Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy News and Notes 5/14/08

His fantasy demise was written in the first two weeks of the season, but now C.C. Sabathia is making all of you without patience with their stars pay for your quick hooks. Sabathia threw an absolute gem tonight, a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts. That is now four of his last five starts that he has allowed one run or less. He is obviously back to the form that won him the AL Cy Young award last year and is a must start every time out. Further proof that fantasy championships aren’t won and lost in the first two weeks.

There were some good expectations that Indians’ 1B Ryan Garko would develop into an everyday force at the plate in ’08. Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case so far this season. However, Garko has now homered in two consecutive games after his bomb on Wednesday, and could be a sign that he is back on track and could be a good fantasy performer this year. Keep an eye on him over the weekend and see if this trend continues.

Last night we wrote about Edwin Jackson teasing fantasy owners into false hope that he could remain consistent. Tonight’s teaser is Danny Cabrera. I have to admit, even I am falling for the tease a little this time. After going the distance in his last start, Cabrera threw seven strong innings, allowing just one run and whiffing three. Most impressive is that Cabrera has only walked one batter in his last two starts combined. I’m not ready to say add him yet, but he is 4-1 with an ERA under 4. One more good start, and perhaps I might be willing to change my mind.

Another pitcher in Baltimore is having an incredible season. Closer George Sherrill is second in the majors after picking up his 15^th save on Wednesday. If you read my position rankings in the beginning of the year, I did like Sherrill as an option at closer, but my reasoning for selling him high has more to do with his team than his talent. The Orioles are currently two games over .500, thus giving Sherrill a good number of save chances. I really expect the O’s to go in the crapper anytime now, they aren’t this good and therefore Sherrill’s chances will be fewer and farther between in the future. Now’s the time to see if you can turn him into a more reliable fantasy closer on a team that wins some games.

Is it truly possible, has Mike Mussina won five consecutive starts? One of my favorite targets, Mussina has been pitching great in ’08. Mussina hasn’t given up more than three runs since April 17^th, and shockingly has turned himself into a serviceable starter. I plead with you to try to package him in some sort of trade if you own him, there’s got to be a Yankee fan in your league who is buying into this. I can’t believe this will continue.

Royals rookie Luke Hochevar is now starting to look like he belongs. In his five starts he has given up two runs or less in three of them, and has now run his record to 3-2 after six shutout innings on Wednesday with five strikeouts. He is fanning batters at a little better rate than was expected (24 in 28 IP), and looks like he will be in KC to stay.

Another rookie, Manny Parra of Milwaukee, finally threw a pretty good game. Parra had his longest outing of the year (6.2 innings) and gave up just one earned run. The bullpen blew the lead for him so it didn’t lead to a win, but perhaps this could be the first step towards him regaining the form that made him a highly sought after player in the Spring. Do not add him yet, but keep an eye on his next couple starts.

Phillies starter Brett Myers continues to struggle with consistency. Myers had another horrible outing, two starts after throwing a gem. Myers couldn’t get out of the fifth inning and gave up six runs. I don’t suggest dropping him outright, but I would gauge interest around the league in him and take the best offer you can get right now. Not tonight since he just got bombed, but over the weekend, see if you can get anyone to give you something for Myers. His name alone might make it possible to get something for him.

A possible sell high candidate is the Red Sox 3B Mike Lowell. With a homer on Wednesday, Lowell now has four in the past ten games, while his average sits at .273. Lowell had a career year in 2007, and with this hot streak in 2008, you might be able to get a good deal of value for Lowell from someone in your league.

Another miracle from off the scrap heap seems to be happening in St. Louis. Somehow, pitching coach Dave Duncan has made Todd Wellemeyer into a better than average fantasy starter. Wellemeyer raised his record to 4-1 on Wednesday, with seven innings of two-hit, one-run ball. Wellemeyer has been so much more than you could have hoped for, and while he continues to pitch like this, keep him on your active roster.

Nats 3B Ryan Zimmerman may be heating up again. He homered for the second consecutive day, and fantasy owners are hoping that this is the start of something much, much bigger. Now, I wouldn’t expect 35 homers from Zim, but his average should be near .300, and I would look for 25-28 HRs by the end of the year.

