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| Jordan Zimmerman lowered his ERA to 0.61 at High-A Potomac after throwing five scoreless innings on Friday. He allowed three hits, two walks and struck out six. |
Our View: Control has been an issue for Zimmerman, but the 2007 second-round pick is continuing where he left off during his pro debut at Low-A last season. The University of Wisconsin Stevens Point product is emerging as a solid pitching prospect for the Nationals.
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| James Boone went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs for Double-A Altoona on Friday. |
Our View: Boone is by no means an elite prospect, but the Mizzou alum is hitting .333-4-7 this season with 11 walks. He struggled with injuries last season but ended up hitting .281-10-51 with eight steals in fewer than 300 at-bats between Low-A and High-A. He still shows some potential as a fourth outfielder.
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| Chad Gaudin hurled a gem on Friday night as he walked one, with eight K, on his way to holding the Royals to just one run in seven innings to pick up his first victory of the season. |
Our View: Gaudin looked superb against the Royals all evening as he turned around what had been a rough start to his season.
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| Cardinals 2007 first-round draft choice Pete Kozma went 2-for-5 with his first home run for Low-A Quad Cities on Friday. He is hitting .327-1-5 this season. |
Our View: Kozma is off to a nice start. He seems to have very good offensive potential if he sticks at shortstop, though he played at third base on Friday. It will be a while before we hear about the 20-year-old in the major league conversation, though.
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| Jason Bergmann allowed four runs on six hits in three innings to earn the loss in his first Triple-A start since being demoted from Washington. |
Our View: He struggled against a decent Durham lineup, but this is still a bad sign. The Nationals had reason to demote him, and it does not look like he will be making his way back anytime soon.
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| For the first time in four outings Dan Haren pitched more than six innings, he went seven tonight, and he held the Padres scoreless on just three hits and a walk to pick up his third victory of the season. |
Our View: Haren continues his dominating start to the season with a 1.80 ERA through 25 innings during which time he has permitted only 18 hits and four walks.
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| Greg Maddux was torched on Friday after three great outings as he allowed 13 hits and nine runs in seven innings against the Diamondbacks. |
Our View: Maddux will have outings like this from time to time when his pitches bite off too much of the strikezone, but he actually pitched quite well after allowing six runs in the first inning.
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| Conor Jackson tied his career-high with four hits on Friday including his third home run of the season for the D'backs. Jackson also scored three times with four RBI on the night. |
Our View: Conor is off to a tremendous start to the campaign hitting .364-3-17 in just 14 games for Arizona. Perhaps those pundits who predicted a breakout this season knew what they were talking about.
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| Fred Lewis stole his first base of the season and had a hit and RBI for the Giants in their loss to the Cardinals. |
Our View: Lewis is a lower tier mixed league option in the outfield, but if the Giants continue to run him out there every day in the leadoff role, his value could grow.
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| Chris Duncan was 2-for-3 with three runs scored, two RBI and two walks on Friday night. |
Our View: Duncan continues to thrive in the number two spot in the Cardinals order, and as long as he continues to hit in front of Albert Pujols, that figures to continue.
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| Albert Pujols hit a 3-run home run on Friday on his way to four RBI for the Cardinals. |
Our View: Pujols just keeps on hitting in the early going as he is batting .375-4-14 through 17 games.
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| Todd Wellemeyer continues to make Dave Duncan look like a genius as he held the Giants to just one run over seven innings to pick up win number two on the season. |
Our View: Sure this was the Giants he defeated, but still, he looked solid once again as he allowed just four hits and one walk while striking out six.
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| Matt Cain was torched by the Cardinals a week after he held them hitless for six innings as he gave up a career worst nine runs in just 3.2 innings on the night. Cain permitted two home runs amongst the eight hits he allowed and he also walked three batters in his second loss of the season. |
Our View: Cain just didn't have it tonight as he threw plenty of fastballs in the 86-89 mph range. It's been a rough start to the season as he has 19 K and 15 BB in the early going.
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| Chris Sampson was hammered on Friday for six runs on six hits and two walks to pick up his second loss. |
Our View: So much for his solid start to the season. Sampson is an average pitcher who doesn't put away enough hitters, so he should only be active when the matchup is right.
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| Hunter Pence, mired in a brutal start to the season which saw him enter the night hitting .161, went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI on Friday. |
Our View: Pence has been a shadow of his fantasy relevant self of last season, but we are still talking about just a couple of weeks here so give him some time to hit his way out of it.
