put them wherever I want.
Roy Halladay – 8 IP, 4 ER, 13 Hits, 0 Walks, 10 Ks and 119 pitches. The 13 hits were a career high, the 119 pitches were not. Not even his high in his last ten starts. He’s a gingie horse… Nay (pun point)… He’s a gingie robot. A gingie robot that wouldn’t mind some run support.
Joey Votto – 1-for-4 with his 18th homer. He eats gingie robots for breakfast.
Jay Bruce – Bruuuuuuuuuuuce! Where the heckfire you been? Bruce hit his 10th homer yesterday as he bats .281 on the year. I’d actually take five more homers and a .265 average. Cust kayin’.
Tom Gorzelanny – 5 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks. It was vs. the Pirates so take it with a grain of NaCl. But he now has an ERA of 3.14 and more Ks than innings. I wouldn’t even be pointing him out if his next start vs. the Diamondhacks wasn’t favorable. Mmm… deep flyer.
Wandy Rodriguez – 7 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks. The Wandwagon rides again with two straight quality starts. If he falters against the Pirates in his next start, I may jump out my window. Sure, I’m on the first floor, but it’s about the gesture.
Chris Johnson – 4-for-4 and now has two 4 hit games. Tell me more, tell me more, can hit the ball far? Was that Grease, random italicized voice? Stop judging me! The two four hit games surround a 1-for-12 stretch. Definitely worth a flyer in NL-Only leagues, but I wouldn’t go crazy with him yet in mixed leagues.
Barry Enright – 5 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks. Barry had pinpoint control in the minors, but gave 4 free passes in yesterday’s game. But that might’ve just been nerves. But II: The Return of But, he might only be up for one start anyway. But III: But Lives, Willis may not stay in the rotation, which would give Barry more starts. But IV: But vs. However, even if Barry sticks in the rotation, he needs to prove himself in the majors before I’d add him.
Aaron Heilman – 1 IP, 0 ER as the blind man picked up the saw and said, “Hey, I got a save!”
Chris Snyder – 3-for-4 but gave up 5 Cardinal steals. I wonder if the Cards players own Montero in fantasy and this was their subtle hint to Hinch.
Krispie Young – 1-for-4 with his 14th Krispie fly.
Jonathan Sanchez – 5 IP, 4 ER, 8 baserunners (only 2 Walks), 4 Ks. Filthy Sanchez just gave up two poorly timed homers. Sure, I’m making excuses, but I own him everywhere. Gotta stay positive, Mike Skinner.
Erik Bedard – Could return to the M’s rotation on Tuesday. He just has to get through one final rehab start healthy. Vegas isn’t taking bets, but I’d put his return next week at 4 to 1.
Felix Hernandez – 9 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 11 Ks. It’s so sexy when he does that thing with the Ks and the no runs.
Michael Saunders – 2-for-4 with 2 homers. He’s death against lefties, which is not the same as murdering lefties. At .217 on the year, he’s nothing but an AL-Only OF at this point.
Milton Bradley – 2-for-5 with his 2nd homer in his last 4 games. Sure, he’s a head case, but he has 8 homers and 6 steals on the year in less than 200 ABs. He should be owned in more than 3% of ESPN leagues.
Bengie Molina – With apologies to Alfred, the fattest, slowest Molina was sent from the Giants to the Rangers. The Rangers add Molina to their organizational catching depth of Max Ramirez, Teagarden, Treanor and Saltalamacchia as they continue to follow the “catching wins championships” credo that has never worked for anyone. Molina moves into a much better lineup and ballpark, which should help his numbers. He’s a 15 homer, .260 hitter. On the basepaths and the buffet line, he’s a station-to-station guy.
Buster Posey – With Molina moving to Texas, Posey gets a nod of approval and every day catching duties, which may not necessarily help his hitting since he now has a much harder position to play.
Matt LaPorta – 1-for-2 with his 2nd homer in the last two games. You know the drill. When guys are hitting, you what? *taps finger, scratches head, whistles* You own them! C’mon, that was an easy one.
Chris Perez – Got the save since Wood pitched in the three prior games. Though if you saw the box score and thought Wood was gone, it’s understandable.
Matt Garza – 7 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks vs. the Sawx. Sonavabench! Why can’t he pitch well vs. bad teams and crappy vs. good ones? Is that too much to ask?
Vladimir Guerrero – 4-for-4, 5 RBIs, 2 homers. Must’ve been nice to not only homer twice off the Angels, but to hit one off of the impostor, Francisco Rodriguez. If Vlad stays healthy, he can keep his name in the MVP conversation. That “if” isn’t exactly Rhode Island-sized.
Zack Greinke – 8 IP, 6 ER, 10 baserunners, 3 Ks. He flew through 7 innings only to give up 5 runs in the 8th as he tried to blow his own win and Greinke himself.
Jair Jurrjens – 5 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks. Meesa tinks Jar-Jar looked sharp in his return. He even struck out some hitters in this game. If you’ve forgotten, Jurrjens’ bugaboo is he doesn’t K people. A healthy Jar-Jar should absolutely be owned in your league.
Adam Jones – 3-for-5 with his 13th homer while hitting .274 and chipping in 3 steals. You know what’s fascinating to me (which means it’ll be a yawnfest for you), if Jones hit .274 all year while spreading his 13 homers out over the first three months, he would be owned everywhere and people would harbor no ill will towards him. This is why you draft guys you trust and let them play. On the other hand, Markakis is suckakis.
Ty Wigginton – Hit his 14th homer. After the game, Casey McGehee called him to say, “Nice hit, Dad!”
Matt Kemp – 3-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 13th homer. Probably a day late on that buy low Kemp trade offer.
Rafael Furcal – 4-for-5, 3 Runs, 2 RBIs and his third homer. Hitting around .500 in the last week with 4 steals.
Clayton Richard – 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 10 Ks with a 2.74 ERA on the year. Aren’t you glad you loaded your team with hodgepadres? I am.
Adrian Gonzalez – Didn’t play because of shoulder soreness as the Padres exploded for 13 runs. Ticker tease!
Dustin Pedroia – Since he was unable to put any weight on his foot, he took grounders while on his knees. He’s obviously been watching the instructional video, Dorf on Baseball.
Brandon Inge – 0-for-3, but after the game he was all smiles. When asked why, he said he loves having books read to him with his adopted brother.
