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| Richie Sexson, who sat out last night due to personal reasons, was ejected on Thursday after charging the mound because of an up and in fastball, according to the Miami Herald. Felix Hernandez hit Ian Kinlser after he hit an earlier home run, and in the bottom of the inning when Keith Gabbard game up and in, Sexson charged the mound, threw his helmet and was the only player ejected. |
Our View: Sexson has had a rough couple of days. Maybe he can channel the turmoil into some production on the ball field cause we all know he could certainly use it.
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| Lance Berkman had two more hits on Thursday night as he continues to hit the ball like few players in recent memory with a run of 23 hits in 48 AB good for a .479 average. |
Our View: Berkman is now hitting .368 with an amazing 36 runs in 34 games as he continues to be one of the five most valuable hitters in the fantasy game over the first fifth of the season.
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| Miguel Tejada had another two hits, along with two runs scored, as he continues to thrive in the third hole in the Astros order where he is batting .359 in 78 AB. |
Our View: Tejada continues to drive the ball and there is every reason to believe last season's down turn in production was merely one of those seasons that most players have at some point. Miggy is back.
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| Michael Bourn stole two bases on Thursday night to give him 15 on the year, though these were his first steals in 11 games as he has been dealing with a strained groin. |
Our View: Bourn is under the Mendoza line at .197, and sooner or later the team is going to realize that having a leadoff hitter with a .275 OBP probably isn't a good idea. Bourn figures to remain in the lineup, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see him dropped to 7th or 8th in the order.
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| John Lannan evened his record at 3-3 by limiting the Astros to one run over six innings. Lannan allowed seven hits and a walk on the evening. |
Our View: Lannan has been a pleasant surprise for the Nats with a 3.40 ERA through eight starts. His K/BB ratio is a poor 1.59, so unless he has more nights like this one where he keep his walks under control, that ERA will shoot up most likely into the high four's or low five's.
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| Nick Markakis produced all the offense the Orioles needed on Thursday night as he hit a 3-run home run in a 4-1 victory over the Royals. |
Our View: Since Markakis also scored twice, he was involved in all the scoring on the night. He has struggled with consistency early on, but there is little reason to think that he won't finish as a top-15 outfielder when all is said and done.
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| Tony Pena Jr. continues to struggle at the plate, though on Thursday night he went 1-for-3 with the Royals lone RBI off of Daniel Cabrera. |
Our View: Pena is approaching 100 AB on the year, so it's not like the team hasn't given him time to work out of his season long slump (.167). Pena's defense remains gold glove caliber, but he simply must hit better to maintain a spot in the lineup.
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| Luke Hochevar made his fourth start of the season on Thursday night and the result was seven innings of five hit ball, though he allowed four runs on the night to fall to 2-2 on the year. |
Our View: Hochevar may or may not stick with the big league club all year, but he has a tremendous amount of potential in the long run as one of the most exciting young arms in the American League.
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| Daniel Cabrera threw a complete game three hitter to improve to 4-0 in his career against the Orioles. Cabrera struck out seven and walked one in his fifth career complete game. |
Our View: Is this the start of the long awaited breakout for one of the most talented arms in the game? This marks six straight quality starts for Cabrera who has allowed two or fewer runs in five of those outings. If he is somehow still on waivers pick him up and take a shot.
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| Troy Percival suffered his first blown save of the season as he blew an eight inning shutout of starter Edwin Jackson on Thursday night as he allowed four hits and three runs in one inning. |
Our View: Percival had been perfect on seven save chances and hadn't allowed a run in his first 11 innings on the year. We are still rooting for Percival, and this is only one game, but keep an eye on things as we have the feeling they could go south rather quickly with Percival.
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| Jesse Litsch had another solid outing on Thursday night as he held the Jays to three runs in seven innings as he allowed zero walks on the night. |
Our View: Litsch continues to give the Jays a chance to win most night he is on the hill, but unfortunately he really isn't of much use in mixed leagues where his lack of strikeouts hampers his value.
