|
|
| Brian Bannister had his worst outing of the season as he fell to 3-1 thanks to allowing five runs in five innings to the A's. Bannister walked only one batter on the night, but he also had only one K as he permitted nine hits. |
Our View: Bannister isn't anywhere near as good a hurler as he has been in the early going, so it's not surprising to see him struggle a bit tonight. Look for more uneven work from Bannister moving forward as he will struggle when his control is even slightly off.
|
|
|
|
| Former chair-thrower Frank Francisco converted his fourth save of the season at Triple-A Oklahoma on Friday. |
Our View: Francisco could be helping the Rangers right now, but instead he is mowing down Triple-A hitters. He has not allowed a run this season in seven appearances, and he has an impressive 14/3 K/BB ratio in eight innings. Francisco’s career has not gotten completely back on track since Tommy John surgery and an unfortunate chair throwing incident in Oakland, but he still has the stuff to pitch at the end of games in the majors.
|
|
|
|
| Eric Duncan hit his first two home runs of the season for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday. |
Our View: There’s a blast from the past. The former first-round pick was one of the most highly regarded third base prospects in the game at one time, but he has never hit in the upper minors. He is off to another slow start this season hitting just .235, but he is still only 23-years-old.
|
|
|
|
| Emil Brown went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI against his former Royals mates. Mike Sweeney, also a former Royal, had three hits and two runs scored as well. |
Our View: A great night for these two who for one night showed the Royals that they shouldn't have given up on the duo.
|
|
|
|
| Chris Carter went 5-for-6 with three RBI on Friday for Triple-A Pawtucket. |
Our View: Carter, a former first base prospect with the Diamondbacks, is making a switch to left field. He has been a hitting and on-base machine at every minor league level, but there have always been questions about his defense. He is hitting .344 this season and hit .316-19-88 last season between Double-A and Triple-A, so someone will probably find a spot for him to play, even if the Red Sox don’t have room.
|
|
|
|
| Bobby Crosby continued his healthy start to the 2008 season as he went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and five RBI for the A's. |
Our View: All Crosby needs to do to be productive is to stay healthy, but that has been something he has been unable to do since 2004, the last time he suited up in more than 96 games.
|
|
|
|
| Richie Sexson had his best game of the season on Friday night with two hits, two runs and four RBI for the Mariners. Both hits were home runs. |
Our View: Sexson is still struggling along at .237, but this outing doubled his home run total to four and pushed his RBI mark up to 13.
|
|
|
|
| Matthew Joyce hit his fifth home run of the season at Triple-A on Friday. He is now hitting .298-5-14 this season. |
Our View: Joyce was not a great outfield prospect entering the season, but he is off to a fast start offensively. We probably should not hope for too much considering that he hit only .257-17-70 at Double-A last season, but his early performance should make the Tigers feel better about their depth.
|
|
|
|
| Torii Hunter battled through some minor stiffness he picked up in a pregame car accident as he had three hits and three RBI for the Angels. |
Our View: Hunter has been everything that the Angels could have hoped for in the early going with a .323 average and 11 RBI to help to solidify the middle of the batting order behind Vlad Guerrero.
|
|
|
|
| Despite his early season struggles with health and performance, Francisco Rodriguez still picked up his seventh save on Friday night for the Angels. |
Our View: K-Rod allowed one hit in his lone inning as he needed 14 pitches to pick up three outs.
|
|
|
|
| Fernando Perez went 3-for-5 and was just a home run away from hitting for the cycle on Friday for Triple-A Durham. He also added his fifth steal of the season. |
Our View: Perez has plenty of major league potential, but he is raw in several areas offensively. He struck out 104 times in 393 at-bats last season and had a poor 64 percent stolen base success rate at Double-A (32-for-50). Still, the Columbia University alum has shown the on-base skills and athleticism to be an interesting player at the highest level.
|
|
|
|
| Justin Morneau went 0-for-3 on Friday night to drop his average to .241 for the Twins. |
Our View: Morneau does have four home runs and 13 RBI, but his average has been on the wane dating back to last seaso =n as he is hitting just .242 over his last 326 AB.
