Wandy Rodriguez

Chris Volstad is impossible to figure out.  Volstad had lost six of his last seven decisions, and then all of a sudden (when I benched him!)  he goes out and throws a shutout.  In his last outing, he only lasted three innings against the PIRATES!  Why would I have started him, or anyone for that matter, against the Giants who have been hitting.  I still really like Volstad, and he is one of the better young pitchers in Florida, but he is going to have his moments that will make you want to touch that drop button.

Jorge De La Rosa won his fourth straight start, allowing three runs over 6.1 innings and struck out five.  He has been an incredibly streaky guy.  He started the season by losing his first six decisions.  Since then he has gone 6-1.  Which guy is the real one?  Your guess is as good as mine.  If nothing else he will get you a pretty good number of strikeouts, so even when he is bad he will help you in one category.  However, even with this win his ERA sits at 5.03 and his WHIP is 1.43, mostly because of too many walks.

Chad Gaudin is another pitcher that you can look at if you really need strikeouts.  He is on a roll lately, but this one won’t last.  Tonight Gaudin allowed just one run over 6.2 innings and struck out seven.  That now makes it four of his last five starts that he allowed three runs or less.  He mostly pitched out of the bullpen (ineffectively) last season, and wasn’t a good starter for the A’s back in 2007.  Put that together with the fact that he pitches for the Padres and that makes him a guy that you can’t put too much stock in.  You can expect strikeouts, but not much else.

David Hernandez is one of the good young arms that the Orioles have coming through their farm system.  He might be the worst of the group, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be good.  Hernandez had a good minor league career, with a record of 15-6 record, and ERA under 3.00 and 245 Ks in 198 innings.  So far in his last three starts in the majors, Hernandez has looked pretty good.  The strikeouts haven’t been there, but he allowed just two runs over six innings against the Mariners.  He has also been walking too many guys, but his control should improve as he gets more comfortable and could be a guy who has a solid second half.

Homer Bailey was good again, even though he wasn’t in line for a win.  Bailey allowed just two runs over six innings and struck out six.  The best part of the start was that Bailey didn’t walk anyone.  His control  has been by far the  biggest problem, and if he can continue to pitch like this, perhaps he will finally start to live up to all of the hype that was given to him when he was in the minors.

Scott Kazmir had his first bad start since coming back from the Disabled List, and BOY was it bad.  Kazmir allowed seven runs over 6.1 innings, but kept his control walking only two and striking out four.  Feel free to start Kazmir like you would have before his injury.  He was good most of the time, but was prone to this kind of outing once in a while.

I know I promised I would never talk about him again, but I feel it is worth mentioning that Oliver Perez was back for the Mets, and was his usual self.  It was like Oliver never left.  He only allowed two runs over five innings against a great Dodgers’ team and actually collected the win.  However, like I said, the same old Oliver showed up.  Perez walked seven guys over his five innings and threw 108 pitches in that span.  He is worth a look if you are desperate, but don’t put too much stock in this one outing, he has always pitched good against good teams.

Martin Prado continues to hit for the Braves, accumulating another two knocks and drove in his 16th run of the year.  He had 17 hits over the last eight games, and has been on fire since being named the starter at second.  I would consider using him as a short-term replacement for a middle infield spot, but I still don’t have faith that he will keep this up for the rest of the year.  He never showed much power or speed in the minors, so I think this is just a hot streak, and in a month we won’t be talking about Prado anymore.

Andruw Jones had three homers on Wednesday, giving him 14 on the season.  I don’t think that this is a guy that you want to focus on.  He does have seven homers in his past ten games, but even with that production, Jones is still not playing every day.  This is a good story that he was able to find his talent again in Texas, but I still don’t believe Jones to be fantasy worthy unless you are in an AL-only league.

Ervin Santana was bad again, and now the question comes “what should you do with him?”  I would say this; While I don’t have him in any league, I have to admit that it would be difficult for me to keep him on my roster considering the way he has been pitching.  However, what are your options in free agency?  If there is a solid pitcher out there that probably shouldn’t have been dropped, then go ahead and drop him.  If you are thinking of picking up Oliver Perez or Chad Gaudin or someone like that, I would hold on to Santana.  The leash he would be on couldn’t get any shorter though.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the “Fantasy Baseball Tonight” podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.

J.A. Happ pitched well again, and is now looking like a guy that you can trust to keep on your roster full time.  You would like to see him strike out a few more guys, but he hasn’t lost in nine starts, goes fairly deep into games, and his ERA is just 3.04.  If he is still available and you have any need any pitching, Happ is a guy that I would pick up.  He plays for a good team as well, and I think he has a real chance to win 12 games.

Placido Polanco had three hits including a home run and drove in four runs.  He might look like great help at middle infield, but unless you are only planning on using him for a short term, I wouldn’t put much stock in him.  I wouldn’t say, hey I can trade Ian Kinsler to strengthen my team somewhere else because I have Polanco to take his place.  Placido will give you a decent average, but he likely won’t hit double digit home runs and he certainly won’t steal ten bases.  He could help you for a few weeks, but don’t let him become an integral part of your team.

