Saves in Review for June 2

The Usual Suspects
Lidge (14), Sherrill (18), Nathan (15), Torres (6), Capps (11), F.Rod (22), and Wood (15).

Stupid BS
Gregg (3) with 1ER
Smoltz (1) with 2ER

I think I will stop writing this post everyday unless there is some news of a closer who might lose his closers role. I think it is getting pointless for me to post about closers who continually get saves night in and night out.

Joba

Joba Chamberlain of the Yankees will make his debut as a starter on Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees have placed a 65-70 pitch limit on his young hard throwing arm. For owners who drafted Chamberlain and kept him you will have a chance to see if Joba can add to your stat categories especially the K column.

With the Yankees absolutely crying for help and staring up at division leaders, the Rays and Red Sox, this change was almost written on the wall. In my opinion, I prefer Chamberlain coming out of the bullpen and throwing 2 innings a game and striking out 2-4 batters. I am not completely sold on his ability to start games just yet. Just have to wait and see.

Doug Davis/Max Scherzer

Doug Davis is the one guy who is holding Max Scherzer from the starting rotation. For owners of Scherzer, make sure to keep him on your roster because, as we know, Davis is not the greatest of pitchers and if Davis falters, the Diamondbacks will not hesitate to put Davis in the bullpen and place the hard throwing young arm of Scherzer on the mound to start.

For owners who have Scherzer don't deal him but for the ones who don't own him, try and see if you can grab him from another owner in a deal.

Mark Prior

For most fantasy owners Mark Prior is a complete after thought. But for some idiots like me, I have always kept an eye out for Prior because of his potential to carry your pitching staff when healthy. Prior will not pitch in 2008 after opting for surgery to his right shoulder which may in fact end his career. It is absolutely sad how a promising pitcher has to sit on the sidelines and watch instead of throwing on the mound in front of his fans.

I hope Prior has successful surgery and finds a way to pitch and stay healthy. He is only 27 and if he can find a way to stay healthy he still has the chance to spend 5-7 more years in the bigs.

Barajas

Catchers are hard to find in any fantasy format but when they do it can add that one surge of power that can propel you into fantasy euphoria. Rod Barahas of the Blue Jays is swinging the hot bat. In his past 10 games Barajas has 10H's, 2HR's, 8RBI's, and has raised his average by 25 points to .298. Ride the ship when it is going well and bail when it starts to sink. This is a great catcher to buy into right now but it won't last. Enjoy his stats until they dry up.

Keep on Raking

Chase Utley of the Phillies is unconscious right now!!!! He just hit his 4th straight HR in as many games. Add to this he has 6 HR's in his past 7 games and 17RBI's. I can't even begin to explain how valuable Utley is to any fantasy roster. Just be glad he is on your roster and not someone elses. He is absolutely amazing!

Josh Hamilton of the Rangers is continuing his sweet swing with another HR last night. He has 3HR's in his last 5 games while batting in 10. It seems like his off-field troubles have been solved and fantasy owners who found him and have him on their rosters should be glad he stopped doing lines and started raking. The only problem I see with Hamilton is he has never competed a full season so he might start to lose steam as the season goes on. But at this moment, enjoy his sweet swing and the top spot in your fantasy leagues.

Ageless Moyer

Jamie Moyer of the Phillies just recorded his 6th win of the season by beating the Florida Marlins. In my eyes, this pitcher should be throwing out batting practice with his low 80's/high 70's fastball. I haver been a fan of pitchers like Maddux and Moyer but they seem to know what it takes to be winners. At this point in the fantasy season, Moyer has proven himself a reliable 3/4th starter in all fantasy formats. He should be owned.

Ellsbury

Jacob Ellsbury of the Red Sox is tearing up the base paths right now. Over his past 5 games he has recorded 9 SB's!!!! During this stretch he had back to back nights of 3SB's, wow, can you say winning the SB by himself?!?

Enjoy his services but since you have a speed demon on your team in Ellsbury, you can use another player who steals to sweeten deals to acquire help in some areas. Remember, this is fantasy baseball and you can only win if you put up the stats. Deal players when you have a strong hold on a category to help in categories where you are weak in.

Jay Bruce

For those individuals who were able to find and place Jay Bruce of the Reds on their rosters, it seems to have paid immediate dividends. Everyone knew by his minor league stats that he could hit but after 6 games in the big leagues, Bruce has shown his ability to change and adapt to a whole new game.

After 6 games Bruce is hitting .591 (13-22), 2HR, 6RBI, 6BB, and 2SB. Obviously these numbers are not going to continue throughout the season but you might be wondering what kind of realistic numbers can he actually put up by the end of September. Well, after looking through his minor league numbers I believe a stat line of .315-.325AVG, 15-20HR, 70-80RBI's, and 15-25SB's. These are absolutely amazing numbers especially for a rookie at the tender age of 21.

Remember, pitchers throughout the majors will adapt to his hitting and with all those video cameras everywhere, coaches will have the chance to dissect every pitch and and every swing to see where his weaknesses are. But as I mentioned before, Bruce has the ability to adapt to pitchers so let the cat and mouse games begin.

Brrruuuuuuuuuuuuccceeeeeee!

Saves in Review for June 1

The Usual Suspects
Lidge (13), Franklin (6), and Wood (14).

Stupid BS
Hoffman (3) with 3ER and a loss.
Ryan (1) with 2ER and a loss.

Technically not a loss, Putz with 4ER's and the loss.