|
|
|
|
| Francisco Liriano was a little bit better in his second start, but he still allowed four hits and five BB in just five innings to fall to 0-2. Liriano allowed three runs on the night as well. |
Our View: Liriano is having trouble throwing strikes and controlling the strike zone, and until his control returns he will be nothing more than an average major league hurler. The control should return, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon, so continue to be careful with him.
|
|
|
|
| Cliff Lee continued his dominating start to the season with eight innings of two hit ball to pick up his third victory of the season against zero defeats. Lee has allowed a total of one earned run in 22.2 innings, a 0.40 ERA, and he has 20 K and just two BB on the season. |
Our View: Wow. Let us say that again. Wow. Lee simply cannot keep up this pace, but with the way he is pitching now he has already marked himself as the best waiver-wire pick up in the AL in the early going.
|
|
|
|
| Jim Thome hit the 511 HR of his career on Friday night as he plated three RBI in the White Sox win over the Rays. |
Our View: Thome has two HR and six RBI in his last three games as he seems to have found his home run stroke. Another season of 30-HR seems likely for the ageless slugger.
|
|
|
|
| B.J. Upton had two hits and a run scored on Friday night for the Rays from the third spot in the lineup. |
Our View: Upton has an entirely too high 15 K on the season, but he also has 10 BB which helps to offset the swings and misses.
|
|
|
|
| Jeff Niemann wasn't able to match his strong first start as he allowed eight runs, five earned, in just 3.1 innings on Friday night to pick up the loss. |
Our View: Neimann is nothing more than an AL Only starter at this point, and even that is a questionable play given that he has allowed three home runs and 11 hits in just 9.1 innings so far.
|
|
|
|
| Javier Vazquez won his third straight start on Friday night to improve to 3-1 thanks to allowing only two runs over 6.1 innings. Vazquez allowed six hits and one walk on the night. |
Our View: Vazquez got some publicity after his solid season last year, but he still doesn't get all the love he should as a consistent strike out producing, WHIP lowering starter.
|
|
|
|
| Edgar Renteria hit his second home run of the season on Friday night as he had two hits, three RBI and a run scored for the Tigers. |
Our View: With this outing Renteria's batting average inched over .300, and his 12 RBI are a solid total for a hitter in the bottom third of the order.
|
|
|
|
| Miguel Cabrera had two hits, an RBI, a run scored and his first steal of the season on Friday night for the Tigers. |
Our View: Cabrera is rounding nicely into form as he now has 12 RBI and a .283 batting average after struggling a bit in the early going. No shock there, he is one of the best hitters in the game.
|
|
|
|
| Rod Barajas hit his first home run of the season on Friday night as his average improved to .316. |
Our View: Greg Zahn still appears to be in line for the majority of work behind the plate, but if he continues to hit near his current .239 mark, Barajas could find himself with a few more AB moving forward.
|
|
|
|
| Jeremy Accardo had another rough outing on Friday night as he picked up his second blown save and third loss after allowing three runs, two earned, to the Tigers. |
Our View: Accardo now sports a 10.29 ERA through eight appearances, and he has to be considered a dubious option to be called on to pick up a save when B.J. Ryan is not available. For those of you looking to vulture saves, you might want to keep the name of Scott Downs in mind.
|
|
|
|
| Kenny Rogers won his first game since last July as he worked 6.2 innings and limited the Blue Jays to four runs on three hits and four walks. |
Our View: Rogers just needs to keep the game close to allow the Tigers time to mount some offense, but his ratio's are going to be borderline 'hide the children' territory, so you are really going to have to pay for those victories.
|
|
|
|
| David Ortiz hit a grand slam on Friday night as he drove in five runs in the Red Sox 11-3 victory over the Rangers. |
Our View: Ortiz is still hitting only .134, but he now has nine RBI on the year. The hits will come, just continue to have patience with Ortiz.
|
|
|
|
| Luis Mendoza had another rough outing in his second start as he permitted the Red Sox to score seven runs in just three innings as he picked up his second loss of the year. |
Our View: The youngster certainly has stuff, but he has allowed 19 base runners in just eight innings, and there is no way anyone can be successful with numbers like that.