James Shields continues his crazy season, and was great last night.  His ERA is nice at 3.38,and his WHIP is fine at 1.26.  So why is he 6-6?  It seems that the Rays are turning a corner and starting to win more games, so I would think that Shields has a chance to win at least 14 games.  You have to live with the bad times, but I would still stick Shields out there against any team.  He has the talent to shut down any team on any day.

Scott Hairston hit his first homer since being traded to the A’s, and although he didn’t get traded to a hitter-friendly ballpark, his home park used to be Petco, so it isn’t like he isn’t used to playing in the Grand Canyon.  Hairston is a nice outfielder who should make a run at 20 home runs, and is a nice fourth outfielder for any team.

Paul Konerko had a game for the ages with three home runs and seven RBI.   After hitting in the .250s and .240s the past couple of seasons, you have to expect that he will regress some from the .290s he is hitting right now.  I don’t see him hitting 40 home runs either, so his recent production has to slow down.  Considering he has 16 jacks already, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for him to hit 30, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he fell just short.  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Juan Rivera homered two more times, and he now has 16 on the year.  Rivera now has 13 RBI in the last ten games, and is still hitting over .310.  I keep warning against a possible cool down, but there appears to be no such thing in sight.  Rivera’s problems have always been health-related, so as long as he is in one piece he should continue to produce.

Luke Scott is hot again, and we all know how well he can do when he is hot.  He now has a hit in eight straight games and he connected on his 17th homer, which was his third in the last six games.  If you own Scott, definitely start him.  This streak could last a couple of weeks before he cools down again.

Barry Zito has been pitching so far beyond his expectations coming into the season that it isn’t funny.  Zito threw 8.1 shutout innings and struck out six.  His ERA is still well over four, but he has had some pretty bad starts against good teams.  If you can get Zito against San Diego, Pittsburgh, or Washington I would definitely add him to have those numbers, but he doesn’t do anything well enough to rationalize holding him all season long.

Sergio Romo has good stuff and recorded the save tonight, but I wouldn’t put too much stock into his statistics on Tuesday.  Brian Wilson had pitched two straight days and last night he threw 37 pitches.  He could someday be the closer in San Francisco (certainly with a Wilson injury), but it won’t be this year.  Romo is a long term closer, but dont’ think about him in 2009.

Fantasy owners are always in search of a player to have the impact that Ryan Braun has had so quickly.  Ever since entering the big leagues, Braun has hit and has even exceeded many expectations set for him.  Teams in need of that type of power and run production should look to the NL Central again for it, as another former Miami Hurricane will be knocking on the door for the Cincinnati Reds with just as much offense punch:

Player Profile Of The Week

Yonder Alonso

Position: 1B

Team:  Cincinnati Reds

Born:    4/8/1987

Bats:       Left

Throws:  Right

Height:  6-2

Weight:  215 lbs.

Draft:    1^st round (7^th Overall) 2008 Draft

College:  University of Miami

Alonso is the definition of an impact bat.  One of the most impressive in his skill set is his uncanny ability to combine patience at the plate with his tremendous power.   Alonso has always been an on base machine, and while at the University of Miami he led all Division 1-A players in walks in 2008.  Alonso was originally drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 15^th Round of the 2005 draft but opted to go to college at Miami.  Alonso is from Havana, Cuba, and the lure of playing at Coral Gables was too much to pass up, and has often spent time working out with Alex Rodriguez.  Alonso’s pro career got off to a fast start while playing at Single A Sarasota of the Florida State League in 2008.  He only had 6 games and 19 Abs there but drove in two runs and had the same number of walks and strikeouts with 5 apiece.  Alonso started off 2009 in Sarasota as well, and the numbers were very impressive (.302 AVG, 7 HR, 37 RBI, 13 2B, 22 BB, 28 K, .378 OBP, .503 SLG) in just 169 at bats.  This earned him a quick promotion to Class AA Carolina of the Southern League, where he got off to a slow start and has been shut down with a broken bone in his hand.  His numbers only equated to a .686 OPS in 61 at bats.  Many in the Reds organization believe he will make the adjustment to Class AA quickly, since his approach will make adjusting to new levels easier.

Projections and Estimated Time of Arrival:

Most scouts do not believe Alonso will spend too much time down in the minors, especially since the contract he has signed with the Reds is a big league contract through 2012 worth in the $4.55 million range.  The Reds would like to see the play at first base continue to improve, as Alonso is not expected to be a great defensive player and has good running instincts but is not blessed with great foot speed.  He will not hurt you at first base, making it possible for him to have a National League career.  Most who watch Alonso on a daily basis have said he is a hitter period.  I would only expect Alonso to arrive in the big leagues once putting up numbers and getting healthy again at Class AA.  The Reds have a franchise type 1B in Joey Votto who is a great bat, but has had anxiety issues.  The Reds have a good problem at first base with two potentially great bats and one spot (trade anyone?)  The broken bone will slow the progress, but I would expect to see Alonso in the big leagues sometime in 2010.

