Not a full slate of games tonight, so this is going to be a quick Beyond the Boxscore tonight, quick hitters all around.

Pirates starter Zach Duke has actually thrown a few good outings in a row, after six shutout innings on Monday. However, repeat after me…..I will not pick up Zach Duke on my fantasy team, even if I currently own Barry Zito. Say that five times, and you should be safe. Duke had a great second half in his rookie year, and has been basically useless since.

Tim Hudson is putting together another consistent season. After his win Monday, Hudson now sits at 6-2 with a nice 2.54 ERA. Huddy still doesn’t strikeout enough hitters to be considered one of the elite (35 Ks in 56 IP), but he is quietly gotten himself back to a top 20 pitcher.

There were some questions coming into 2008 as to if Fausto Carmona could repeat his 2007 performance. Through the first two weeks in May, the answer is yes. Carmona threw a complete game shutout Monday and improved his record to 4-1. Like Hudson, Carmona isn’t a big strikeout pitcher, in fact he has walked twice as many as he has fanned. However, at just 24 years old he is one of the more desirable pitchers in keeper leagues.

The Indians had a doubleheader and their bullpen threw one inning. After Carmona went all the way, Cliff Lee threw nine shutout innings in a ten-inning game against Toronto. Lee was amazing again, as he struck out five and lowered his ERA to a miniscule 0.67. I still say sell high on Lee, but I now suggest to shoot higher for a trade request.

A huge “buy low” candidate is the Reds’ “ace” Aaron Harang. Somehow, Harang has a 3.32 ERA….and is 2-5. Harang has been one of the more consistent pitchers in the majors for the past few years, but has been lost from the media eye in Cincinnati. His ERA is usually in the high 3s, and has won 16 games while striking out over 200 for two consecutive seasons. See if the price tag is low for Harang in your league, he should have a good rest of the season.

We spoke recently about Jeremy Hermida starting to breakout. It isn’t just Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla powering the Marlins to the best record in the majors. Hermida is now batting near .310 with four homers and 19 RBI. Hermida always had a world of talent, but couldn’t stay healthy. Is he finally putting it all together? It appears so.

The Rays’ improbable season continued Monday thanks in large part to the seven shutout innings thrown by Matt Garza. Garza is now 2-0 since he returned from the DL, with a 3.86 ERA. He was always one of the top pitching prospects in the Twins’ organization before his trade for Delmon Young, so this could be for real that Garza could win his fair share of games for the suddenly potent Rays.

The time to buy low on Ryan Braun has now officially past. After two home runs on Sunday, Braun followed that up with two more on Monday and now has nine on the year. Another point to prove Braun’s heat is he hasn’t struck out in five consecutive games. He now should be on track to repeat last year’s statistics.

Mariners’ rookie Wladimir Balentien isn’t getting a ton of hits, but he is making the hits he does get count. Balentien hit his fourth homer of the year tonight, although his average is just .244. As with most young players, they will take you on a roller coaster of emotions and it appears Balentien will be no different. He still has plenty of pop in his bat, but will struggle with his consistency.

As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don’t forget to check me out at mlbfrontoffice.com on Tuesdays under In The News. Also go to fantasybaseballsearch.com to find me in the Gurus Blog.

No Brainers

Erik Bedard, SEA - 5/12 vs. TEX (Padilla), 5/18 vs. SD (Estes)

Tim Hudson, ATL - 5/12 vs. PIT, 5/17 (Van Benschoten) vs. OAK (Harden)

Chien-Ming Wang, NYY - 5/12 vs. TB (Jackson), 5/17 vs. NYM (Maine)

Cliff Lee, CLE - 5/12 vs. TOR (Marcum), 5/17 vs. CIN (Harang)

Adam Wainwright, STL - 5/12 vs. MIL (Bush), 5/17 vs. TB (Garza)

Aaron Harang, CIN - 5/12 vs. FLA (Badenhop), 5/17 vs. CLE (Lee)

Gotta Play ‘Em

Roy Oswalt, HOU - 5/12 vs. SF (Zito), 5/17 vs. TEX (Padilla)

Zack Greinke, KC - 5/13 vs. DET (Robertson), 5/18 vs. FLA (Hendrickson)