|
|
|
|
| Daisuke Matsuzaka moved to 4-0 on the season thanks to allowing the Rangers to score only three runs in 5.1 innings. Dice-K only struck out four batters but he also allowed only two BB and five hits on the night. |
Our View: Dice-K continues to do just enough to pick up the win each time out, even if he continues to allow a few more base runners than is ideal. He could easily improve upon last years 15 wins with that offense.
|
|
|
|
| Jacoby Ellsbury is only hitting .229 on the year, but he continues to play while Coco Crisp is sidelined with a leg injury, and he scored three times thanks to a hit and three walks on Friday. |
Our View: Ellsbury needs to hit better than .229 if he hopes to garner 400+ AB this season, but perhaps this night will be the start of good things as he now has 11 BB and only four K on the season.
|
|
|
|
| Ian Kinsler had a hit and an RBI on Friday night but he also swiped his sixth base on the young season for the Rangers. |
Our View: Kinsler went 10/10 as a rookie and upped that to 20/20 last year, and though he has failed to go deep yet, he appears on his way to possibly swiping 30 bases this season.
|
|
|
|
| Milton Bradley went 1-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games for the Rangers. Bradley also scored his seventh run in the game. |
Our View: Bradley is hitting a very empty .352 on the year with only four RBI and no HR through 54 AB, but he has been on the field and hitting, so consider yourself lucky if you drafted the oft-injured Bradley.
|
|
|
|
| Hank Blalock had two hits, including his third home run, and two RBI on Friday night for the Rangers. |
Our View: So much for Blalock needing a trip to the DL. He will continue to be an injury concern until he proves he can stay healthy for 140+ games, but Blalock is off to a solid start to the season.
|
|
|
|
| Mark Teixeira went 1-for-5 with a run scored on Friday night be he is still limping along with a .203 average and just seven RBI through 16 games. |
Our View: Tex has always been known as a slow starter, but this is ridiculous. Mark is hitting under .150 against left-handed pitching this season, and that is one of the main culprits for his terrible start.
|
|
|
|
| Robinson Cano went 1-for-4 on Friday as he continues to be mired in a miserable start to the 2008 season. |
Our View: Cano is hitting only .171 through 70 AB in an extremely sluggish start to the season. The guy has one of the sweetest swings in the game and owns a career .312 batting average, so pity the pitchers he will face when he gets his groove back.
|
|
|
|
| Nick Markakis had two more hits on Friday night to up his average to .328 from the third hole in the Orioles lineup. |
Our View: Even with all that hitting, Markakis has just eight RBI through 17 games as there just haven't been that many hitters on base when teams have chosen to pitch to Nick.
|
|
|
|
| Luke Scott picked up his 8th RBI of the season thanks to two hits on Friday night. Scott also scored two runs and his average now sits at .389. |
Our View: Scott continues to be everything the Orioles hoped for as he has been hitting and getting on base at almost 50% of the time.
|
|
|
|
| Phil Hughes allowed only one run his first five innings on Friday, but the Orioles exploded for four runs against him in the sixth inning to send him to his third loss of the year. Hughes permitted eight hits and two walks on the night while picking up only one K. |
Our View: As is the case with young hurlers, things can go from great to poor very quickly. Hughes doesn't appear to be in danger of losing his starting spot quite yet, but no one in pinstripes can be very happy with a 8.82 ERA after four starts.
|
|
|
|
| Daniel Cabrera was on his game on Friday night as he permitted just two runs in six innings to pick up his first win of the year against the Yankees. Cabrera allowed five hits and only two BB on the night. |
Our View: When Cabrera throws the ball in the strike zone and trusts his stuff, outings like this one are common place. Unfortunately, the norm is nothing like this and more often than not he pounds the backstop with his pitches.
|
|
|
|
| Scott Kazmir made his rehab start on Friday and reported that his arm felt well after the game, this according to the AP. “I got all my pitches in, worked on all my pitches, and it felt good for the most part,” said Kazmir. |
Our View: Kazmir threw 30 of his 47 pitches for strikes and allowed only one run over the three inning outing. Unless he suffers another setback, Kazmir is in line to make his first start on May 3rd.