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| Looking to find his stroke after a brutal start to the season, Troy Tulowitzki had two hits, two runs and three RBI on Friday. |
Our View: Even after all of that Tulo is still hitting just .185 with six RBI through 15 games, but Rome wasn't built in a day so he has to start somewhere.
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| Garrett Atkins had a big night on Friday as he went 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored for the Rockies. |
Our View: One of those hits was a home run, and Atkins now has a more Atkins like line after a rough start to the season (.313-2-10).
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| Casey Blake hit his first home run of the season on Friday as he had two hits, scored a run, and knocked in three in the Indians victory over the Twins. |
Our View: Blake needed this outing really badly as he entered the game hitting just .152. Look for him to use this as a spring board to some more productive AB.
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| Derek Lowe allowed 12 baserunners, eight hits and four BB, in just 4.1 innings on Friday night as he picked up his first loss of the year. Lower was beaten for five runs, three earned, on the night. |
Our View: Lowe periodically has outings like this when the balls don't find the fielders, but even with this outing his ERA still sits at 2.59 through four starts.
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| Russell Martin fell to .196 on the year thanks to an 0-for-3 outing on Friday night in which he was also thrown out on the bases. |
Our View: Martin also limped home to end last season and now has just three HR with eight RBI while hitting just .234 over his last 40 games. Its' not time to panic, but it's certainly time to be concerned.
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| Juan Pierre didn't start on Friday night, but he entered the game late, went 1-for-1 with an RBI, and stole his third base of the season. |
Our View: Pierre is now hitting .303 overall thanks to a nine hits in his last 18 AB. With Andruw Jones hitting .167, things continue to be interesting in the Dodgers outfield.
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| Chipper Jones hit two home runs for the second straight game and knocked in four runs for the Braves on Friday night. |
Our View: Jones is unconscious right now hitting .455 with six HR and 18 RBI in 16 games, and he is once again proving why talk of the HOF is 100% accurate.
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| Hanley Ramirez had a hit and scored two runs for the Marlins on Friday, but it was the two SB he picked up that caught everyone's attention. |
Our View: Ramirez doubled his SB output tonight, though he has still attempted only four steals in 16 games. He will need to run a lot more than this to have any shot at a third straight 50-SB season.
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| Jeremy Hermida had two hits on Friday night with a run scored and two RBI for the Marlins. |
Our View: This was nice to see after Hermida was 0-for-7 the past two nights. Hermida figures to be a solid source of production in the counting categories if he can stay on the field long enough to accrue the AB.
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| Andrew Miller had his best outing of the season as he held the Nationals to only three runs in five innings. Miller picked up the no-decision as he allowed six hits and two walks while picking up three K. |
Our View: Better, but still a long ways from great. This start should at least quiet talk that Miller will be sent to the minors, but he continues to be on the edge of being a recommended play even in NL Only leagues.
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| Felipe Lopez had three hits, scored two runs, and stole his third base of the season on Friday for the Nationals. |
Our View: Lopez will also start on Saturday for the Nats, and if he continues to cause havoc at the plate and on the bases, one would figure that he would continue to find his way into the lineup on a very consistent basis.
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| Tim Redding struck out 10 batters on Friday night to help him earn his third victory of the season. Redding allowed only three hits and one walk on the night, though he still permitted the Marlins to score four runs in his six innings on the hill. |
Our View: Redding entered the game with only seven K and eight BB in 16 innings, so tonight was quite the change. Redding has vaulted himself to being a solid starter in NL Only leagues, but he should still be nothing more than a spot starter in mixed leagues.
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| Nick Johnson had a big night on Friday as he drove in four runs thanks to two hits against the Marlins. |
Our View: Johnson is only hitting .275 so far this year, but the best news is that he is healthy and has already played in 17 games on the year. With Dimitri Young still dealing with health issues, look for Johnson to continue to pile up the AB.
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| Bill Hall went deep for the sixth time on Friday night as he also knocked in his 12th and 13th runs of the season. |
Our View: Hall still is hitting a poor .210, and he picked up two more K tonight giving him 20 in 16 games, so until he puts the bat on the ball with more frequency his average figures to be below par.
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| Brandon Phillips came back from his day off on Thursday to pick up two hits and a run scored on Friday night. He was also thrown out for the second time on the bases trying to steal. |
Our View: Phillips has only one home run and five RBI through 16 games so he has a long road to travel to justify the faith of those who chose him in the top-25 picks this season.
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| Bronson Arroyo had another rough outing on Friday as he fell to 0-2 thanks to allowing five runs, four earned, in 5.2 innings. |
Our View: Arroyo allowed eight hits and three walks on the night, and he has now allowed a scary high 27 hits in just 21.1 innings on the season. Face it, he is nothing more than a slightly above average hurler at this point.
