Zumaya, Guardado, Gagne

Joel Zumaya of the Tigers is back and with his 100MPH heat, he should be on all fantasy rosters for his ability to give owners huge strikeout totals. See if he is out there on the wire.

Eddie Guardado of the Rangers is still pitching and has shown that he can still do it at his age. This former closer has the ability to close when given the chance and with the problems in the Texas bullpen owners should grab Guardado just in case there is a change in closers. With CJ Wilson holding the closers role at the moment, owners who have Wilson should hedge your bets with Guardado.

Eric Gagne of the Brewers is going to return after finishing a rehab stint in the minors. When he returns he is not going to the closer, Torres holds that role, but since the Brewers are paying him $10million for his services, don't expect the Brewers to make a switch the second Torres falters. Currently, I have Gagne and I'm going to stash him on my bench to see if he can return and provide some quality innings, I don't enjoy him pitching 0.1 innings and giving up 5ER's.

DL Information

Rickie Weeks of the Brewers was placed on the 15-Day DL with a sprained left knee. For fantasy owners who have stuck through his terrible season hope this stint on the DL will give him time to rest and come back strong. Owners, don't keep him on your bench unless you have room.

Jerry Hairston Jr of the Reds, who is doing well this year, has fractured his left thumb and will be placed on the 15-Day DL. This is painful for owners since he is hitting .336AVG with 1HR, 14RBI, and 12SB's. Keep him on your bench or your DL.

Chipper Jones of the Braves has a small tear and had some bleeding his right quad. As I have preached in the past, Jones is the type of player that will get injured throughout the year and if you have a chance try to sell high on this player. So far he has continued to hit and is batting .410AVG but if he does go on the DL it isn't the worst thing that could happen. Losing him for 15 days now instead of severely injuring his quad and being out for the rest of the season is what owners should be hoping for.

Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals was placed on the 15-Day DL with a sprained right middle finger. He is 6-3, with a 3.14ERA, 62K's, and 20BB's all in 91.2 innings. He will be back so just wait this injury out. This is a fantasy pitcher that will continue to help you throughout the rest of the season.

Eric Gagne of the Brewers will return soon but he will not see the closing duties when he does come back. S. Torres is currently the closer and Gagne will have to earn his way back while Torres has to lose his job. Owners who have kept Gagne, keep him only if you have room. With his struggles and the lack of a closers role, his value is almost at zero. The only reason I am talking about him is his ability to earn the closers role back. Keep a close eye on this situation as it unfolds.

Eric Gagne

Struggling closer Eric Gagne of the Brewers is expected to return to the bullpen within a week according to his coach Ned Yost. For owners who have stuck with Gagne after struggling in 2008 you might be rewarded with Gagne's return. The problem here is Salomon Torres, he is currently filling in as the Brewer's closer and he is doing a great job going 5.2 innings dating back to May 20 without allowing an ER. In that span he has allowed 2H's, 1BB, and has struck out 4 batters while recording 5 saves and 1 win.

With sports you don't lose your job from getting injured but with Torres holding down the fort and Gagne not showing any sort of command and ability to close out games, Gagne may be left pitching in the 7th and 8th innings. I would keep Gagne and see if he ultimately does fall back into the closers role but in my opinion Torres has earned it.

Owners, having Gagne and Torres both on your team won't hurt.

Eric Gagne

The former great closer who seemed to be invincible during the 9th inning while pitching for the Dodgers has seem to have fallen on harsh times. Eric Gagne of the Brewers was officially placed on the 15-Day DL with tendinitis in his pitching shoulder. With Gagne throwing batting practice during games, he isn't really worth of a spot on your team right now.

For owners, this stint on the DL should hopefully re-align his mental state and hopefully bring his pitching mechanics or whatever his problems are back into a resonable fantasy option in the 9th inning. NL-only, don't drop him. For mixed leagues only keep him on your team if you have room to spare. But with the Brewers bullpen not being so reliable these days, the only options you have are Torres and Mota, both not reliable.

If you have Gagne, make sure to keep your eyes on the roller coaster that is closers.

Brewers and blowing saves

Eric Gagne was blowing saves for the Brewers and was demoted from the closer position to only be reinstated again as the closer only 2 days after the fact. Now instead of Gagne blowing saves Mr. Guillermo Mota just blew a save against the Dodgers last night. This string of blown saves for the Brewers is not what they expected after signing Gagne to a $10million one year contract in the off season.

For fantasy owners, expect Gagne to continually see the ball when a save chance is present.

Eric Gagne

For those of you who bailed on Gagne because he wasn't the closer anymore well take a look at what he just did, he earned a save. Coach Yost has come out and put Gagne back into the closer role only after 2-3 days of being out of the spot.

Sucks to be the ones who dropped him. He should be on all rosters, even though he seems to make closing a game an adventure.

Brewers News

Derrick Turnbow RP has been cut by the Brewers. This former all-star who had 39 and 24 saves during the 2005 and 2006 season respectively so far has a disgusting 2008 campaign. This news isn't going to make any difference to fantasy owners except for the ones who own Gagne. There was news earlier in the season of Turnbow taking over the closing duties from Gagne if he continued to struggle. Instead, Turnbow struggled and was finally cut. Only one thing to do if you have Turnbow on your roster is to cut him. I would be shocked to hear if ANYONE had him on a team.

Bigger news...

Yovani Gallardo SP injured his ACL, injured is putting it lightly. There is a tear in his ACL and will probably be out for the rest of the year. Owners who had to suffer with his early season DL stint are pissed off and have every right to be. This young pitcher was going to offer you nice 3rd spot rotation stats. Drop Gallardo and try to find some decent pitcher on the waiver wire. If you are unable to find someone to pickup just play favourable match ups. Look at the probable pitchers for the next day and pick the best pitcher out there on the wire.

Injuries keep popping up.

Saturday Night Notes

Erik Bedard of the Mariners returned from the DL to record his second win of the season. He threw 95 pitches through 6.2 innings while striking out 4 batters and giving up zero runs. This was a nice start for owners after making a stint on the DL. Owners should keep putting Bedard into lineups without thinking twice. Just hope he stays healthy.

Chris Young of the Diamondbacks is still swatting homers but with a batting average of .232 it isn't helping owners but with 6HR's so far, it's a nice trade-off. Make sure to grab someone who hits for average to balance out the average category.

Eric Gagne threw a perfect 9th inning while recording 3K's to earn his 7th save of the season.

Gagne

Blew another save. With 10 blown saves in his ENTIRE career, he already has 3 this year. Not looking so bright for him. He's on one of my teams and he's on a short leash.