The Korner’s Final Projection

based on 550 Abs and full potential upside

.275 batting average
30  Home Runs
101  RBI
.385 OBP %
.515 SLG%
.900 OPS%
91 Ks
101 BBs

It was not a good night to be Johnny Cueto.  Hell, it wasn’t a good night to be any Cincinnati pitcher.  Cueto allowed NINE earned runs over just two-thirds of an inning, walked three and struck out only one.  Even with this horrible outing, Cueto’s ERA is still only 3.45, so I don’t see any reason to panic over this one incredibly bad start.  Cueto is a young, up and coming stud.  I know this outing hurts your ERA for the week, but don’t put too much stock into it.

John Smoltz struggled again for the Red Sox, making it two of his three starts that he has been below average.  He is now 0-2 after allowing five runs over six innings and struck out just three.  I don’t know how much is reasonable to expect from Smoltz, but he should be better than this.  He won’t be a savior to your pitching staff, but should at least be worth holding on your roster.

Brett Anderson had the best start of his young career, as he hurled his first major league shutout against the Boston Red Sox.  Anderson came into the season as the number one prospect for the Oakland A’s, but has gone through many of the same struggles that most young pitchers do.  He has done a good job of keeping his walks under control, but he hasn’t gone very deep into games and he has been allowing too many runs.  However, he does have a ton of talent and should get better as time goes on.  He is certainly a guy to hold on to in keeper leagues, so try to be patient.

Armando Galarraga had his best start since April, and perhaps he is starting to turn things around some.  Galarraga allowed just one run for the second consecutive outing, but this time he didn’t walk the entire ballpark.  He was a pretty good pitcher coming into the season, and we all expected better than this.  Don’t go picking up Galarraga just yet, but certainly watch his next start.  One more good turn and he could be worth picking up again.

Ricky Romero shocks me more with each outing.  I have been telling you for a while now that you should have him while he is hot, but to just wait for the collapse to come.  Well, it hasn’t shown up yet.  Romero beat the Yankees on Monday by allowing three runs over six innings and striking out five.  It wasn’t a great outing as he also walked three, but it was enough for him to collect his seventh win of the year against just three defeats.  I stand by my philosophy from months ago.  Continue to pitch Romero, but a regression is coming……I’m pretty sure anyway.

Randy Wells is the NL carbon copy of Romero.  He is pitching well and you should continue to ride him while he is hot, but I see a regression in his numbers.  Wells is a good strikeout pitcher, but his minor league ERA was always in the 4.00s.  The funny thing is in the majors he has gotten fewer strikeouts, but his ERA is much better (2.48 after today).  Perhaps he made some adjustments when coming to the majors, but I still say that he can not keep this pace up.

Alfredo Aceves is the front runner to take the rotation spot for Chien-Ming Wang of the Yankees.  Aceves has been pitching well out of the bullpen this year with a 5-1 record and a 2.25 ERA.  He was always a starter in the minors, so this isn’t totally unexpected.  He pitched well at AA, but struggled at AAA and gets just under a strikeout an inning.  Aceves will likely be on a pitch count in his first couple starts, so they might not be that great.  He is not someone that I would add before his first start, but I would monitor how he does.  Aceves was supposed to be a good starter, so if he is successful he could be worth having in the near future.

Jason Marquis is now 11-5 after another eight shutout inning effort.  This can not be happening.  Marquis is not this good and should come back to Earth whenever the spaceship brings the real Jason Marquis back from wherever they brought him.  His lifetime ERA is 4.50, and I’m sure it will be around there again this season.  Definitely a sell high candidate.

Jarrod Washburn continues to pitch so much better than he should be as he threw a shutout tonight against the Orioles.  His record might be 5-6, but his ERA is only 3.08. I assure you that it can not last, if you look at Washburn’s career, his ERA has been well into the 4.00 range in the last three seasons, and there’s no reason that 2009 won’t be the fourth.

Last thing of the night, there will be another Fantasy Roundtable with Steve Gardner and myself at the usatoday.com.  I have talked about his Fantasy Windup blog for a couple months now and hopefully you all have checked it out.  The latest Fantasy Roundtable will be this Tuesday at 12pm EST just like last week and likely last between 60 to 90 minutes.   For those of you unfamiliar, this is different from a regular chat.  Instead of throwing your questions into a hopper and hope the host answers them, this is a chat room type discussion where questions are asked and answered in real time.  Join me and Steve and get your questions answered.  I know Jennifer and Martha were both there last week, so if you can leave a comment if you found it valuable that would be appreciated.  Here is a link to last week’s chat.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the “Fantasy Baseball Tonight” podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.

Ricky Nolasco

OK, so his batting average might still be in the dumps, but David Ortiz is finally starting to show some signs of the power that turned him from an average hitter into BIG PAPI.  Ortiz connected on his ninth of the season, and that was his third in the last ten days.  At one point of the year everyone was wondering if he would hit 10 or 15 homers.  Now it appears that 20 is well within his range.  Still a bitter disappointment from our preseason expectations, but if he could get to a .250 average with 22 homers and perhaps 80 RBI maybe his owners would cancel their orders for the Ortiz voodoo dolls.