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| Eric Gagne came in to pick up his fifth save of the season on Friday night for the Brewers. Gagne allowed a hit, but he also picked up both outs on strike outs. |
Our View: Gagne may not always get it done the way you are used to, but he continues to be just good enough on most days to get the job done. He has nine K and only two BB on the year which seems to signal that his stuff is still good enough to be successful if he can stay healthy.
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| Ryan Howard continued his awful start to the season by going 0-for-4 to lower his season average to .197 on Friday night. |
Our View: Howard was hitting .222 after 35 games last season but still managed to hit .268 on the year. Howard does have four home runs this year, but he needs to do more than pop the odd long ball to produce as he should.
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| Chase Utley hit his fifth home run of the season and pushed across his 12th run with the long ball on Friday night. |
Our View: Utley continues to be extremely productive even though a few of his mates continue to struggle with putting up big numbers on offense.
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| Ryan Church had two hits and three runs scored on Friday night against the Phillies. |
Our View: Church seems to have found a home in the second spot in the order as he is 6-for-18, .333, since moving into that spot in the order.
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| David Wright went 4-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI to up his season average to .333. |
Our View: So much for the slow start. Wright now has 17 RBI through 15 games including 10 in his last six starts. A top-10 fantasy season seems in the cards, baring injury, for the Mets third sacker.
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| Cole Hamels fell to 2-2 on the season as he allowed five runs, four earned, on Friday night. Hamels stuck out only four Mets on the night as he allowed eight hits and three BB. |
Our View: Hamels owns a 1.86 ERA through four starts for the Phillies, but he just didn't have his best stuff tonight.
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| Johan Santana was on his game on Friday night as he struck out 10 Phillies on his way to picking up his second victory of the season. Santana didn't walk a single batter and permitted just four hits and three runs on the night. |
Our View: Santana out-dueled Cole Hamels in a battle of top-flight LHP's. Santana now has 28 K in 27.2 innings with just four BB on the year as he is starting to establish himself in the orange and blue.
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| Tom Glavine was placed on the DL for the first time in his 22-year career on Friday due to his injured hamstring, this according to the AP. |
Our View: Glavine doesn't figure to be in for a long DL stint, this move is retroactive to April 14th, so a return should come by the end of the month. Still, one has to worry about Glavine's effectiveness moving forward even if his leg is healthy.
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| Ben Sheets was removed from his start on Friday after five innings due to tightness in his right triceps, this according to the AP. |
Our View: Sheets threw 60 pitches and allowed just two singles in five innings, but this is decidedly bad news for a guy who has long been hampered by injuries. If he needs a trip to the DL, the Brewers could simply activate Yovani Gallardo to take his spot.
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| Felipe Lopez may not be a starter with the Nationals anymore, but he continues to pick up at-bats thanks to a positive attitude and an ability to play multiple positions, this according to MLB.com. "We're struggling offensively and he's one of those guys who could get involved and maybe make things happen for us," manager Manny Acta said. |
Our View: Lopez is starting at second base on Friday, and will play shortstop on Saturday. Too bad he is hitting just .194 in the early going, but his versatility still gives him value in NL Only leagues.
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| Jose Reyes took a shot to the head from the knee of Phillies shortstop Eric Bruntlett in the third inning on Friday night during a SB attempt, but he was able to remain in the game after a long pause, this according to the NY Post. |
Our View: Reyes was able to stay in and he eventually scored later in the inning. Stay tuned for further updates.
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| Kazuo Matsui (anal fissure) will make his debut with the Astros on Friday night, this according to the Houston Chronicle. In order to make room on the roster the team designated Humberto Quintero for assigment, so they have 10 days to trade him, give him his release of place him on waivers. |
Our View: Matsui will look to provide speed and the ability to get on base on the top of the order to allow the team's big boppers the opportunity to produce a bushel of runs.
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| Hong-Chih Kuo was named the Dodgers starter for next Tuesday night over Esteban Loaiza, this according to MLB.com. Manager Joe Torre said that the team hopes that Kuo can claim the 5th job full-time, because after four arm surgeries the team doesn't know if he could handle pitching out of the bullpen. |
Our View: Loaiza will likely be the long men in the pen until, or if, Kuo is injured again, so for the moment, Kuo holds a slight advantage in the value department in NL Only leagues.
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| Paul Lo Duca felt some pain in his injured hand while hitting off a tee on Friday and as a result his return to the lineup will be delayed, this according to MLB.com. |
Our View: Johnny Estrada will start on Friday a night after Will Nieves played, and the hope is that Lo Duca will be able to go at some point this weekend.