Brad Penny, LAD - 5/13 vs. MIL (Villanueva), 5/18 vs. LAA (Weaver)

Shaun Marcum, TOR - 5/12 vs. CLE (Lee), 5/17 vs. PHI (Kendrick)

John Maine, NYM - 5/13 vs. WAS (Lannan), 5/18 vs. NYY (Wang)

Matt Cain, SF - 5/13 vs. HOU (Backe), 5/18 vs. CWS (Danks)

Clay Buchholz, BOS - 5/12 vs MIN (Hernandez), 5/18 vs. MIL (Villanueva)

Jered Weaver, LAA - 5/13 vs. CWS (Danks), 5/18 vs. LAD (Penny)

Worthwhile For Two Starts

Mark Buehrle, CWS - 5/12 vs. LAA (Adenhart), 5/17 vs. SF (Zito)

Randy Wolf, SD - 5/12 vs. CHC (Zambrano), 5/17 vs. SEA (Batista)

Jeff Francis, COL - 5/13 vs. ARI (Johnson), 5/18 vs. MIN (Slowey)

John Danks, CWS - 5/13 vs. LAA (Weaver), 5/18 vs. SF (Cain)

Mark Hendrickson, FLA - 5/13 vs. CIN (Volquez), 5/18 vs. KC (Greinke)

Livan Hernandez, MIN - 5/12 vs. BOS (Buchholz), 5/17 vs. COL (Reynolds)

Kyle Lohse - STL - 5/13 vs. PIT (Maholm), 5/18 vs. TB (Jackson)

Vincente Padilla, TEX - 5/12 vs. SEA (Bedard), 5/18 vs. HOU (Oswalt)

Justin Duchscherer, OAK - 5/13 vs. CLE (Byrd), 5/18 vs. ATL (Jurrjens)

Matt Garza, TB - 5/12 vs. NYY (Pettitte), 5/17 vs. STL (Wainwright)

Getting Desperate

John Lannan, WAS - 5/13 vs. NYM (Maine), 5/18 vs. BAL (Burres)

Barry Zito, SF - 5/12 vs. HOU (Oswalt), 5/17 vs. CWS (Buehrle)

Edwin Jackson, TB - 5/13 vs. NYY (Wang), 5/18 vs. STL (Lohse)

Carlos Villanueva, MIL - 5/13 vs. LAD (Penny), 5/18 vs. BOS (Buchholz)

Kevin Slowey, MIN - 5/13 vs. TOR (Litsch), 5/18 vs. COL (Francis)

Odalis Perez, WAS - 5/12 vs. NYM (Figueroa), 5/17 vs. BAL (Olson)

Kyle Kendrick, PHI - 5/13 vs. ATL (Reyes), 5/18 vs. TOR (Marcum)

Paul Maholm, PIT - 5/13 vs. STL (Lohse), 5/18 vs. CHC (Marquis)

Jason Marquis, CHC - 5/13 vs. SD (Estes), 5/18 vs. PIT (Maholm)

Brandon Backe, HOU - 5/13 vs. SF (Cain), 5/18 vs. TEX (Gabbard)

Dave Bush, MIL - 5/12 vs. STL (Wainwright), 5/17 vs. BOS (Gabbard)

Burke Badenhop, FLA - 5/12 vs. CIN (Harang), 5/17 vs. KC (Bannister)

      Shawn Estes, SD – 5/12 vs. CHC (Marquis), 5/17 vs. SEA (Bedard)

      Kason Gabbard, TEX – 5/12 vs. SEA (Hernandez), 5/17 vs. HOU (Backe)

      Zach Duke, PIT – 5/12 vs. ATL (Jurrjens), 5/17 vs. CHC (Zambrano)

      Jason Marquis, CHC – 5/12 vs. SD (Estes), 5/17 vs. PIT (Maholm)

As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don’t forget to check me out at mlbfrontoffice.com on Tuesdays under In The News. Also go to fantasybaseballsearch.com to find me in the Gurus Blog.

I want to start tonight by wishing a very Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there, especially my wonderful mother who has meant so much to my life. And also to my wife, who will be a mother for the second time at any minute. We all owe so much to these women, make sure they know what they mean to you. I know fantasy baseball doesn’t lend itself to too many mothers reading this (although I know of two for sure), but it is something that is important to me.

