Lind and Clement

Adam Lind of the Blue Jays and Jeff Clement of the Mariners both hit their first home runs of the season last night. Both players are highly touted prospects within their respective organizations.

Lind was called up from AAA after Marcum was placed on the DL. He was hitting .328, 6HR, 50RBI's in 189AB's. This kid can hit if he is given the chance.

Clement was called up from AAA and was hitting .337, 14HR, 43RBI all in 172AB's. After being sent down earlier this year Clement found his swing and it has translated into a 2nd chance at the big leagues. He is suppose to be the starting C for the Mariners, especially since Johjima is tearing up the bench lately, so look for Clement to fill some stats for you in the C position (as long as he gets accustomed to big league pitching).

More DL Stints

Moises Alou of the Mets is back on the DL after playing ONE game. In the fantasy world his stats are absolutely off the charts but the problem is he is never on the field because he spends every freakin' day on the DL. I picked up him up hoping that he could provide me another 150-200AB's for the rest of the season because he usually puts up a .310AVG, 10HR's, 60RBI's, and 1/2SB's. Now he is back on the DL it is absolutely over. I dropped him but if he is still available when he comes back off the DL I will try and pick him up again. This guy is worth it. But for now, drop him.


JJ Putz of the Mariners was placed on the DL because of numbness in his pitching arm. At this point in time Putz is looking towards a return before the all-star break. Owners should be a little worried at this point in time because of his injuries so far this season. This is extremely disappointing because most owners drafted Putz as their number 1 closer and did so early in the draft. Look for Morrow, Batista, and Smith to grab the saves while Putz is away. The Mariner's coach was reported as saying he will use a bullpen by committee approach.

Masterson and Bedard

Justin Masterson of the Red Sox earned his 3rd win of the season by beating the lowly Mariners. Masterson pitched 6 innings allowing only 3H's, 1ER, and striking out 4. It seems like the Red Sox have someone to fill in holes whenever someone goes down with injury. This kid should be owned so go out and grab him now!

Erik Bedard of the Mariners did not earn the loss against the Red Sox and for owners, like myself, are very happy with what they saw in his performance. Even though he only pitched 5 innings, Bedard left the game allowing only 2H's, 1ER, and striking out 5. For owners, hopefully Bedard can turn things around and be more consistent.

Bedard

Erik Bedard of the Mariners is starting to throw like Oliver Perez of the Mets, both inconsistent from start to start. After a break out season in 2007 Bedard was traded from the Orioles to the Mariners for 5 players and at this moment, it seems like the Orioles made the right decision.

In his latest flop he went 3.1 innings while allowing 4ER's, 7H's, 3BB's, and only mustering 1K! This is not what fantasy owners drafted him for. Even with his poor play and inconsistency, Bedard is a legitimate starting rotation pitcher in all fantasy formats. So owners, you will just have to live with it for now.

By looking at his stats from his career, he seems to heat up as the summer warms up but then begins to cool in August and September. Owners, just hope he turns things around and puts together 5-7 quality starts.

Two Pitchers

Bartolo Colon pitched in his second game with the Red Sox and got his second win of the season. This outing was very impressive going 7 innings while allowing 5H's, 1ER, and striking out 4 Mariners. As I mentioned before, go out and pick this guy up!

Fausto Carmona of the Indians is expected to be out 4 weeks with a strain in his left hip. This is terrible news for owners who expected Carmona is be fairly dominating after watching him go 19-8 last year. Stash him on the DL and wait him out. Or as I always try to do, use him as a sweetener in a 2 for 1 deal.

Jorge Posada

For owners who have Posada on their rosters, which includes me, you will be glad to hear he is planning on returning in early June. After being placed on the DL for the first time his career, this 36 year old is dying to get back on the field to help out the bottom feeders who are looking up at 4 teams in the AL East standings. This is great news for the Yankees and fantasy owners who have had to go on the wire to find some help behind the plate.

This is great news for the rest of the Yankees players and for owners who have Yankees on their rosters. Expect the Yankees to produce more runs especially after the return of A-Rod and the upcoming return of Posada. Look for Melky Cabrera to break out his little funk and hopefully Cano will follow suit.

Look at what the Yankees and their strong lineup can produce. In their last 5 games they have scored a total of 37 runs...yes I know they scored 25 against the lowly Mariners.

King Felix

F. Hernandez of the Mariners will miss his next scheduled start on Saturday due to soreness in his right leg. Owners, don't worry just yet. He'll most likely be back on the mound throwing smoke for his next start.

Thieves

Ichiro is having a modest season in his standards batting a measly .280 but the stat that really jumps out at you should be his 20SB's. With Ichiro running rabid on the base paths owners can feel a little more comfortable with the low batting average. I would be a little worried if his average does not increase because owners drafted Ichiro because of his .330+ average. Owners shouldn't be worried right now because as we all know, Ichiro is capable of batting .390 in any 4 week span.

Moving onto another high profile player, Derek Jeter of the Yankees has finally stolen his first base of the year. This is great news for Jeter owners because at the moment, Jeter isn't providing much to the stat categories. Just hope Jeter starts to being more aggressive on the base paths.

King Felix

Well, after a strong start to the season King Felix of the Mariners has lost his last 4 starts and blowing up his ERA from 1.67 to 3.38 in the process. Don't worry about King Felix right now and continue throwing him out there but for people who don't own King Felix, try and see if an owner is scared and is trying to sell. This is a great chance to maybe grab him for a lower than market value which will help you tremendously. Remember, when you deal for a player you don't deal for his past stats, you deal for his future stats. If King Felix tears things up from now on, you reap all the benefits.

Mr. Ichiro

Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners is known to have a .330+AVG every year while hitting 200+ hits. This season Ichiro has started out slow batting .252 in April. With the first two days of May, things have changed with him hitting 3 and 2 hits during the May 1st and 2nd games respectively. Owners who panicked, which are few and far between, should watch his average skyrocket back to his normal level.

In addition to his hits, Ichiro has found a nice way of working out his legs, he's stolen 4 bases in his past two games and 7 in his past 10 games. If you are lucky to have a player of this calibre on your team, just keep him in your roster and let him do the heavy lifting on the field. Just another spot on your team that you don't have to worry about.

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.