|
|
|
|
| Torii Hunter was involved in a car accident on Friday night when he was rear ended, this according to the AP. The good new is that he is no worse for the wear. “My Bentley!” Hunter said. “I tried to treat myself a couple of weeks ago, and look what happened. I think somebody was trying to tell me something—that car’s not that important.” |
Our View: Hunter said he had a little stiffness in his neck and back, but he said it was the same way he feels when he crashes into a wall to make one of his highlight reel grabs.
|
|
|
|
| Jorge Posada tested his injured shoulder on Friday but it was determined that he wouldn't start at catcher on Friday and that he may not be back in the lineup on Saturday either, this according to MLB.com. "We'll see," manager Joe Girardi said. "It's day-to-day. I just believe one day he'll say, 'It's back.' But we're not at that day yet." |
Our View: Posada has been limited to DH duties of late, though he does have a 7-game hitting streak going at the moment despite just a .268 batting average.
|
|
|
|
| Michael Young returned to the Rangers lineup on Friday night after missing just one game because of a sore calf muscle, this according to MLB.com. "I feel great," Young said. "I think yesterday I could have played, pretty sure I could have gone..." |
Our View: Young is off to another one of his slow starts hitting just .234 in 64 AB, but the perennial 200-hit shortstop still has plenty of time left to rack up the hits.
|
|
|
|
| Hank Blalock returned to the lineup on Friday ending fears that a back injury might force him to the DL, this according to MLB.com. "I woke up this morning and everything felt real good, and I got a lot of treatments, so it loosened up." |
Our View: Blalock is hitting .302 on the year and hopes to prove that his power bat has returned, though concerns about his health have dogged him in the early going.
|
|
|
|
| Lyle Overbay right hand is no longer an injury concern, but he is still being held out of the Jays lineup on Friday night as the team is facing left-hander Kenny Rogers, this according to MLB.com. "He's been scuffling a little bit," manager John Gibbons acknowledged. "He's just pulling off the ball. He's got to stay on it and take it to left-center field. He's coming off it just enough where he's cutting across the ball and it's keeping him from driving the ball." |
Our View: Overbay is hitting a pretty hollow .271 on the year, he has no home runs and only five RBI, but he will need to pick up the production to avoid being relegated to the bench against certain hurlers.
|
|
|
|
| Carlos Pena won't be in the starting lineup on Friday because of his sore hamstring, but he will be available to pinch-hit, this according to MLB.com. "I went over my speed limit and got a ticket," Pena said. "MRI was negative, and I feel fine, you know. I think the only thing is to get rid of the tightness that's left and the soreness." |
Our View: Pena hopes to serve as the DH on Saturday and he appears to have escaped any long-term damage to the hamstring for the moment, so keep him active in weekly leagues unless he suffers a setback.
|
|
|
|
| Placido Polanco, out of the lineup on Thursday to rest a sore left hip flexor, is back in the lineup on Friday night, this according to MLB.com. Though he will play tonight, the plan is for Polanco to be out of the lineup on Saturday to avoid allowing the condition to linger. |
Our View: After hitting .408 in the spring Polanco has slumped to just .154 in 52 regular season at-bats, so the team hopes that some rest in the short-term will allow his body to heal so that he can return to the .300 hitter that he is.
|
|
|
|
| Mike Sweeney will face his former team the Royals this weekend, the squad that he hit .299 for while being named to five all-star teams, this according to MLB.com. "It's probably going to be a little more emotional for Sweeney when we travel to Kansas City," manager Bob Geren said. "But there's a whole lot of guys who play against their former team nowadays." |
Our View: Sweeney could see a continuation of his early season workload as the A's just lost Dan Johnson to the Rays. Sweeney, hitting .275 with three RBI in 51 AB, still can swing the bat giving him value in AL Only leagues.
|
|
|
|
| Jason Bay had two hits, scored a run, and stole his second base of the season on Friday. |
Our View: Though he is only hitting .278 on the young season, he has done a very good job controlling the strike zone this season with 13 BB and 13 K, this after a 59/141 split last season. If he continues to work the count, the production should follow.