Reds’ rookie Johnny Cueto is taking a turn for the worse. After electrifying his opponents in Spring Training in the beginning of the season, Cueto has lost four of his last five decisions. Cueto allowed another six runs on Sunday against the Mets, failing to get through the fifth inning. I still wouldn’t advise dropping him, but he has got to be on serious watch if he continues to pitch this way.

Closers in the National League Central are dropping like flies. A day after Jason Isringhausen was removed as Cardinals closer, Eric Gagne was finally removed as the closer of the Brewers. Milwaukee announced that they would employ the dreaded “closer by committee” and the first opportunity went to Salomon Torres, but he had to be removed in the ninth inning before the save went to Bob Shouse. This situation is a mess, and it is hard to say who will be getting saves for the Brewers. More information will come IF it becomes available.

People are always very torn on their opinion on the Mets’ Oliver Perez on how he should be valued. Those who argue against Perez see him as a guy who can’t keep his concentration, walks too many batters, and is prone to the big inning. Those, like me, who like Perez see his electric arm, strikeout rate, home park he pitches in, and offensive ability of the team he plays for, and says if he gets a few breaks he could win 18 games. Today Perez was that good pitcher, and the Mets were that offensive team. Perez went six innings, allowed three runs, and struck out eight to improve his record to 3-3. I can’t really argue against his negatives, but I believe he will be good more often than he will be bad.

Rich Harden made his much anticipated return to the mound Sunday, but he did not come through for those who have been so patient with him. Harden could only get through 3.2 innings and allowed five runs. I wouldn’t advise go sending Harden to the waiver wire, not yet at least. As long as he is healthy, keep Harden on your roster, at least until he gets hurt again. He is an immensely talented guy, he just can’t stay on the mound. If you have been this patient, wait until he starts again.

To replace the struggling Rich Hill, the Cubs called up Sean Gallagher, and let’s just say, Rich Hill could have done that! Gallagher only lasted 4.1 innings, gave up four runs, and struck out six. I would want to see at least one quality start before I thought about adding Gallagher to my roster.

Ervin Santana has been nearly perfect all season long, and we here at Fighting Chance have just been waiting for him to falter. And boy did he falter. Santana gave up five runs in 5.2 innings, but didn’t figure in the decision. While I believe that Santana will have a pretty good season, trust me, this isn’t the last time that we will see a terrible outing like Sunday. To me, he is one of the biggest sell high candidates of 2008.

“Mr. Almost A No Hitter” Gavin Floyd did not get so close to the no hitter on Sunday. In fact, Floyd didn’t even see the fifth inning today. He allowed five runs over 3.2 innings and didn’t record a strikeout. Floyd has been a good story this year, but he is still wildly inconsistent. No runs here, five runs there, no runs again, three runs over there. At the bottom of your rotation, he’s not a bad guy to have, but he is just too up and down for me to advise depending on him too much.

The Angels finally placed Chone Figgins on the disabled list with his strained hamstring. The move was retroactive to May 4^th (the day after the last time he played),which means he is eligible to return on May 19^th. The Angels are hopeful that he will be able to return on that day.

Francisco Liriano has been better in the minors, but still has a long road in his return to the majors.  On Saturday he allowed just two runs over six innings with five strikeouts.  This isn’t going to be a quick fix for Liriano, but this is at least encouraging for those of us who are holding on to him while he is in the minors.

Royals starter Brian Bannister came into 2008 with a lot of expectations on him, and up to this point he has been a mild disappointment. On Sunday, he showed what he is capable of. Bannister went eight shutout innings while striking out five. He was viewed as one of the big sleepers coming into the year, but he is looking like he will be slightly more than a .500 pitcher.

Impressive Performances

Ryan Braun is starting to look like the guy who won the 2007 NL ROY. Braun hit homers number six and seven on Sunday, and now has his batting average up to .281. He is not stealing bases like he did last year (he has only one), but if you can get the power numbers he put up last year, you still would have to be happy with his production.

After hitting two more homers on Sunday, Marlins 2B Dan Uggla now has seven homers in his last nine games. He also has 14 RBI during that stretch and has raised his average by over 30 points.

