Stop the press. Who is that? Vicki Vale? Nope. Ricky Romero, Ricky Romero. Yesterday, Romero went 8 IP, 0 ER, 7 Ks with 8 baserunners. Let’s go in the Wayback Machine… Cue dream sequence music, activate wavy screen… Here we are back on April 20th, “(Romero’s) walks are very low (for him), and he’s left a lot of guys on base, so he will see a correction in his future (SMACK!), but his FIP is only 3.86 (now at 4.20). …Might want to try a little R & R. (POW!) Oh, and get Ben Zobrist right now even though he only has 3 homers.” And that’s me quoting me and making up a false quote about Zobrist! Pretty much all that holds true from back in April. Ricky Romero continues to get lucky with men he’s leaving on base, so that could turn around and bite him at any moment. But you really should own him at this point, though I wouldn’t start him in The Jetstream next time out. Slide, slide, slippity slide… The Jetstream! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Elijah Dukes – Frequent commenter, Doc said, “Dukes sent to AAA on Wednesday. Nats host Domestic Violence Awareness Day at Nationals Park on Friday.” Nats seem like they’re going from 5-tool outfielders to 1-tool — Dunn, Willingham… Maybe they can get Jack Cust to play center.
Sean Burnett – Gave up the game-tying homer to Cody Ross. Welcome to the Washington Nationals organization. If you wish to excel, you’ve come to the wrong place. Here you will either fail or be ignored when you succeed. Don’t bother with the life preservers. On his way out of town, Dukes punctured them all.
Kelly Johnson – Cox says Prado’s has won the starting job over Kelly Johnson. Bad year to be a Johnson or a Wang.
Alexei Ramirez – Hurt his middle finger and will have X-Rays. I’m preparing to give him my middle finger if he’s out for an extended time.
Mike Aviles – Out for the season with Tommy John surgery. As opposed to, out for the season with terrible stats as he had been.
Justin Morneau – Left yesterday’s game with a slight groin pull. Isn’t that what they booked Pee Wee Herman on? Word out of the Twin Cities is Morneau should be okay.
Brandon Webb – Here’s the good news, Webb doesn’t need season-ending surgery. Here’s the bad news, he’s not scheduled to pick up a baseball any time soon. Everyone’s talking about dropping Peavy, but I’d expect Peavy to return before Webb.
Josh Johnson – 3 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners and 1 debt of gratitude to Badenhop for bailing him out. Not to be a nervous Nelly and start putting Band-Aids on my face, but I hope Johnson wasn’t lackluster because of any sort of injury.
Leo Nunez – Got the save, Meyer got the vulture win. Who ya gonna call? Maroone!
Jordan Zimmermann – 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 Ks. Continues to pitch much better than his 4.52 ERA indicates.
James Shields – 7 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 8 Ks. Would’ve been too easy to take him out prior to the 8th inning when he had only given up two runs. *shakes fist at sky* Maddon!!!
Brad Bergesen – 8 IP, 1 ER, 6 Ks, 4 baserunners vs. the Sawx. High GB %, Low K Rate. Like a featherweight, he doesn’t knock opponents out as much as outlast them and wins on points. That’s serviceable enough if he’s fighting against pushover opponents in friendly confines like the NL West (see Cook, Aaron) but the heavy punchers of the AL East….forget about it.
Koji Uehara – Out with a tear in his elbow. Punt!
George Sherrill – 2/3 IP, 2 ER. With the trade deadline less than a month away, Sherrill’s auditioning for the job of Nats closer.
Mike Pelfrey – 7 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 6 Ks. Has been terrifically yawnstipating this year, averaging about 5 and two-thirds per start with a 4.26 ERA and 1.44 WHIP and no Ks.
Jason Hammel – 8 IP, 1 ER, 5 Ks, 5 baserunners. Has a 2.13 ERA away from home. I’ll say it again for the people in the back of the room, 2.13 away from Coors. Unfortunately, he’s at home for his next three of four starts.
Clayton Kershaw – 5 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hit. Hopefully Kershaw’s niche doesn’t remain these 5 inning affairs. Don’t want no short stint man.
Juan Rivera – HR yesterday as picks up in July as he was hitting in June, a month that saw him hit 8 homers. Yes, months can see.
Jered Weaver – 5 1/3 IP, 7 ER. Ouch. Wait, what? Oh. Ouch.
Vladimir Guerrero – 3-for-4, 0 RBIs, has two homers on the year. Maicer Izturis has 2 homers on the year. Cust kayin’.
Yovani Gallardo/Adam Wainwright – Dozen Ks and one earned run a piece as they faced David Wright +8 and The Team That Let Bonds Break Aaron’s Record and Now Karma’s Repaying, respectively.
Johnny Cueto – 6 IP, 0 ER. Ah, it’s nice to be done with interleague.
Jay Bruce – 0-for-3, batting .212 on the year. I see what he’s doing. He’s setting himself up to be a sleeper next year. Pretty sneaky, Bruce.
Randy Wells – 7 IP, 1 ER. I thought he was done being productive a few starts ago. Wells obviously thought different. He has a solid K to Walk ratio and is worth taking a chance on in 10 team leagues and deeper.
Hank Blalock – 2 HRs, now has 16 on the year as he resumes the role of oft-injured 3rd baseman that has to play DH because he’s oft-injured.
Frank Francisco – 1 IP, 3 ER. Sure, this is about as much as a limb as John Cusack playing a misfit hipster with a strange job who girls like as a friend until he declares his love in some offbeat fashion, but Francisco’s not right. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wilson getting saves again.