|
|
|
|
| Alex Cora had an MRI on his ailing right elbow and the results were positive in that there was nothing "alarming" in them, this according to the Providence Journal. |
Our View: Cora, on the DL with the elbow injury, still doesn't know when he will be able to resume throwing, but at least surgery appears to have been ruled out.
|
|
|
|
| Coco Crisp and his injured hamstring will be on the bench for at least one more night, this according to the Providence Journal. |
Our View: Jacoby Ellsbury will start in Crisp's place once again and will look to inject his youthful exuberance into the lineup.
|
|
|
|
| Felix Doubront threw 5.2 scoreless innings on Thursday, allowing five hits, no walks and fanning eight to improve his record to 3-0 at Low-A. The southpaw has a 17/1 K/BB ratio in 15.2 innings to go along with a 0.57 ERA. |
Our View: Doubront was terrible last season with an ERA above 7.00 in 19 starts at Low-A, so his performance this season is both surprising and encouraging.
|
|
|
|
| Jed Lowrie will start at shortstop on Friday night, the Providence Journal reports. Managers Terry Francona explains that it is "a good time to get him in there." |
Our View: There's a pretty good chance that Lowrie has faced Rangers hurler Luis Mendoza in the minors, while usual starter Julio Lugo has not. We're not reading too much into this, yet.
|
|
|
|
| Ben Broussard will be back at first base on Friday night, the Providence Journal reports. Jason Botts started in his place the previous two games. |
Our View: We don't much like the matchup of Broussard and his .200 average against Daisuke Matsuzaka.
|
|
|
|
| Bartolo Colon made 25 throws while playing catch on Thursday and will perform a similar routine on Friday. He felt no ill-effects in his strained oblique after the first session, the Providence Journal reports. |
Our View: Playing catch is nice, but it's not long toss and it's not throwing off the mound. We don't have a timetable for Colon's return to Triple-A action.
|
|
|
|
| John McDonald is listed as the starter at shortstop for Friday's game against the Tigers, the Globe and Mail reports. David Eckstein has started 15 of the 16 games this year, and McDonald previously replaced him on April 6. |
Our View: We have no reason to believe this change is injury-related. Eckstein is likely just getting a night off.
|
|
|
|
| The Tampa Tribune confirms that Carlos Pena will not need to go on the DL after injuring his right hamstring on Thursday night. |
Our View: We don't know how long Pena will be out, but we imagine there's an excellent chance he'll miss at least Friday's game. Eric Hinske could get the start at first base.
|
|
|
|
| The White Sox activated Jerry Owens from the 15-day DL on Friday, but the speedy outfielder will stay at Triple-A Charlotte, the Chicago Tribune reports. Owens had been out due to a tear in his right adductor muscle. |
Our View: Fantasy owners who've been holding onto Owens feared this day would be coming. Nick Swisher and Carlos Quentin have locked down the two outfield spots alongside Jermaine Dye, and the Sox are fine with Brian Anderson and Alexei Ramirez as backups. Owens will come up if an injury occurs, but he could be stuck in the minors for a while.
|
|
|
|
| Joba Chamberlain's father is off the respirator and continues to make positive progress, the AP reports. "After several difficult days, my father is feeling much better," Chamberlain says in a statement. "He is still in the critical care unit of the hospital and more tests await him, but he is off the ventilator and breathing on his own. Each day he’s acting more and more like himself." The reliever remains away from the team indefinitely. |
Our View: We're not going to speculate on when Joba can return because it's really not important compared to what else is going on in the reliever's life.
|
|
|
|
| The Rays claimed Dan Johnson off waivers on Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. |
Our View: Maybe this was actually the "major" news the Rays were advertising for this afternoon! Johnson can DH and play first base, and he'll likely have to battle Eric Hinske for playing time.
|
|
|
|
| Eric Patterson is listed as the starter at second base for Friday's game against the Pirates. He was called up after the injury to Alfonso Soriano. Mike Fontenot started at second base the previous two games. |
Our View: Just an FYI for fantasy owners with daily lineup changes. Patterson has good speed and can hit a little bit, but we don't expect him to stick around and play regularly.