Another Marlin, Jeremy Hermida could possibly be on a hot streak that has been projected of him for years. Hermida has seven hits in his last five games to get his average over .300. He also hit his third homer of the year, and perhaps if he can stay on the field he can start to realize the potential that he has. A couple more good games, and you should hit the waiver wire for him.

A whopping disappointment, Carlos Beltran, had a game that could possibly get him out of the season long slump he has been in. Beltran had two hits, including his third homer, and raised his season average to .240. You probably spent a pretty high draft pick on Beltran, and you have to be hoping that this is the game that he starts to turn it around.

Rays OF Carl Crawford had himself a great Sunday. Crawford had three hits, including his third homer and also stole two bases (his 11^th and 12^th of the year). You most likely spent either a first round or early second round pick on Crawford, and theses are the kind of games you have been waiting for. Crawford has been decently consistent, but you’ve got to be hoping for a little more.

Finally, I got some gas today and I am appalled at the $3.85/gallon price that I paid. I’m not going to get into my political views, as this is not the place, but it is insane the amount that gas has gone up in the past 6-8 weeks. So, my question is, I want to know for those who read this and care to answer, where are you from and what is the gas price in your area?

As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don’t forget to check me out at mlbfrontoffice.com on Tuesdays under In The News. Also go to fantasybaseballsearch.com to find me in the Gurus Blog.

No Brainers

Carlos Zambrano, CHC - 5/11 vs. ARI (Johnson), 5/16 vs. PIT (Duke)

Ervin Santana, LAA - 5/11 vs. TB (Sonnanstine), 5/17 vs. LAD (Kuroda)

Gotta Play ‘Em

Scott Olsen, FLA - 5/11 vs. WAS (Hill), 5/16 vs. KC (Tomko)

A.J. Burnett, TOR - 5/11 vs. CLE (Carmona) , 5/16 vs. PHI (Moyer)

Gavin Floyd, CWS - 5/11 vs. SEA (Batista), 5/16 vs. SF (Sanchez)

Andy Pettitte, NYY - 5/11 vs. DET (Robertson), 5/16 vs. NYM (O. Perez)

Jair Jurrjens, ATL - 5/11 vs. PIT (Duke), 5/16 vs. OAK (Eveland)

Oliver Perez, NYM - 5/11 vs. CIN (Cueto), 5/16 vs. NYY (Pettitte)

Fausto Carmona, CLE - 5/11 vs. TOR (Burnett), 5/16 vs. CIN (Arroyo)

Chris Young, SD - 5/11 vs. COL (Reynolds) , 5/16 vs. SEA (Washburn)

Johnny Cueto, CIN - 5/11 vs. NYM (O. Perez), 5/16 vs. CLE (C. Lee)

Worthwhile For Two Starts

Rich Harden, OAK - 5/11 vs. TEX (Ponson), 5/17 vs. ATL (Hudson)

Brian Bannister, KC - 5/11 vs. BAL (Burres), 5/17 vs. FLA (Badenhop)

Jonathan Sanchez, SF - 5/11 vs. PHI (Eaton), 5/16 vs. CHW (Floyd)

Randy Johnson,ARI - 5/11 vs. CHC (Zambrano), 5/17 vs. DET (Robertson)

Hiroki Kuroda, LAD - 5/11 vs. HOU (Chacon), 5/17 vs LAA (Santana)

Matt Garza, TB – 5/12 vs. NYY (Wang), 5/18 vs. STL (Wainwright)

Andy Sonnanstine, TB - 5/11 vs. LAA (Santana), 5/16 vs. STL (Looper)

Getting Desperate

Zach Duke, PIT - 5/11 vs. ATL (Jurrjens), 5/16 vs. CHC (Zambrano)

Shawn Hill, WAS - 5/11 vs. FLA (Olsen), 5/16 vs. BAL (Trachsel)

Braden Looper, STL - 5/11 vs. MIL (Suppan), 5/16 vs. TB (Sonnanstine)

Tim Wakefield, BOS - 5/11 vs. MIN (Blackburn), 5/17 vs. MIL (Bush)

Nate Robertson, DET - 5/11 vs. NYY (Pettitte), 5/17 vs. ARI (Johnson)

Greg Reynolds, COL - 5/11 vs. SD (Young), 5/17 vs. MIN (Hernandez)

