Random Notes

Josh Barfield of the Indians was called up and will be the regular starting 2nd baseman. AL-Only league owners should grab this guy because he will give you some decent stats and with AL-only leagues players are hard to come by that are full time players and who give positive returns.

D-Train, Dontrelle Willis, of the Tigers was terrible in his 2nd start starting rotation after returning from the DL. For owners who are hoping for D-Train of 2005 where he went 22-10, well keep dreaming. This pitcher has fallen and seems to be staying on the ground. Only keep him on your team if you want a high ERA and a last place finish in your fantasy teams.

Adrian Beltre of the Mariners is struggling and has dropped his average to .226 after an 0-5 night against the Blue Jays. He currently has 13HR's and is on pace for 20-25 but owners who have him as their 3rd baseman must be disappointed in his terrible average. Do not drop him because he does have value. If you have an extra spot on the bench maybe bench him for now and see if he can get out of the slump he currently sits in.

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.

Hot Bats

Mark Reynolds of the Diamondbacks is showing power over the past 10 games and increasing his average from .233 to .259 over that span. He has 13 hits, 5HR's and 10RBI's. This 3B is in his 2nd year in the bigs and seems to have the ability to hit 25HR's and hit .275AVG over the span of a year. See if he is on the wire and if he is...grab him.

Jose Guillen of the Royals continues to rake with another HR last night. In his past 10 he has 16 hits, which includes 5HR's. He started slow this year but seems to have picked it up.

Nick Swisher of the White Sox has hit a pair of homers and seems to have found his stroke, as mentioned in a previous post.

Guillen/Swisher/Chavez

Jose Guillen of the Royals seems to have found his swing of late. Too bad for me, I dropped him a while back. In his past 10 games he has 15 hits (4HR's) and 11RBI's while adding in 1SB. For owners who stuck through his terrible slump this is some nice reward...finally!

Nick Swisher of the White Sox seems to have found his swing after a terrible start to the year. In his past 10 games he has 10H's with 1HR. Hopefully he has turned things around and will heat as the summer heat arrives and lives up to his potential of 20HR's/70-85RBI's.

Eric Chavez of the A's is swinging the hot bat after being activated from the DL. Since his return, 8 games, he has 10H's which includes 1HR and is batting .313. It seems like his surgeries on his back and shoulders are not bothering him. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is a guy who could be an absolute steal if he produces his former numbers of 20+HR's and 70-90RBI's.

Soriano and Gonzalez

Rafael Soriano of the Braves seems to still be suffering from tendinitis in his pitching elbow which kept him from pitching in the 9th inning of last nights game. This seems like a roller-coaster ride with Soriano because of the good/bad news. First he is the closer, then he goes on the DL, then Smoltz is the closer, then Smoltz is out for the season so Soriano is back as the closer, now Soriano seems to be injured again. This is tough news for Soriano owners. But you have to keep him on your roster because of his potential for saves.

If you have a spot, try and pick up Mike Gonzalez of the Braves. He is coming back from Tommy John Surgery and should be activated from the DL some time next week. Bobby Cox, manager of the Braves, has stated Mike will get chances at the closing duties when he returns.

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.

Wells and Rios

Vernon Wells of the Blue Jays is back in the lineup and this is great news for everyone who owns Wells and also Alex Rios. Rios has been in a terrible slump and I attribute some of his struggles at the plate to Wells being on the DL. With Wells back in the lineup, Rios is hitting lead-off and this is good news for owners who need steals but bad for RBI production. But at this point, owners don't care as long as he gets out of his slump.

See if there is an owner out there that is willing to part with Rios for a bargain price, if there is an owner out there who does make the deal as soon as possible.

Davis and Scherzer

Doug Davis of the Diamondbacks just threw another great *sarcasm* outing by going 3.2 innings and allowing 5ER's. This is absolutely great news for Scherzer owners who might see Davis switch spots with Scherzer being inserted into the starting rotation.

I'm assuming no one owns Davis and if you do it better be in a deep deep NL-only league. For Scherzer owners, the clock is ticking away on Davis and his time in the rotation unless he miraculously turns things around.

Winn and Molina

Randy Winn and Bengie Molina of the Giants are both swinging the hot bat.

Winn, since May 2, has hit safely in every game but 5 and has raised his average from .261 to .301 over that span. In his past 10 games he has 6 multi-hit games. Winn is a streaky hitter and with his ability to sprinkle a few SB's and HR's give owners a nice option for the immediate future. Winn should be owned in all leagues.

Molina, since May 2, has raised his average from .283 to .332 and has been a huge surprise in the fantasy world so far this year. With the top five catchers (Posada, Martin, V-mart, Mauer, and McCann) not all producing in fantasy land, Molina was an absolute steal in drafts--so far. I would tell you to grab Molina but he's gone in all league formats. For owners, keep him and don't trade him unless you get a big return because he should get all the opportunities in the world batting 4th in the Giants lineup to pick up RBI's, as long as he continue to hits.

Armando Galarraga

Armando Galarraga of the Tigers, who is filling in for Bonderman, earned his 5th win of the season by defeating the Indians with 5.2IP, 4H's, 2ER's, 2BB's, and 4K's. Since Bonderman is likely out for the season, Galarraga will be tossing more innings in the upcoming future.

Owners, this is a good pick-up to add to your pitching staff as a 4th-5th starter. If he does poorly drop him but for now you should ride his fine pitching.

2008 stats - 58.1IP, 24ER's, 26BB's, 39K's, and a 3.70ERA.