|
|
|
|
| Updating an earlier report, Evan Longoria's new contract is worth a guaranteed $17.5 million. If all his options are exercised, the deal could keep him with the Rays through 2016 and be worth $44 million, the Tampa Tribune reports. "The fans of Tampa Bay should be excited to know that Evan will be in a Rays uniform for at least the next nine seasons," executive vice president Andrew Friedman explains in a news release. |
Our View: The agents for Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, Scott Kazmir, and James Shields will be calling you shortly, Mr. Friedman.
|
|
|
|
| The Rays have reportedly signed Evan Longoria to a six-year, $17 million contract extension, FOXSports.com reports. The team has a "major" announcement lined up for 1:00 pm EST on Friday. The contract includes escalator clauses and option scenarios. |
Our View: Wait. Let's see if we have this right. The Rays sent Longoria to the minors in order to save money and keep him under control longer, and then they turned around and handed him this contract. Are we missing something here?
|
|
|
|
| Jason Giambi continues to struggle against anyone not named Mike Timlin. The first baseman went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts on Thursday and is batting .125. Two of his five hits and both of his homers this year have come off of Timlin. "I think his at-bats have been pretty good," manager Joe Girardi tells the New York Post. "Like I've said all along, he's run into bad luck. He's hit some balls hard. I really don't have any concerns with him. I think he's going to be really productive." |
Our View: We don't share Giradi's optimism. Giambi has been awful for nearly a full calendar year.
|
|
|
|
| Jorge Posada remains stuck at DH, but he could be back behind the plate on Saturday. "We are pushing for Saturday [in Baltimore]. Ask me about it Saturday," he tells the New York Post. Posada hasn't started at catcher since April 8 due to a sore right shoulder. |
Our View: Posada owns a seven-game hitting streak, so we're all for keeping him at DH.
|
|
|
|
| Placido Polanco received a night off on Thursday to rest his sore back. He is expected to start on Friday and sit again on Saturday, the Detroit Free Press notes. Ramon Santiago started at second on Thursday. |
Our View: Polanco's back continues to be a pain for fantasy owners, too. He is hitting .154, and we suggest benching him if you haven't already. We need to see him play and hit more often.
|
|
|
|
| Mike Lowell is apparently headed in the right direction as he recovers from a sprained left thumb, but he is not expected to be ready by April 25, the Boston Globe reports. |
Our View: With Lowell out, Sean Casey has become a near-regular in the lineup. AL-only fantasy players can safely use Casey until we have more news about Lowell's potential return.
|
|
|
|
| Francisco Cruceta has begun working in extended spring training games, the Detroit Free Press reports. The reliever missed spring training due to visa issues. |
Our View: Cruceta has the stuff to help the Tigers struggling bullpen, but we're not sure how long it will take him to be ready. He's only been in the U.S. for about a week.
|
|
|
|
| Freddie Bynum (knee) has been playing in extended spring training games over the last four days, the Baltimore Sun reveals. |
Our View: The utility man is working his way back from right knee surgery, and we're guessing he's within a week to 10 days from returning.
|
|
|
|
| Dontrelle Willis has begun playing catch, his first step back from a hyperextended right knee. He says the strength is back in the joint and he has no soreness. "So far, so good," Willis tells MLB.com. "You don't want to start doing stuff where you might change something and put more strain on your arm." The Tigers will likely send Willis on a minor league rehab stint before pulling him off the DL. |
Our View: We're hoping D-Train accepts the rehab stint, as it would give us a good idea of his return date and if he has curbed his awful control issues. We'll continue to follow his progress.
|
|
|
|
| The Blue Jays confirmed that David Purcey will start in place of A.J. Burnett on Friday night against the Tigers. Burnett has been pushed back to Sunday because he was used in relief on Wednesday night, the Toronto Star reports. |
Our View: Purcey has shaken off a couple rough minor league seasons and looked great at Triple-A thus far. This should only be a one-start audition, though.
|
|
|
|
| Brandon McCarthy has been cleared to step up his throwing program and could be on a mound in a little over a week, the | |