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| Edwin Jackson shut out the Blue Jays for eight innings before he was pulled after throwing 112 pitches. Jackson allowed one walk and six hits while picking up three K on the night. He picked up a no-decision thanks to a blown save by Troy Percival. |
Our View: Jackson continues to tempt with his talent, but in his last five starts he has allowed five, six, one, six and zero earned runs making him the standard boom or bust play.
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| Vernon Wells hit his fifth home run of the season in the ninth inning to help force extra innings in a game the Jays ultimately lost to the Rays. |
Our View: Wells is hitting .279 with 24 RBI on the year, but after a quick start he hasn't really been much of a factor. His shoulder appears sound, and given that fact we would think that his production should be on the upswing soon.
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| Dioner Navarro hit a grand slam in the 13th inning to help the Rays to an 8-3 victory over the Jays. Navarro had three hits and two runs on the night. |
Our View: Navarro has been sharing time with Shawn Riggans in the early going but he has now boosted his average to .368 which calls for some more AB don't you think?
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| With Prince Fielder getting the day off, Ryan Braun went 0-for-5 while leaving five runners on base for the Brew Crew. |
Our View: Braun's OBP has now dipped into the .280s, and he just hasn't been able to find his groove as he continues to strike out far too frequently. He will rebound, but don't count on him hitting in the .320s again unless a whole lot changes.
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| Mark Hendrickson needed 109 pitches to get just 13 outs Thursday night, but he allowed only one run to keep his team in the game, though he wasn't involved in the decision. |
Our View: Hendrickson still has great ratios with a 3.56 ERA and 1.25 WHIP, but he is striking out fewer than four batters per nine innings and allowing almost a hit an inning. Don't count on this level of production to continue.
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| Carlos Villanueva lasted five innings on Thursday night, but it was a brutal five innings as he issued two walks, allowed 10 hits and was beaten for seven runs to fall to 1-4 on the year. |
Our View: Boy are the Brewers going to miss Yovani Gallardo. If Villanueva keeps struggling, the team might call up Jeff Weaver, who has looked pretty good in the minors.
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| Matt Treanor hit his first home run of the season on his way to a career-high three RBI on the night. |
Our View: Treanor has two hits in 3-straight games and is really giving the Marlins some production from behind the plate. With Mike Rabelo struggling, Treanor should be in line for a few more starts.
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| Kason Gabbard (back) was activated from the the DL on Thursday as the team optioned A.J. Murray to Triple-A, according to the Associated Press. |
Our View: Gabbard was thrown right into the fire as he started tonight against the Mariners. Gabbard is 1-0 with a 2.18 ERA in four previous starts this season.
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| David Ortiz had two more hits on Thursday night and now has multiple hits in six of his last eight starts to raise his average to .239. |
Our View: That window to acquire Ortiz for below value is about closed, so make one last pitch if you want to add him to your squad before it's too late.
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| Ben Broussard was designated for assignment on Thursday and the team will go with a platoon of Frank Catalanotto and Chris Shelton at first base, according to MLB.com. The Rangers called up Travis Metcalf to take the open roster spot. |
Our View: A fairly shocking move considering the team is on the hook for almost $4 million in salary for Broussard the this season. Catalanotto will see the majority of work in the new split against righties, with Shelton looking to do some damage against left-handers.
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| Curtis Granderson went 0-for-4 on Thursday night and is now 0-for-10 in his last two games. |
Our View: Don't be too alarmed as all hitters struggle from time to time. Granderson already has five home runs, three doubles and a triple on the year, so about the only thing he hasn't done yet is run (he is one for two on steal attempts).
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| Justin Verlander was hit hard yet again on Thursday as he allowed nine hits and five runs over six innings to fall to 1-6 on the year. |
Our View: This is downright disturbing. Everyone keeps saying that Verlander is healthy, but the results say otherwise as he has allowed four or more earned runs in seven of his eight starts. Hopefully you have him reserved until the issues are resolved.