With a grand slam in the 8^th inning, Carlos Quentin continues to lead the American League in home runs. Quentin is quickly turning into one of the biggest bargains from Draft Day, as he was most likely selected at the very end of your draft, if he was picked at all. He was always a good prospect for the D-Backs, so this has a very good chance of lasting all season.

Although he had an injured ankle, which may have been responsible for his inconsistency, Micah Owings looks like he is back on track. Owings threw six shutout innings while striking out five. Perhaps more surprising than his good start, Owings was actually 0-3 at the plate dropping his average to .370! Owings is a good option in all leagues, and at age 25 looks like he is ready to put it all together for Arizona.

Even when he pitches well, Justin Verlander can’t get a win. In one of his best starts of the year, Verlander pitched six innings, allowed just two earned runs and struck out just three. Verlander fell to 1-7 and is one of the biggest disappointments in fantasy in 2008. This is not a guy you drop, however, just keep throwing him out there and hope that he figures it out. He is way too talented to be doing this bad.

John Lackey made his return from the DL on Wednesday, and the results were as good as you could have hoped for. Lackey lasted seven innings in his first start of the year, allowed just one earned run and whiffed four. If someone had a brain failure and dropped Lackey, go get him right away, but I seriously doubt that happened. Lackey is one of the more underrated pitchers in fantasy baseball, and hopefully he is fully recovered from his injury.

Boston rookie Clay Buchholz landed on the DL with a broken fingernail. The Sox will most likely call up Justin Masterson to take Buchholz spot in the rotation, so give him a look if you need a replacement for Clay. This doesn’t sound like an injury that should cost him more than the 15 days that are required when going to the disabled list, so just transfer Buchholz to your injury spot.

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.

Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 4/29/08 Injury Notes, Pitching Good and Bad, Sell High

Roy Halladay has got a lot to complain about. He has now gone the distance in four consecutive starts, and his record during this time? 1-3. Granted, they weren’t your traditional complete games (he gave up four runs in one, and five in another), but when your pitcher goes all the way, you gotta score enough runs to get him the win. Halladay has been extremely durable this year, but I am concerned given his injury history and all the innings that he is putting on his arm early in the season. If you own him, maybe test the market for his value.

Yanks rook Phil Hughes is having a tough season. Hughes has not only had a tough time going deep into games (only lasting through six once), but he is getting tattooed pretty regularly, and Tuesday was no different. Hughes threw 82 pitches in just 3.2 innings and he gave up six runs. Hughes even uncorked two wild pitches. I still believe that Hughes will find his confidence at some point during the year and pitch well, but I don’t know when that will be.

Johnny Cueto had another one of those “bump in the road” games tonight. He had been rotating bad start and good start for his last four, but this is two pretty bad ones in a row. Cueto gave up six runs in just 1.2 innings for his shortest outing of the year. The next start will be a big one for Cueto to see what he is made of. Can he bounce back from back to back bad starts to get back on track? Or will he go down the path of many young pitchers before him, and collapse under some adversity?

Marlins rookie Andrew Miller looked like he had turned the corner his last time out, but he was awful again tonight. Miller lasted just three innings again (he is yet to go past five innings yet), and gave up six earned and didn’t strike out a batter. He got off the hook for the loss by a good comeback by the Marlins, but his ERA is now over nine and he would need to put together a good month before I could recommend putting him on your roster.

All the pitching Tuesday was bad. Red Sox starter Jon Lester was amazing Tuesday. Lester went eight shutout innings, gave up just one hit and fanned six. Lester has been no better than average so far this season, but the talent is there, and when he throws games like this it shows what is possible when the guy learns to be consistent.

Arizona minor league phenom Max Scherzer made his major league debut tonight, and boy did he make some noise. Mad Max went 4.1 innings, didn’t give up a hit or a walk and struck out seven. If he is going to be this good, I guarantee the Diamondbacks will find a way to give him starts. I didn’t turn on the TV until after he was relieved, but they showed his strikeouts afterwards, and he had a really live fastball with some movement on it. He could make a big fantasy impact in 2008.

Any excuse to write about Boof Bonser, I will take it. The Boofer was nasty tonight, going seven innings, only giving up one run and whiffing eight. Bonser has been good in 2008 outside of one bad start, and is getting close to be worth owning in all leagues. He strikes out a pretty good number, and although the Twins aren’t great, they aren’t so bad that they often waste solid efforts from their starters.