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| Joey Votto appears to have grabbed the full-time starting role at first base for the Reds relegating Scott Hatteberg to backup status, this according to MLB.com. "I want to play but this isn't a surprise," Hatteberg said. "He is the future. I'm excess." |
Our View: Votto, who at one point in camp appeared slated to start the year in the minors, is hitting .351 with eight RBI after a big game last time out (five RBI), and appears well on his way to being, at worst, a strong CI play in NL Only leagues.
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| Yovani Gallardo is just about all the way back from his injured knee, now it's just a matter of the Brewers finding a way to get him back in the starting rotation, this according to MLB.com. It would seem that David Bush is most likely to lose his spot in the rotation, though Manny Parra or Carlos Viallanueva could also be demoted to the pen. |
Our View: Whatever decision is made will likely benefit the Brewers as Gallardo is a special talent. You might want to give him a start or two once he is activated, but if you are desperate for pitching help it also wouldn't be crazy to start him right away.
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| Johnny Cueto has 24 K and just one BB through 19.1 innings over his first three starts in one of the most dominating starts to s career in Reds history, this according to MLB.com. "Cueto is aggressive and that's hard to teach young guys," Reds pitching coach Dick Pole said. "He's not afraid to throw the ball inside to either handed hitter. That's something a lot of young guys don't do or know to do." |
Our View: Cueto will not be able to maintain this tremendous start, given his amazing 24 to 1 K/BB ratio, but if he keeps pounding the strike zone he will likely continue to be a useful starter in mixed leagues.
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| Nate McLouth hit his third home run of the season on Friday to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. |
Our View: McLouth continues to be one of the best hitters in the early going as he is batting .380 with 15 RBI in 16 games on the year. How long will it last?
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| Ian Snell lost his first game of the season on Friday as he allowed three runs in six innings against the Cubs. Snell struck out five while walking one and allowing nine hits on the day. |
Our View: Snell continues to hang around the top-20 starters in the NL, and there appears to be many reasons to believe that a potential breakout could happen this season.
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| Rich Hill looked solid on Friday as he allowed one run over five innings to pick up his first victory of the season. Hill allowed three hits and three walks in the outing while he picked up four K. |
Our View: Hill didn't look great today, but he certainly did enough to keep his rotation spot, one that had been in doubt as recently as a couple of days ago.
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| Kerry Wood pitched a perfect ninth inning on Friday to pick up his fourth save of the season. |
Our View: Wood has nine K in 10 innings, and more importantly he has walked only two batters on the season in what has been a great start to his career as a closer.
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| Carlos Marmol allowed a run in his two inning outing on Friday, but he also picked up his fifth hold thanks to five punchouts on the day. |
Our View: Marmol now has 17 K in 12.1 innings with a 2.19 ERA, and he continues to show the Cubs that he will have no problem stepping into the closers role if anything happens to Kerry Wood.
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| Homer Bailey has had a good couple of outings in the minors, and though Josh Fogg appears on his way out of the Reds rotations, it appears that Matt Belisle, and not Bailey, will be replacing Fogg in the rotation, this according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. "He pitched seven innings the night I saw. He went over 100 pitches. He threw all his pitches, threw them for strikes, got ahead of the hitters," GM Wayne Krivsky said. "He had a good outing." |
Our View: Bailey should still be on everyone's radar, especially those of you in keeper league's, but he still needs to hone his control before he will be ready to contribute at the big league level.
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| Justin Maxwell stole three bases at Double-A on Thursday, giving him seven steals for the season. |
Our View: The former fourth-round pick had 27 homers and 35 steals between Low-A and High-A last season, so he is a legitimate fantasy prospect. There is still some question as to whether Maxwell has the bat to be a regular, but he is hitting .271-2-10 with a 14/9 BB/K ratio this season. So far, so good.
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| Norris Hopper will start in center and bat leadoff on Friday night, the Cincinnati Enquirer notes. |
Our View: That's the second straight game that Hopper will be playing in place of Corey Patterson. We haven't heard of any injury news about Patterson, so Dusty Baker may just being trying something new.
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| So Taguchi will receive his second straight start on Friday, as the Phillies are facing southpaw Johan Santana. Taguchi is replacing Geoff Jenkins in right field and will bat leadoff, the Philadelphia Daily News notes. He started at center on Thursday in place of Jayson Werth. |
Our View: This is nothing more than the simple plan of not having the left-handed Jenkins in the lineup. Taguchi isn't expected to see regular at-bats over the long haul.