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| Josh Beckett dominated the vaunted Tigers lineup on Thursday night for seven innings as he held them to one run on six hits and no walks. He also punched out eight batters to improve to 4-2. |
Our View: Beckett has allowed more than three earned runs in just one of his last five starts and appears to be in total control of his arsenal once again after battling injury early on.
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| Kevin Youkilis only went 1-for-5 on Thursday but the one hit was a home run, his fifth in the last five games. |
Our View: While others were chasing the big names on draft day, those who were patient and selected Youkilis in the middle rounds are reaping the benefits of his hot start to the season.
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| Mike Jacobs was out of the starting lineup on Thursday night for the Marlins due to a tight left quadriceps, according to MLB.com. "I should be able to pinch-hit, no problem," he said. "If I had to, I could go in. I definitely want to play today, but I think it's better that I don't, just to give it another day. I should be able to play tomorrow, no problem. It should be a lot better tomorrow." |
Our View: Jacobs may be held out through the weekend despite his pronouncement of improvement, so keep an eye on the reports before deciding whether or not to have him active next week.
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| Michael Young was out of the starting lineup on Thursday because of his injured hip flexor, but he hopes to be back in the lineup on Friday, according to the Star Telegram. |
Our View: Ramon Vazquez will fill in tonight, and the good news is that the injury to Young appears to be relatively minor.
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| Four teams showed interest in trading for Derrick Turnbow, but when nothing could be worked out so the team decided to place him on irrevocable waivers with the hope of sending him to the minors, according to MLB.com. "If a team comes to me and says, 'I have interest in Turnbow, but I can't take any money on my payroll,' they're asking me to eat his contract and they'll give me a marginal prospect," GM Doug Melvin said. "My response is that if I have to eat his money, I want a prospect in return who is worth at least $1 million. That's why a lot of these guys don't get claimed." |
Our View: Turnbow still throws heat, the problem is he just doesn't know where it's going right now with 13 BB in 6.1 innings. You can certainly forget about him for now.
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| Scott Kazmir hopes he was able to fix the mechanical issues that have crept into his motion with a recent bullpen session on Wednesday, according to MLB.com. "Everything I was throwing [in the session] was right on point," said Kazmir on Thursday. "I was hitting every one of my spots. The slider was working good, the changeup was working good. More importantly everything was sound. Everything just felt like it was perfect mechanics." |
Our View: At this point the fact that he is healthy is the best sign. Don't look for Kazmir to dominate hitters right away, but also don't be shocked if he does since he possesses some of the filthiest stuff in the game.
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| Freddie Bynum was recalled by the Orioles and he will start at shortstop for the foreseeable future over Luis Hernandez, according to MLB.com. "To be honest with you," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said, "there have been a lot of plays that could've been made and should've been made that weren't made. So we gotta try something different. That's it." |
Our View: The Orioles have gotten abysmal offense from Hernandez and Brian Fahey at shortstop, so the hope is that Bynum can bring a spark with his speed. Jump all over him if he is on waivers in your AL Only league.
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| Dallas Braden was sent to the minors on Thursday in part to clear roster space for the expected return of Keith Foulke and Rich Harden, according to the Associated Press. |
Our View: Braden posted a 3.86 ERA over 9.1 innings with the A's out of the bullpen, but he will be sent back down to the River Cats until another injury, or trade, strikes with the big league club.
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| Jose Guillen injured his arm on Wednesday night and as a result he was not in the starting lineup on Thursday night, according to MLB.com. "It was real bad," Guillen said. "It went from my shoulder straight down my arm, and started tingling in my hand." |
Our View: The injury is commonly referred to as a "stinger." The team hopes to have Guillen back over the weekend, and until he returns to the lineup look for the team to possibly use utility man Alberto Callaspo who stepped in for Guillen on Wednesday night.