Jimmy Rollins is becomoing a regular on this column, as he continues to hit like it was 2007.  Now, I am not saying this will last, but in the one league that I benched him in long ago, he finally got back in my starting lineup today.  That’s seven homers and 11 steals now.  Like Ortiz, certainly not what we were hoping for, but much better than it looked like six weeks ago.

Gio Gonzalez has always had great strikeout potential, but he has always struggled in his chances at the major league level.  Gonzalez was red hot in the minors this year and deserves this latest opportunity to stick with the big club.  In 2007 he led the minor leagues in strikeouts with 185.  On the flip side his major league ERA is 7.54.  But perhaps today was the start of him turning the corner.  Gonzalez pitched six innings, allowed just two runs and struck out eight.  Sure it was against the Indians, but keep an eye on him.  I wouldn’t pick him up off this one good start, but keep an eye on him.

Josh Hamilton played both games of a doubleheader going 2/7 with a double, triple, and stolen base.  There is still not a definite plan as of now when he will return to the Texas lineup, but he seems primed to join them within the next day or two.  To show my confidence that he is on the brink of return, I am going to start him in the upcoming week in a league where my roster is set for the entire week.

Chad Qualls all of a sudden looks like he will be holding on to his job.  After going nearly three weeks without a save (with a blown save and a loss in there), all of a sudden Qualls has recorded a save for the second consecutive day.  Best of all is he didn’t allow a base runner in either of these opportunities.  What once looked like a lost cause has gained some life again. Qualls looks like he will be fine…….for now.

Scott Olsen had his second consecutive quality start since returning from the Disabled List, but I am still quite a ways a way from suggesting picking him up.   He was just one out away from a complete game on Sunday, allowing three runs while walking five and striking out five.  His ability to keep composure in pressure situations and his control have long been his biggest problems.  Olsen was once a highly thought of pitching prospect for the Marlins, but inconsistency have him pretty much out of the minds of fantasy players.  He has good strikeout numbers this year (41 in 56 IP), but they aren’t good enough to make up for his horrible ERA and WHIP.  Not to mention on the Nationals wins are hard to come by.  Leave Olsen in free agency unless he is still on this kind of roll at the end of the month.

Justin Smoak was promoted to AAA, further fueling fantasy players hopes that he might be promoted later this year to replace strikeout machine Chris Young.  Smoak did well at AA, but not dominating.  In 49 games he hit .333 with six home runs and 29 RBI.  Before the season started he was ranked as the 23rd best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America.  He should have some real power potential, and has been compared to Mark Teixeira.  I still think he is a ways away from being promoted, but this is a positive sign.

This is how Bronson Arroyo messes with fantasy players.  Between May 22nd and June 7th Arroyo allowed just one earned run in three of his four starts.  Everyone was adding him to their team.  Since then?  Including today, Arroyo has allowed five or more earned runs in four of his last five starts and has lost three straight decisions.  I often tell someone that a player “is who he is”, any of you who have emailed me have probably heard that before.  Well, same goes for Arroyo.  He is an average pitcher who is capable of hitting some nice hot streaks.  Problem is they are usually short lived, and followed by cold streaks of equal lengths.  The proper way to use him is to pick him up against some of the weaker hitting National League teams, hope he does well, and then cast him aside until he gets another favorable matchup.

Tommy Hanson and Andrew McCutchen are getting all the press for the NL Rookie of the Year right now, but don’t sleep on the Cardinals’ Colby Rasmus.  After a tough month of May where he hit for power but a .211 average, Rasmus hit .333 in June and is 8/17 so far in July. He has struggled against lefties, hitting just .173 against them, but he has shown some improvement in each month.  The Cardinals think enough of him that he has been batting second in the lineup for quite a while now and he hit his tenth home run of the season today.  I thought he would bring a little more speed to the table, but with the power he is showing and a .282 average he is worthy of being a fourth outfielder on any team.

Rick Porcello had his third straight less than stellar start, and his owners are likely starting to panic.  Porcello allowed four earned in just four innings.  His record is now 8-6, and his ERA has creeped over four.  20 year old pitchers are always going to go through rough spots, and I am still confident that is what is going on with Porcello right now.  He will get back on track, although I would like to see him strikeout more hitters.  He was the number one prospect for the Tigers coming into the season, and he will be back.  You might not want to start him the next time out, but if he has a weak opponent I would keep him in.

Nick Blackburn continues to fly under the fantasy radar for the Twins, and the only explanation that I can come up with is because he doesn’t get a ton of strikeouts.  Blackburn went the distance on Sunday, allowed just one run and struck out six.  He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start since May 16th, and with today’s outing his ERA is now under 3.00.  His record is now 7-4 and his WHIP is an average 1.27 so he really isn’t hurting you in those categories either.  It is his 51 strikeouts in 116 innings that causes him to be left on fantasy waiver wires.  If you have a flamethrowing staff to begin with, Blackburn is a nice guy to have at the end to counteract one of those days when your usuals don’t come through.