Sidney Ponson, TEX - 5/11 vs. OAK (Harden), 5/17 vs. HOU (Oswalt)

Nick Blackburn, MIN - 5/11 vs. BOS (Wakefield), 5/16 vs. COL (Jiminez)

Shawn Chacon, HOU - 5/11 vs. LAD (Kuroda), 5/16 vs. TEX (Millwood)

Jeff Suppan, MIL - 5/11 vs. STL (Looper), 5/16 vs. BOS (Matsusaka)

Adam Eaton, PHI - 5/11 vs. SF (Sanchez), 5/17 vs. TOR (Marcum)

Miguel Batista, SEA - 5/11 vs. CWS (Floyd), 5/17 vs. SD (Wolf)

Nick Adenhart, LAA – 5/12 vs. CWS (Buehrle), 5/18 vs. LAD (Loiaza)

Phil Dumatrait, PIT – 5/12 vs. ATL (Hudson), 5/18 vs. CHC (Marquis)

Burke Badenhop, FLA – 5/12 vs. CIN (Harang), 5/18 vs. (Bannister)

Dave Bush, MIL –5/12 vs. STL (Wainwright), 5/18 vs. BOS (Wakefield)

Odalis Perez, WAS – 5/12 vs. NYM (Figueroa), 5/18 vs. BAL (Olson)

As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don’t forget to check me out at mlbfrontoffice.com on Tuesdays under In The News. Also go to fantasybaseballsearch.com to find me in the Gurus Blog

Jason Isringhausen has been removed as the Cardinals closer. At his own admission, he has been horrible of late, and he doesn’t want the ball in the ninth inning until he can get those issues straightened out. Manager Tony LaRussa said that Ryan Franklin and Russ Springer would get the save opportunities. Saturday night the save went to Franklin as he pitched a one hit ninth inning. It is so hard to judge what LaRussa might do, but if you are looking for some cheap saves, I’d grab Franklin.

Shockingly, Yanks SS Derek Jeter finally hit his first homer of the year today. Now Jeter is a long way from Mickey Mantle as far as the long ball is concerned, but you fully expect him to hit at least one a month. Jeter is still a top 5 shortstop, and hopefully breaking the ice tonight will lead to him getting back on his usual 15 HR pace each year.

Max Scherzer had his second start of his major league career tonight, and it was much better than his first. Scherzer went six innings, allowing just one unearned run and fanned six guys. After a shaky first start following that dominating relief appearance, I believe many of you got nervous. Don’t worry, as long as he remains in the rotation he will be effective. However, I have been seeing some reports that he won’t last in the D-Backs rotation for too long before being either sent back down or sent to the pen.

Blue Jays centerfielder Vernon Wells will miss six to eight weeks with a broken bone in his wrist. Wells injured himself on a diving catch, and if you have to get injured playing ball, at least do it doing something good like diving for the ball, not something stupid like falling running the bases. Stash Vernon on your DL spot until he is able to return.

Scott Kazmir had his second start since coming off the DL, and this one was pretty impressive. Kazmir went six innings, didn’t give up a run and struck out six. For those of you who own him, I hope he was already back in your lineups.

Tonight, Indians’ rookie Aaron Laffey didn’t run into similar bad luck like he had in his previous two starts. Laffey was finally staked to some runs, and pitched very well. He has been pretty good in all three of his major league starts, but this was his first win. It is getting to the point where you now want to start to add Laffey, as he has allowed just four runs in three major league starts.

Marlins’ rookie Andrew Miller was equally impressive. Along with Cameron Maybin, Miller was a highly sought after rookie in the Miguel Cabrera trade, and after being close to being shipped to the minors, Miller has started to turn it around. Three of his last four starts, Miller has given up two runs or less, and if he throws one more gem, get him on your team. He has a world of potential, and if he starts to realize it you will want to own Andrew Miller.

In just his second season Tim Lincecum is putting together a Cy Young type season. After another brilliant performance, Lincecum improved to 5-1 with a 1.61 ERA. He also strikes out more than a batter an inning, and he is a must have in all leagues at this point already.

