Felix vs. Mussina Saturday night, it’s a no brainer, right? Put it in the win column for the Mariners. Ahh, not so fast. Mike Mussina has put together three consecutive good starts, and beat King Felix and the Mariners 6-1 as Hernandez struggled mightily. Felix had his worst outing of the season, as he needed 105 pitches to get through 5.2 innings. He gave up six runs and walked three, while only striking out three. He is still one of my picks to near 20 wins, but he’s got to limit these kind of games as he has given up ten earned runs in his last two starts. Mussina could now be seen as an injury replacement now, as I have been touting him as a bottom of the barrel pitcher all year long.

Braves top pitching prospect Jo-Jo Reyes was called up to make the start on Saturday, and didn’t disappoint. Reyes was impressive in his first major league start in ’08 as he went 5.1 innings and gave up only one run. He did walk three, however, and struck out five. If Reyes is going to be successful in the majors, he is going to have to keep his walks to a minimum, as that has gotten him in trouble in the past. I wouldn’t drop an established veteran (ex. Brett Myers) for him, but if you have a need for pitching Reyes could be a nice surprise.

Speaking of Myers, he was in a matchup tonight of aces who have a problem with consistency against Matt Cain. Both pitchers pitched well, and Cain has put a nice stretch of starts together. Myers went seven gave up two and fanned ten, while Cain also went seven and gave up two and whiffed eight. Most impressive is that between the two of them they only walked four batters, as control is a problem for both. If you own either man, you have to start them every time out, but both can give you an ulcer every time they step on to the mound.

Starting to hear some rumblings about the call up of Clayton Kershaw happening before too long. It appears that the Dodgers want to limit him to about 150 innings this year, so the possibility is there that either he will come up and be shut down before the end of the season, or he might come up and work out of the bullpen at the start before working his way into the rotation. No matter what his role, the hype for Kershaw is immense, and I will be grabbing him in every league I can, and I would advise you to do the same unless your staff is already stockpiled with talent. And in that case, I would recommend trading one of your pitchers away to clear room.

The Toronto Blue Jays pitching staff is putting up stupid numbers. Before Jermaine Dye hit a homer in the seventh inning tonight, the Jays pitchers hadn’t allowed a run in 24 innings. Many expected great things from Toronto, but things haven’t gone to plan so far in 2008. But this little surge gives those north of the border something to be excited about. Jesse Litsch gave them a great start tonight, going 7.1 innings, gave up only two and struck out three to improve to 4-1. All Jays’ starters are worth owning right now, and even their closer B.J. Ryan appears that even though they are not overusing him, he is regaining his All-Star form.

Injury News

Angels utility man Chone Figgins left the game tonight with a hamstring injury and is due for an MRI. No word yet on if he will miss any time, but if he does two things will most likely happen. One, his fantasy owners will lose the stolen base category for the upcoming week, and second and perhaps more important, prospect Brandon Wood will get yet another chance to prove himself at the major league level.

Scott Kazmir is due to pitch Sunday against the Red Sox, but Mother Nature might not cooperate. They are calling for a 100% chance of rain, so there is a chance that Kaz might not take the mound until Monday (that is if the game is called, if they play he will be out there). Those of you who have been patient, hopefully rest has cured Scott’s injury.

Angels’ starter John Lackey will make a rehab start Sunday, and if all goes according to plan he will be set to rejoin the Anaheim rotation on May 14.

Quick Hitters

Mike Pelfrey’s good start to the season appears to be over. He has now thrown three straight sub-par outings as he lasted only five innings, gave up five runs, walked four and only whiffed one. After two great starts to begin the season, it now looks as if the Mets may have overestimated Pelfrey’s talent.

White Sox OF Carlos Quentin continues his breakout season. Quentin connected on his 8^th homer of the year, and appears to be finally starting to live up to the hype that surrounded him when he was a top notch Arizona prospect.

Cubs’ Japanese import Kosuke Fukudome continues to exceed expectations. Although he isn’t hitting for much power, Fukudome has kept his batting average over .340 with a 3-5 game on Saturday. He now has ten doubles, 12 RBI, and three steals. He is an every week starter going forward.

Joe Torre’s thought to play catcher Russell Martin at third to keep his bat in the lineup actually happened Saturday. Martin started at third and went 1-3. He is finishing the game behind the plate, but in the boxscore I see no indication of an error for Martin, so it appears the experiment is off to a good start.

It has now been confirmed that the reason that Rich Hill was pulled from the game after just 0.2 innings yesterday was due to his ineffectiveness. Hill has been demoted to Triple-A, and his spot in the rotation looks to be taken by Sean Marshall. Cut ties with Hill as he will now live in Pinella’s doghouse.

Royals rookie Luke Hochevar pitched pretty well again as he collected win number two. He still had a bit of control problems as he walked four in just six innings, but the rest of his line is solid. In those six innings, Hochevar gave up just three hits, two runs, and struck out six. I know a lot of you sent him packing after that first start, but he is immensely talented, and still could have a great rookie year.

Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly appears to have found his mojo again. After beginning the season giving up 4+ runs in his first four starts, Lilly has now allowed only six in his last three starts. He picked up his second win as struck out four in seven innings against the Cardinals. I have seen him dropped in more than one league I play, so check to see if someone gave up on him way to early in your leagues as well.

Pirates 3B Jose Bautista now has three homers in the past two games, but unless you need an injury replacement, don’t go chasing this little hot streak. Bautista has been around, and his numbers aren’t impressive. He will finish where he has the last couple of years. A .245 average with 15 HRs and 55 RBI. Let someone else grab him up after seeing this.

As always, your questions about your team (adds, drops, trades, etc) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee an answer within 18 hours. And remember what I said yesterday, leave those comments! I want to hear from all of you!