Jake Fox crushed his fourth homer of the season and has been hitting and playing defense well enough to stay in the lineup for the Cubs, but the question remains where will he fit in when Aramis Ramirez comes back?  Ramirez should be back at some point this week, and Fox has mostly been holding down his position at third base.  With Milton Bradley, Fukudome, and Soriano in the outfield, where does Fox get his playing time?  I still think he should be in the Cubs outfield but only time will tell if he will be in the lineup when they are fully healthy.  Of course with guys like Ramirez, Bradley, and Soriano another injury could pop up at any second.  Until you see the full lineup and Fox still getting at bats, you have to remain worried about how much time he will get.

Randy Johnson left his start with some sort of shoulder strain.  He was fooled badly on a pitch by Roy Oswalt, and grabbed his shoulder on the way back to the dugout.  The next inning he allowed a couple of home runs and then made a throwing error.  The Giants training staff made its way to the mound, and Johnson’s day was over.  He is pitching well better than expectations, so hopefully this is nothing that will cause him to miss a start.  When you a pitcher over 40, they tend to be more cautious with you.

OK, back to the ESPN Arcade.  Now today I have been sucked in by Extreme Trucks and Extreme Blast Billiards.  The billiards game even slaps you in the face and calls you a wuss if you try to choose the “easy” difficulty setting.  After playing it a couple dozen times, I wish there was an easy setting. I’m telling you, try the Concentration: Staches and you will be hooked.  Haven’t you ever wanted to play a memory game that has cards with Dave Winfield from the 70’s and Johnny Damon in the midst of his Jesus look?  There’s games for everyone, I urge you to go there and see how fast it takes you to find a game that has you addicted.

Last thing of the night, there will be another Fantasy Roundtable with Steve Gardner and myself at the usatoday.com.  I have talked about his Fantasy Windup blog for a couple months now and hopefully you all have checked it out.  The latest Fantasy Roundtable will be this Tuesday at 12pm EST just like last week and likely last between 60 to 90 minutes.   For those of you unfamiliar, this is different from a regular chat.  Instead of throwing your questions into a hopper and hope the host answers them, this is a chat room type discussion where questions are asked and answered in real time.  Join me and Steve and get your questions answered.  I know Jennifer and Martha were both there last week, so if you can leave a comment if you found it valuable that would be appreciated.  Here is a link to last week’s chat.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the “Fantasy Baseball Tonight” podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.

Josh Hamilton will not return to the Rangers on Sunday.  His rehab game on Saturday was rained out, delaying his return to the majors at least one more day.  There is still a chance that Hamilton might return on Monday, but nothing definite has been announced.  I will give the news on this again tomorrow, because I am a Hamilton owner as well and I am very curious to see if I will be able to play him in my one league with weekly transactions.  Hopefully he will be back on Monday.

Despite pitching less than great in a rehab assignment, Oliver Perez will be back in the Mets’ rotation on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Perez allowed three runs over five innings, walking four and striking out four.  I understand that given the Mets’ situation that they need to get their starters back from injury as soon as possible, but this start doesn’t instill any confidence in me that Perez will be any better than he was before he went on the DL.  I wouldn’t touch him with a ten foot pole before this start unless you are really desperate for help in pitching.

Kevin Slowey was placed on the 15 day DL, right after he had his worst outing of the season.  Slowey allowed six earned runs over just three innings, but he got off the hook for the loss.  Slowey has been diagnosed with a strained wrist.  I have been unable to come up with a timetable for his return as of now, hopefully it will just be the required 15 days.

Howie Kendrick has been recalled by the Angels, and they optioned Sean Rodriguez.  Kendrick hit .346 with two homers, 11 RBI, and four steals while he was in the minors.  I would likely give Kendrick a try if he is available in your league.  He has always supposed to be a great talent but has struggled in his time in the majors.  He should hit for a good average with 10-12 homer power and a dozen steals.  Not great, but if you need help at middle infield he could be worth a shot.

Erik Bedard is set to start on Tuesday against the Orioles.  Bedard has been great when he has been able to stay on the mound, however he has had trouble staying healthy throughout his career.   If you own him, definitely have him ready to start on Tuesday, Bedard is the kind of pitcher that you start against anyone.

Chien-Ming Wang allowed four runs over 5.1 innings, and after the game it was announced that he was diagnosed with a strained shoulder and bursitis.  He will be re-evaluated on Sunday, but it seems likely he will miss his next start.  I doubt he is owned in too many leagues, but if he is, it might be time to let him go.

Rich Harden had his worst start in who knows how long, and I am struggling to come up with an explanation for why he is pitching so poorly.  I have speculated that he could have some sort of injury, but there is absolutely no sign of a report of anything wrong with him.  Harden gave up seven earned runs in just two innings and struck out only one.  All you can do is keep pitching him every time out.  Harden is better than this, and it has to be just a matter of time before he starts to pitch like it.

Although the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead for him, Tommy Hanson was great again.  It might have only been against the Nationals, but Hanson allowed just one run over seven innings, striking out five.  In five of his six starts, Hanson has allowed two runs or less, including three in which he allowed no earned runs.  The walks are higher and the strike outs are lower than I expected, but Hanson has been everything else that he was supposed to be, and has to be the early front runner for the NL Rookie of the Year.  Continue to start him every time out with extreme confidence.