In relief of the injured Phil Hughes, the Yanks might have found themselves a decent starter in Darrell Rasner. Rasner allowed just two earned runs for his second consecutive start, but I wouldn’t be grabbing him unless you are desperate. He isn’t a big strikeout guy, and his value is limited. Unless you are desperate for pitching, leave Rasner alone.

Some power displays on Saturday. Grady Sizemore hit homers number five and six, and most likely he was a second round pick for you so you obviously play him everyday. Prince Fielder hit his fifth of the season as he looks to awake from his season beginning slump. It is just a matter of time before he starts to hit them out regularly, so now might be your last chance to buy low. Carlos Delgado is starting to hit a little bit to as he tries to regain his form that had him putting up MVP type numbers. Don’t expect that kind of production again, but if he could get to .285 with 25+ HRs, Delgado’s owners would be ecstatic.

As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don’t forget to check me out at mlbfrontoffice.com on Tuesdays under In The News. Also go to fantasybaseballsearch.com to find me in the Gurus Blog.

The following pitchers were promoted to the major leagues since the last time I published this article:

Max Scherzer
Nick Adenhart
Aaron Laffey
Jo-Jo Reyes

They will be replaced by new entrants next week.

Homer Bailey, Cincinnati Reds

Bailey went 1-1 in his last two starts, Bailey has been going deeper into the games, and striking out more batters. He has 17 Ks in his last 14 innings, and his ERA is still under 3.00. His call up to the majors doesn’t appear to be imminent at this point, but he is certainly pitching like he wants it to be sooner rather than later.

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

Kershaw appears to be close to the majors now, and it looks like his call will come sometime in May. The Dodgers had him work out of the bullpen in his last appearance to try to keep his innings down. They have said he will not pitch more than 25 innings in any month, something Joe Torre called the Kershaw Decree, playing off the Joba Rules.

Gio Gonzalez, Oakland Athletics

In his last three starts, Gonzalez has been very hittable, as he took the loss in two of them. His ERA more than doubled, and he walked more guys than he struck out. Gonzalez still has a very high ceiling, but it doesn’t appear he will be in the majors soon.

Adam Miller, Cleveland Indians

Miller has had a decent last ten days, although he is yet to record a decision. He does have 10 strikeouts in just 12.2 innings, but he also has five walks and has a .328 batting average against. Miller will certainly be someone to watch if he gets the call to the majors, but I don’t believe it will be in the near future.

Jeff Niemann, Tampa Bay Rays

Niemann was optioned back to the minors on April 20^th, but hasn’t pitched in the minors since his return. Still researching why that might be, will keep you updated.

Rick Porcello, Detroit Tigers

Forget about his win-loss record and the rest is pretty impressive. He has only allowed eight runs in seven starts, and although his strikeouts have been down over his past couple of starts, Porcello is still one to watch for the future.

Carlos Carrasco, Philadelphia Phillies

Carrasco has posted two consecutive wins, and gotten his strikeout level to over one an inning. He is only 21 years old, and his ceiling is very high. Given some injuries to the rotation in Philly, there’s a shot he could be in the show this year.

Philip Humber, Minnesota Twins

The Twins had Humber pitching out of the bullpen for a couple of appearances, but he is back starting again. Although he did collect a win, Humber certainly has been disappointing so far. He projects to be about a number three starter, so don’t go crazy if/when he is called.

Justin Masterson, Boston Red Sox

After an amazing start that culminated with getting an appearance for the Red Sox, Masterson has been struggling as of late. He has given up four runs in back to back games, and watched his ERA jump from under one to over three. I wouldn’t grab him if he’s just spot starting again, but if he gets the call for an extended stay, Masterson has proven that he can pitch at the highest level.

Chris Volstad, Florida Marlins

Volstad continues to be impressive, and looks like he will be ready if duty calls in Florida. He needs to strikeout more hitters to have a huge fantasy impact, as being in Florida won’t net him a ton of wins, but keep his name on your watch list later in the season.

Wade Davis, Tampa Bay Rays

Davis will be an impressive addition when he gets the call to the Rays, but it appears there is more than one or more pitchers in front of him in line. He continues to put together a solid, although unspectacular, 2008 campaign.

Joe Savery, Philadelphia Phillies

Although Savery continues to rack up the strikeouts, he has struggled his last couple times out. He allowed nine runs in the past 11 innings, but struck out 14. He’s got a long road before he could end up with the Phillies, but he is a name to watch.

