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 15th 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 17th, 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 8th 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.