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| Updating a previous report, Carlos Beltran tells the New York Daily News that he plans to play on Friday. "I feel a little bit better. It’s not great, but it’s not as bad as it was yesterday," the outfielder says of his stiff neck. |
Our View: You don't have to be able to actually turn and see the pitcher in order to hit, do you? If so, Beltran could struggle against Cole Hamels on Friday.
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| For the second straight game, Corey Hart has moved up to the fifth spot in the lineup, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. Friday's news is more important, though, since Bill Hall is back after a day off. Hall has been shifted down to the sixth spot. |
Our View: The change could make a little bit of difference in Hart and Hall's fantasy values, but we don't need to get carried away about this news. Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun will now have better protection.
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| The Marlins have placed Lee Gardner on the 15-day DL due to right elbow inflammation and called up Doug Waechter, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. |
Our View: Move along. Nothing to see here.
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| Scott Eyre will throw off a mound on Friday and Monday, MLB.com reports. He is coming back from left elbow inflammation and may be able to start a rehab assignment soon. |
Our View: With the way that Sean Marshall is pitching out of the bullpen, the Cubs don't have to rush Eyre back.
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| Troy Glaus admits that his swing is a little off right now, and he worked on his mechanics after being pulled from Thursday's game. "I went to the cage during the game and started hitting. Figure it out, you know. There are some flaws in it right now that we need to fix," he tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "It's just off." |
Our View: We don't expect the veteran to stay in a funk too long. He is prone to streaks, and it's good to hear he's being proactive about figuring things odd.
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| Jimmy Rollins underwent an MRI on Thursday to check out his sprained left ankle. "The MRI results basically confirmed exactly what we were treating him for," assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. tells the Philadelphia Inquirer. "He's got a sprained ankle, and he's healing and he's doing quite well." Rollins is currently away from the team due to the death of his uncle. He will rejoin the team on Saturday and possibly play this weekend. |
Our View: Fantasy owners should keep Rollins out until we have better news about him returning to action.
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| The Brewers still haven't decided if Dave Bush, Manny Parra, or Carlos Villanueva will be out of the rotation after Yovani Gallardo returns on Sunday. "We haven't decided yet," manager Ned Yost tells the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "It kind of changes from day to day, right now. It's tough." |
Our View: We can't imagine the club is keeping all three pitchers in the dark about their plans, but they aren't letting the world know. We'll pass along the info as soon as the Brewers stop being so coy.
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| The Brewers called up reliever Mitch Stetter following Thursday's game against the Cardinals, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. Infielder/outfielder Hernan Iribarren was sent back to Triple-A. |
Our View: The southpaw could only be up for a couple games, as the Brewers plan to activate Yovani Gallardo on Sunday.
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| J.R. Towles made a pinch-hit appearance on Thursday night, his first showing since suffering a bone bruise in his left hand on Sunday. He tells the Houston Chronicle that he felt fine, and the rookie could start on Friday. |
Our View: Fantasy owners with daily lineup moves can feel free to give Towles a look on Friday.
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| The Red Sox are reportedly impressed with Craig Hansen's improvements this season. He has tossed 9.1 scoreless innings at Triple-A and allowed only two hits over 31 at-bats. An official tells the Boston Globe that Hansen has been more assertive, too. The club is likely to wait a little longer before potentially calling him up, though. |
Our View: Hansen got a bit of a bad rap for failing to immediately dominate in the majors after being drafted in 2005. He's still only 24, though, and could be a very good setup man down the road.
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| The Nationals confirmed that Jon Rauch would remain the closer while Chad Cordero works through his issues. Cordero is currently only throwing in the high-70s and low-80s. "Who knows how long that's going to be? Hopefully, it's not very long," he tells the Washington Post. |
Our View: The move for fantasy owners is fairly obvious here. Rauch is only holding the job on a day-to-day situation, but it sounds like Cordero has to prove he's back before he'll work the ninth inning again.
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| Carlos Beltran hopes to play on Friday night, one day after taking muscle-relaxing pills to help with a stiff neck, the New York Daily News reports. |
Our View: Fantasy owners should expect Beltran to return, although he could have a tough night with Cole Hamels on the mound.
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| Josh Johnson threw 65 pitches in a bullpen session on Thursday, the Miami Herald. He underwent Tommy John surgery August 3, 2007 and may be able to return by the end of the season. |
Our View: Johnson has no fantasy value for this season, but it's good to see that his recovery is on track. He is a good, young pitcher who is still worth watching in larger keeper leagues.
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