Francisco Liriano might not have gotten the decision, but he had his third straight start that his owners had to be happy with.  He allowed just three runs over seven innings and struck out eight.  He has been much better over the last six weeks or so, and hopefully he will continue to improve and he can get back to the form that once made him one of fantasy baseball’s most coveted pitchers.  I have said before that I don’t see his rookie year statistics coming back, and that hasn’t changed, but it would be nice to see him pitch like this more often.

David Price was terrible again, and I don’t know where the guy who pitched in the playoffs last year went.  Price lasted just 1.1 innings, allowed six runs and walked five.  Coming into the year I thought that Price was that rare young pitcher that wouldn’t be susceptible to the growing pains that most rookies go through.  Obviously that won’t be the case.  Keeper league players, I’m sorry to tell you that you just have to live through these tough times.  Price has all the skills, and he will be awesome, who knows when that will be.  Honestly, this might be a good opportunity for those who don’t own him in keeper leagues to buy low on Price.  Seasonal leagues I still wouldn’t drop him, but I might see if there was someone in the league who might give you a good deal for him.

Jimmy Rollins is starting to show some signs of life, with five hits in the last three days.  He also has three doubles and has driven in four runs over those games, and PERHAPS this is the start of something good.  He’s still hitting .213, so don’t get too excited, but for those of us who have owned him all season long this is about as exciting as it has been all year long.

Is Emilio Bonifacio working his way back to fantasy relevance?  He was 4/4 on Saturday and stole his 17th base of the year.  He now has a hit in ten of his last eleven games, and six bases over that stretch.  I would say if you need stolen bases that he is worth adding to your roster, but just be ready to cut ties with him if another cold streak starts to show.

ESPN.com has relaunched the ESPN Arcade with hundreds of games for you to play.  Regardless of your interests there is sure to be something to get you addicted.  Sports games, driving games, cards, puzzles, and even action sports.  So far I have played Carniball (skeeball), a basketball shooting game, a baseball game in which you try to make a comeback in the bottom of the Ninth, and of course, some video poker.  However, my favorite game so far is the Hair & Staches Concentration.  This is a timed memory game in which you try to match up cards with some of the more interesting looks in baseball history.  Not only fun but funny as well.

Mailing List

I’m not going to stop bringing up the mailing list until I get a day where I don’t get a request to join it. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, when I find news earlier in the day I will send an email to you about whatever it might be. If you were on the mailing list you would have found out about the callups of Matt Wieters, Fernando Martinez, Nolan Reimold and others. The trade of Nate McLouth, and injuries to Jose Reyes, etc. This mailing list is your way to get a step up on your competition. Anyone who is on the list, please leave a comment below on whether you think that you have benefitted from the list. Send an email to either fantasybaseballtonight@gmail.com or fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com and put Mailing List in the subject line.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the “Fantasy Baseball Tonight” podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.

The people at FanSoft Media didn’t miss a single detail, this program has every little nuance to make your draft as personal and fun as possible.   It has all the options that you need to run an auction or a regular draft. Each team can have their own logo uploaded, as well as an owner image and a team theme song that plays while you are picking.  You can have an announcer call the draft, you can have the software display teams, bye weeks, and positions on the draft board.  What about keepers you ask?  FanDraft allows you to set keepers for each team before the draft even starts, taking away any inconvenience from the past. This will assure you that it is YOUR draft, YOUR way and it definitely adds to the fun of the day.

For auction leagues, FanDraft keeps a running total of not only the players on each team, but the amount of money that each team has left to spend, taking away the chance of anyone messing with the math.  You can even upload a song that will play for the final 15 seconds of the bidding of the players.  You can easily set your salary cap, minimum bid, and required number of players.  The bidding process could not be any easier.  After selecting the player to put up to bid, a simple click of the logo of the team puts in their bid.  If bidding ends before the clock hits zero, a countdown button is available to end the bidding early for those who set the timer to a high number.  I haven’t competed in a ton of auction leagues, but while testing the software I ended up running the vast majority of a draft just because it was just fun to play around with even though it wasn’t a real league.

Traditional drafts are just as easy.  Draft order can be set to serpentine or non-serpentine.  You can edit the draft order for each individual round to accomodate leagues that allow trading of draft picks.  There is a running ticker at the bottom of the screen recapping the picks, just like the real NFL draft.  The software pauses in between rounds to recap the round before setting you up for the next round.  If there is trouble, the draft is paused at the click of a button, and restarted just as easily.  FanDraft can also accomodate trades during the draft right on the draft board.  No need to go through any huge ordeal.  A quick window pops up, and BAM, the trade is done.  What if someone wants to draft some obscure rookie?  The Player on the Fly option allows you to input a player that isn’t on the draft board.  I told you, this program has everything.

Even after the draft, FanDraft gets an A+.  You can run multiple reports with a click of the mouse.  Draft summaries, team rosters, free agents, a replica of the draft board, and a recap of all in draft transactions are available once the draft is over.