Radhames Liz, Baltimore Orioles

Liz is allowing way too many runs right now, and hasn’t collected a win yet. He is still striking out a batter an inning, but he needs more than that to make it to the major leagues. He has a world of talent, and a great arm, but hasn’t been able to put it together as of yet.

 As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don’t forget to check me out at mlbfrontoffice.com on Tuesdays under In The News. Also go to fantasybaseballsearch.com to find me in the Gurus Blog.

Given the struggles/injuries to Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, the Yankees were basically forced to give Kei Igawa another shot at the majors (not to mention his huge contract). Well, Igawa was back to his old major league self on Friday, as he got spanked around again. Igawa lasted just three innings, gave up 11 hits, six runs and didn’t strike anyone out. Do not touch Igawa if he was the last pitcher on Earth.

40+ year old Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers was a little bit more than serviceable for the fourth consecutive start. During this time, Rogers hasn’t given up more than three runs, and has run his record up to 3-3. It would take either a 16 or more team league, or a desperate injury situation before I picked up Kenny Rogers though.

From the very old to the very young, Brewers’ rookie Manny Parra has moved to the land of the unownable (is that a word?). Parra has still yet to get through more than 5.1 innings, and has yet to give up less than two runs. He needs to show any sign of consistency before you can even think about adding him to your roster. Continue to monitor Parra, but if he keeps pitching like this, he should spend the whole year on the waiver wire.

After a really tough start, it looks like Ted Lilly is back to the form he showed in 2007. Lilly threw his fourth straight start in which he allowed three runs or less, and today he struck out ten batters in just seven innings. If he happened to be dropped in your league, definitely find a way to get Lilly on your roster in most traditional leagues.

For the second time in three starts, James Shields threw a shutout tonight. Of course he threw a total stinker out in the start between the shutouts, but he is absolutely a must start every time out. Tonight was his best start yet, as he allowed only one hit. Shields is keeping the strikeout level in the ball park of one per inning, and is turning himself into a top 20 pitcher.

Jimmy Rollins made the most of his return to the Phillies lineup Friday night, as he hit his third homer of the season. I’m not breaking any news here, but the reigning MVP needs to get immediately back into your lineup now that he is off of the DL.

Mariners 1B Richie Sexson was hit with a six game suspension after he charged the mound and threw his helmet at the opposing pitcher. Sexson is appealing the suspension, and was in the starting lineup on Friday. This shouldn’t be big fantasy news, Sexson lost his fantasy appeal years ago.

C.C. Sabathia has now thrown four straight impressive starts. Ok, there was a four earned run game, but he just had one bad inning. Sabathia struck out nine in just seven innings, while giving up just one run. Even with this good start, his ERA is still 6.55, however, that is way down from the 13.50 it peaked at. Sabathia will go back to being a top ten pitcher after his horrible start.

For the second time in three games Alex Gordon has left the yard. Gordon is looking to improve on his disappointing rookie season, and for the most part he is doing that. After having his average around the .230-.240 range in 2007, Gordon is hitting nearly .290 in 2008 with now five homers and nearly 20 RBI. I believe it will be 2009 before Gordon realizes the potential numbers that have been thrown out there for him as his ceiling, but he should have a very respectable 2008. Look for .285, 23 HRs, and 85 RBI.

Rangers’ rookie Brandon Boggs has been impressive since he was called to the majors. Boggs did hit 19 HRs in just 104 games in AA in 2007, so he has some pop, but he isn’t listed as one of the top few prospects for the Rangers. In 11 games for the Rangers, Boggs is hitting .385 with two homers and eight RBI. If you have an empty or unproductive roster spot, you can give him a chance, but don’t expect too much and you won’t be disappointed.

Oh, my, Lance Berkman is a man possessed. As of right now Berkman is 2-2, raising his average to .378 and hit his 14^th double and 12^th HR of the year. He is exceeding his expectations by so much it is ridiculous. Berkman is capable of 40 homers, and it looks like this season he may approach that number.

As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don’t forget to check me out at mlbfrontoffice.com on Tuesdays under In The News. Also go to fantasybaseballsearch.com to find me in the Gurus Blog.