Freakin Nate McLouth just won’t go away. I sound frustrated with him today because the owner I am playing in a head to head league has Nate. McLouth led off the game today at Shea with his seventh homer of the year, and now has driven in 22 runs, while hitting .327. I keep thinking that you should sell high before he comes back to earth, but McLouth keeps hitting. Can he keep this up all year? I still don’t think so.

Stop the presses, Andruw Jones got a hit. Jones seems to be in a competition with Barry Zito for worst contract ever, as his batting average continues to be well below the Mendoza line. He is averaging over a strike out per game, and has just four RBI in 25 games. It is time for you to cut ties with Jones if you can find anything on the waiver wire worthwhile. Jones may still turn it around, but this is a long drawn out slump that he is stuck in.

Injury Notes

It has just been announced that Alex Rodriguez will be sent to the DL after the game against the Tigers tonight. This is a devastating blow to his fantasy teams, as he was certainly your first round pick. Hopefully this rest will be what he needs to get back healthy, and back on the field.

Troy Tulowitzki left the game tonight in the first inning with some sort of leg injury. The last play that he was a part of was a grounder up the middle that he pretty much just waved at on the way by him and he was taken out of the game after that. Too soon for details, but stay tuned on a guy who was really in a funk anyway.

Scott Kazmir has been told that he will be pitching for the Rays this Sunday against the Red Sox. Kazmir was 0-1 with a 3.55 ERA during his three rehab starts, but more importantly he got through them pain free. I am still nervous about Kazmir, but if you have him, you have to plug him back into your lineup when he is set to come off the DL, and hope he gets back to the form that showed him leading the AL in strikeouts.

One pitcher comes off the DL, another goes on. John Smoltz will be returning to the DL with inflammation in the rotator cuff and severly inflamed biceps tendon. It was diagnosed that it could be cured without surgery, but there has been no timetable for his return. Put him on your injury list, and wait to see if fantasy waste Chuck James, or hot prospect Jo Jo Reyes are called up to take his spot.

Ben Sheets made his first start since coming off the DL, and was far from impressive but still improved his record to 4-0. Sheets threw 108 pitches in five innings, gave up just three earned runs, but walked seven batters. I have been advising anyone who asks me that owns Sheets to try to find an owner in your league that will trade for him and get him off of your team. The fact that he got another win most likely keeps his trade value higher than it should, so take advantage while he still has value.

Quick Hitters

Nats 3B Ryan Zimmerman hit his first homer tonight since the first weekend of the season. Zimmerman has been in a pretty good slump since that first weekend, and his owners are hoping that this is the key to getting him back on track. I was pretty high on Zim going into the season, but now it is looking like last year’s numbers might be what we should expect. If you’ve got him, play him, if you don’t maybe you can buy him at a very low point.

Orioles closer George Sherrill collected his 10^th save of the year tonight and was tied for the league lead until K-Rod notched his 11^th just a few minutes ago. This is completely unexpected from a guy who was setting up in Seattle until he was traded for Erik Bedard and was anointed closer. You might want to try to sell high, but I am confident that Sherrill will nail down most chances presented to him, it is just a matter of how many chances the Orioles will give him.

Mike Cameron’s 25 game suspension for stimulant use is up, and he was back in the lineup for the Brewers. You pretty much know what to expect from Cameron, a decent amount of pop, and a lot of strikeouts.

Yankees 2B Robinson Cano connected on his second homer tonight, and with all the injuries that the Yanks have endured the last week or so, they need him to start contributing more than ever.

Mets’ RF Ryan Church continues to be one of the sleeper stories of the year. Church is still hitting over .315 and connected on his third homer of the season and is closing in on 20 RBI. No one could’ve expected this when they traded Lastings Milledge for Church and Schneider, but right now that trade is looking great for the Mets. He is certainly worth owning while he has a hot bat, but I would be trying to sell high if at all possible.

Angels starter Joe Saunders moved to 5-0 tonight after another incredibly strong start. Saunders threw eight shutout innings and whiffed five. It is the fourth time that Saunders has thrown eight innings, as he continues his improbable season. He is definitely a sell high candidate, but if you can’t find a taker keep running Saunders out there and enjoy it while it lasts. He has the talent to be a good fantasy starter, but he will certainly take a step back from the unheard of start he is on.

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.