Thanks to FanDraft, the only details you will have to worry about on your big day will be where to order the pizza from, how hot the wings should be, and what kind of beer does everyone like.  The best part about it is that it won’t break the bank.  The program costs $34.95, which means in a traditional 12 team league, everybody kicks in three bucks.  Is that too much to ask to transform your draft from some dope with a marker to something that looks like the real NFL put it together?  Believe me when I tell you that you will enjoy this program.  It really is fun, easy, and convenient to use.

Manny Ramirez returned to the lineup for the Dodgers on Friday, and went 0/3 with a walk.  Obviously if you didn’t have him in tonight, get him back in your lineups tomorrow.  Just a question.  Why does everyone still love Manny while guys like Clemens, McGwire, and Bonds are ostracized from the society of baseball?  I’m not defending those other guys, but why has Manny come back to such fanfare when we have a positive test on him, while the others are just a mountain of circumstanial evidence?

Jorge Posada was out of the lineup for the second straight game after sustaining a bruised thumb on Wednesday.  It doesn’t appear that this will be anything that will keep him out of the lineup for much longer.  It is even possible that he will return on Saturday.

Carlos Quentin will begin his rehab assignment on Saturday as he hopes to return from the Disabled List before the All-Star Break.  He will start out slowly and won’t even play the entire game right away. But it appears that Quentin will be back soon, which is good for those of us who have been stashing him for quite a while now.

Ryan Doumit played his first rehab game on Friday, and is likely that he will be back with the Pirates in a week or so.  He will play three games in rookie ball before advancing to AAA for four or five games.  Doumit caught five innings tonight and was 0-2 with a walk.  He was dropped in many leagues, if he’s out there and you have any issue at the catcher position I would pick him up to give him a chance.   I know a broken wrist is a tough injury to come back from, but there are so few good catchers that he is worth the risk.

Edwin Encarnacion returned for the Reds tonight and hit a long impressive double nearly off the wall against Ryan Franklin.  In his rookie year, Encarnacion did hit 26 homers, but that fell to 16 in 2008.  He is not a guy that I have ever had a lot of confidence in, but like Doumit there aren’t a ton of good options at third base and if you need any help that is the only way that I would consider him.

Raul Ibanez is feeling better but his groin is still not 100% so he hasn’t started his rehab assignment just yet.  It is looking now that he won’t be back until after the All-Star Break, although he likely will begin his rehab assignment sometime in the next three to five days.

Alex Rodriguez homered for the third time in four games, and the fifth time in the last eight contests.  He has raised his average nearly 30 points in the last seven games, and for all of you who were thinking of selling him cheap, this is the kind of streak that he is capable of.  Despite all the drama and distraction, A-Rod is one of the best hitters in all of baseball, and will hit 40 home runs again in 2009.

Rodrigo Lopez had his first start in the major leagues since 2007, and he certainly made the most of it.  Lopez allowed just two runs over 6.1 innings and struck out four.  He did have a couple of good years early in his career, but he had elbow trouble that seriously derailed his progress.  Lopez didn’t have a start for nearly two years for a reason.  Don’t fall into the trap of grabbing a guy after one decent start.  Let someone else make that mistake.

Shin-Soo Choo was a triple short of a cycle tonight, and that included two home runs.  Choo is quickly becoming one of the more productive draft picks of the year.  He is now hitting .301, has hit 12 homers, stolen 13 bases, and has driven in 53 runs with his seven RBI game on Friday.  While I think that he will continue to produce at a similar rate, if you can trade him away for a proven power hitting run producer I would certainly do it.  Choo is a good player, but I would try to shop him around to see if someone will bite on something they shouldn’t.

Homer Bailey had a much better start his second time out, but I still urge you to stay away from him unless there is a sense of desperation with your pitching staff.  Bailey allowed just two runs over 7.1 innings and struck out five.  The best part was that he only walked two, after allowing seven free passes last time out.  He has had a handful of decent starts in his career, so I am not putting too much stock in this one.  Unfortunately for him, the bullpen imploded so he doesn’t even get a win to show for his great effort.

Frank Francisco bounced back from his blown save on Thursday and converted an easy one tonight.  Francisco collected save number 13 against Tampa Bay without giving up a hit and striking out one.  I still believe that he will be an elite closer in the second half, much like he was up until his shoulder woes started.  If for some crazy reason he was dropped, pick him up immediately.

Ervin Santana is really starting to frustrate his owners now.  Including Friday, four of his last six starts have been awful.  He gave up the booty again tonight, allowing four earned runs over only four innings, walked three and struck out five.  His ERA on the season is now a whopping 7.43 and his WHIP is a terrible 1.90.  Now the big question is what should you do with Santana.  Unfortunately, I truly believe that this is a case by case kind of decision.  If you have someone in your free agent pool that can be considered a quality pitcher, I would likely let Santana go.  If you are just picking up another average retread, hold on to Santana and hope that he turns things around.  He has more talent than Kenshin Kawakami, Ross Ohlendorff, and Carl Pavano.

