Martin and Doumit

R. Martin of the Dodgers is coming back strong after a slow start to the season. In the past week, Martin has batted .300 with 5R, 2HR, and 2RBI. For all those owners who panicked and traded or dropped him should be kicking themselves. Owners, this was the best fantasy catcher in baseball...you don't go jumping overboard with 2 weeks of poor play. Owners who received Martin in a trade for low value, start counting the days because a championship is on its way.

R. Doumit of the Pirates is a catcher you should keep an eye out for. He's batting .320 and has added 4HR's in the past 10 games. Owners who weren't able to grab any of the top five catchers...this is a great guy to grab now to enjoy his hot streak. In 2007, Doumit had 252AB's and hit 9 HR's. If he can stay healthy he can be a productive catcher in all fantasy formats.

R. Martin

R. Martin of the Dodgers is finding his swing again. He's hit safely in the past two games, which includes a homer. Owners of Martin who panicked by dropping him or trading him for lower than true value should be kicking themselves in their asses. Martin is the top fantasy catcher and starting a season cold doesn't justify a drop/trade, unless the trade brings in fair market value in return.

Owners, he's back!

Saito/Broxton

The rock solid closer, Takashi Saito of the Dodgers, blew a save by allowing 3ER's against the Pirates. As with every year, Saito has a strong and almost comparable set-up man waiting for Saito to falter. J. Broxton is throwing smoke this season, 12K's in 6.1 innings, and is ready to take the closer role permanently.

Owners of Saito should grab Broxton, if they haven't already, just in case there is a change in closers. At this point in time, one blown save amounts to nothing especially with the record and history Saito has over the past 3 years. Even if there is no change in closers Broxton is a great pitcher to have on your team to lower your ERA/WHIP and provide a nice boost in K's. Owners, shouldn't panic but adding Broxton is something you should do but with Broxton's stats, he'll most likely be on someone else's roster.

Juan

Juan Pierre of the Dodgers was drafted for one reason and that was for steals. This year under new head coach Joe Torre, he doesn't seem like owners are going to be happy with his production. Pierre is sitting behind Jones, Ethier, and Kemp.

Look at his stolen base totals for the past few years.
2001 - 46
2002 - 47
2003 - 65
2004 - 45
2005 - 57
2006 - 58
2007 - 64
2008 - 0

In fantasy baseball Pierre has one thing that owners want and that's steals. For him to get steals he has to at least get into the batters box.

ADVICE - Keep him on your bench or at least try and trade him. He won't get you top value but all depends on what people in your league want to give up for his services. Going back on keeping him, it would make sense to keep him for a bit and see how the young players pan out and especially the slumping Andruw Jones (.129AVG).

Mr. Jones

After an absolutely disgusting contract year, Andrew Jones was signed by the Dodgers and so far he hasn't done much other then walk to the batters box and walk back to the dugout.

With 3 hits in 26 at-bats (.115 AVG) along with the big fat ZERO HR's Andrew Jones is finding himself on benches and the trading block in almost all fantasy leagues. Owners should really try and trade him and get some sort of value or if you have room, bench him until he finds his stroke and rips a few homers.

This was one player I stayed away from in drafts this year because of his age and sharp decline in numbers even during a contract year.

High Hopes

Going into this season I had very high hopes for Matt Garza of the Rays and Chad Billingsley of the Dodgers. Looking at their stats so far this season show my high hopes were just high hopes.

Garza - 2GS, 8IP, 12H, 8ER, 5BB, 5K, and 2HR
Billingsley - 4.1IP, 8H, 5ER, 4BB, 3K, and 1HR

Upside doesn't always turn out to be top stats.

PS. High hopes was for them being your 4 starter.

Notable Pitchers

Broxton of the Dodgers is still bringing the heat. He will give you a nice boost in K's, WHIP, ERA, and the occasional win and on the rare occasion a save. Too bad Saito is still pitching extremely well. But never keep Broxton far from your roster. Saito is old and well, closers can change in a week.

Trevor Hoffman of the Padres had 1ER in his last appearance which gave him his 2 loss of the season. Like I said, owners shouldn't worry just yet but this is not a good sign.

Lyon of the Diamondbacks blew a save but ended up with the W. If he continues to blow saves in the next two weeks, start looking Pena, he should take the saves if Lyon is incapable of holding a 9th inning lead.

Fuentes of the Rockies held the closers role last year until he lost it due to poor performance. But this year he's tearing things up with a stat line of 3IP, 2K, 0ERA, and a 1.33WHIP. I would grab Fuentes and stash him away since Corpas just blew a save.

Wang of the Yankees just had a second great outing of the year with a stat line of 6IP, 4H, 0ER, and an amazing/uncharacteristically striking out 6 batters!! Through his major league career Wang hasn't been high in the K department so don't expect this to continue. But this is a great pitcher for wins since he pitches for the stacked lineup of the Yankees.

Ben Sheets of the Brewers had an incredible outing with a 5 hit complete game shutout with 8K's. Sheets is a must own for all fantasy owners but just like Harden of the A's he's prone to injury. Owners, just hope this is the season where he stays healthy.

Erik Bedard of the Mariners is expected to pitch on Tuesday after skipping his start over the weekend with a sore hip.

Japanese Sensation

The new $36 Million man, Hiroki Kuroda of the Dodgers, had his first taste of regular season major league players and he did not disappoint. Kuroda mixed fastballs, sliders, and splitters to baffle a hot hitting Padres lineup. This is not a surprise especially with his impressive numbers in the Nippon League. His stat line of 7IP, 3H, 1ER, 0BB, 4K, with 1HR is absolutely amazing. Owners should be happy he started well and this will do wonders for Kuroda's confidence. I still don't have a final answer on this pitcher until he pitches 3-5 starts.

One thing to note...it seems all pitchers who come from Japan have success, to a certain degree, in their first year of play. Do you remember someone named Hideo Nomo.