Mailing List

I’m not going to stop bringing up the mailing list until I get a day where I don’t get a request to join it. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, when I find news earlier in the day I will send an email to you about whatever it might be. If you were on the mailing list you would have found out about the callups of Matt Wieters, Fernando Martinez, Nolan Reimold and others. The trade of Nate McLouth, and injuries to Jose Reyes, etc. This mailing list is your way to get a step up on your competition. Anyone who is on the list, please leave a comment below on whether you think that you have benefitted from the list. Send an email to either fantasybaseballtonight@gmail.com or fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com and put Mailing List in the subject line.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the “Fantasy Baseball Tonight” podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.

Francisco Rodriguez allowed a run for the second time in three starts, and as the rest of the Mets are struggling, it appears that K-Rod is a bit himself.  His save chances will likely be limited as long as the Mets are without Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, and Jose Reyes, but he is generally a shut down closer and should convert most of his opportunities.  He obviously won’t get near the 62 saves he had in 2008, but over 40 is definitely within his range.  Unless you can get another elite closer and another advantage, I wouldn’t think of dealing away Rodriguez.

Garrett Jones was called up by the Pirates and wasted no time making an impact as he was just the single short of the cycle.  Jones has been toiling in the minor leagues for a decade, so it isn’t like he is the hot new prospect.  You won’t find him in any of the Baseball America prospect rankings that you often hear me quote.  However, the guy has some power.  He topped 30 home runs one season, and was over 20 in three other years.  He does have a bit of a problem with Ks and his batting average isn’t exactly something to write home about, but if you are in need of some power, he has a chance of bringing it to you.

Mets’ prospect Nick Evans has been making an impact for the offense starved Mets in the short period of time he has been with the team.  He has a hit in every game he has started, including a home run (of course at the game I attended!) and four RBI in seven games.  Evans had another two hits and RBI on Thursday and I would be willing to bet that he is in the lineup as long as he is hitting given the state of the Mets’ lineup.  He has had a few above average seasons in the minors, but nothing that screams “top prospect”.  He was ranked as the ninth best prospect in the Mets’ organization by Baseball America, but given the recent trades for Johan Santana and J.J. Putz, the farm system in Flushing has been depleted.  You can grab him while he is hot, but just don’t expect this to be a full season kind of thing.

Chad Qualls blew his fourth save chance of the season, and I am starting to have big time questions about his ability to hold this job.  He hasn’t saved a game since June 11th, but that is more of a product of the D’Backs being a bad team more than Qualls failings as a closer.  But 13 saves and four blown doesn’t instill a lot of confidence. Put that together with an ERA of 4.22 and you have yourself a guy looking to be replaced.  I don’t know if it will be Jon Rauch or Tony Pena who will eventually take over for him.   Rauch has closing experience in Washington, while Pena has some pretty good stuff.  Hold Qualls until it is official that he has lost the job, but don’t be surprised if you hear that news the next time he blows a save chance.

Doug Davis has allowed one run or less in his last three starts, and despite Arizona’s inability to win games, he is becoming a pitcher that you can own at the end of your rotation.  Davis is pitching to a 3.15 ERA on the season, which is great, but his 3-8 record will scare most people away.  His WHIP isn’t great at over 1.35, but he has 78 strikeouts in 105 innings which is pretty decent.  I’m not adding him in any league, but if you are looking for a decent pitcher to help you during a tough stretch of injuries or ineffectiveness, give Davis a look.

Kevin Correia got tattooed on Thursday, and although he had a very hot June, he is not a guy that I would trust going forward.  Correia spent much of his career as a reliever, and the time that he did start he was not even close to being effective.  Last season he made 19 starts for the Giants and his ERA for the year was over six.  Don’t trust him do have a July anywhere near to the caliber of the June that he had.

Ryan Ludwick is starting to show some signs of life.  He had five homers in the first three weeks of the season, and eight on May 12th when he went out with an injury.   When he returned from injury, Ludwick was a shell of the player who started 2009 on that hot streak and his average dipped 50 points from his pre-injury form.  Within the last week or so however, Ludwick has started to hit again.  With his two hits on Thursday, he now has seven in the last five days, and has three RBI in the last two days.  I’m not quite saying that he is back yet, but the signs are certainly pointing in the right direction for the first time in a while.

J.A. Happ had his third straight quality start, and is looking more and more like a pitcher that you can afford to have on your roster.  Happ allowed just two runs over seven innings, struck out five, and his ERA for the season is now under three.  Happ is just what the doctor ordered for the pitching starved Phillies, and he is nearly single handedly keeping them ahead in the NL East.  If Happ is available and you are in any need of pitching I would certainly consider adding him.

John Lackey pitched a hell of a game and now has two straight good starts as he tries to get back on track from his season opening injury.  I have long thought that Lackey is one of the more underrated pitchers in all of baseball, but undoubtedly has struggled with injury concerns over the past two seasons.  Lackey hadn’t been the pitcher we have become accustomed to over the years when he came back, but I believe this recent streak is a sign of things to come.  It might be too late to buy low on Lackey, but it doesn’t hurt to try to see if his owner is still a little skeptical on his future.