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| Carlos Beltran is battling the flu and opposing pitchers as he is hitting under .220, but the team believes things will change for the better soon, according to MLB.com. "If your timing is off, you could have the greatest swing in the world, but you're not going to be consistent," hitting coach Howard Johnson said. "That's kind of where he's at." |
Our View: Beltran has only a couple of long balls in 32 games, one of his worst power droughts of his career. Still, he has 25 BB and 26 K, so he has maintained his ability to work the count despite the poor numbers. He is too good to be this bad, so you might want to explore trading for him.
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| Despite a batting average under .200, Rickie Weeks will continue to remain the Brewers leadoff hitter, according to MLB.com. "We don't have a ton of leadoff-type guys, but we do have some guys with on-base percentages at .360 or better," manager Ned Yost said. "You could move some of those guys up to the top of the lineup. We're not there yet." |
Our View: Weeks is sporting a .320 OBP which isn't too bad considering his poor average, and he has scored 29 runs in 33 games. Perhaps the team might consider Corey Hart in the spot, but Weeks is really better suited to the leadoff role if he can just pick up his hitting a bit.
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| Curt Schilling had another successful throwing session on Thursday as he threw 25 pitches from 60 feet with no pain, according to MLB.com. "Another good step," Schilling said. |
Our View: Schilling will throw again on Saturday, and if he suffers no setbacks he will move back and throw from 75 and then 90 feet the next time out. Schilling is still a long way from returning to the Sox rotation, but the news is very positive so far.
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| Yadier Molina had two hits and an RBI as he continues to ride right along with a .302 batting average. |
Our View: Molina doesn't offer much power or any ability to score runs, but he really appears to have turned the corner in the batting average category marking him as a useful play in NL Only leagues.
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| Ryan Ludwick blasted two solo home runs on Thursday to push his average up to .363. He is nine for his last 13. |
Our View: Ludwick continues to lose some playing time against right-handed pitching but he is hitting over .360 proving he can handle all pitchers. Look for his numbers to regress, but that doesn't mean you should turn away from him in mixed leagues where he will continue to have value.
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| Matt Holliday had four hits that led to three runs scored on Thursday for the Rockies star. |
Our View: Holliday is now working on a 6-game hitting streak which has boosted his average to .324 from .292. He's gonna hit, and put up some huge numbers, so just leave him in your lineup every day and don't give it a second thought.
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| Omar Quintanilla had three hits and two runs for the Rockies batting in the hole while playing second base for the Rockies. |
Our View: With Clint Barmes playing short with the injury to Troy Tulowitzki, the team has been running Quintanilla out there at second base and he is now 10-for-25 since being called up (.400). He has no power, and little speed, but he still would make a great pickup in an NL Only leagues given his recent run of success.
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| Kyle Lohse had a second straight horrid outing as he lasted just four innings giving up eight hits, five walks and seven runs to the Rockies to pick up the loss. |
Our View: Lohse has now allowed 17 runs in his last 10 innings or almost double the nine he allowed in his first 34.1 innings. So much for that breakout season in St. Louis.
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| Jorge De La Rosa evened his record at 1-1 thanks to 5.2 innings of five hit, two run ball in his second start since joining the Rockies. |
Our View: De La Rosa now has nine K and four BB in 9.2 innings with the Rockies with a marked turnaround today after getting bombed last time out (nine runs in four IP). The Rockies are still searching for help in the rotation, but this was a fine outing for De La Rosa who is trying to show the Rockies that he deserves the starting role.
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| Jeff Mathis has a growing reputation as a great receiver, thrower and teammate, according MLB.com. The team is 13-5 with Mathis behind the plate. |
Our View: No matter how good the defense is, he will continue to lose playing time to Mike Napoli given the fact that he is batting .246 with a .266 OBP.
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| With all the injuries to the team's catchers, outfielder Elijah Dukes will be recalled to active duty on Friday, according to the Washington Post. |
Our View: Dukes, on a rehab assignment because of a strained right hamstring, was 5-for-21 (.238) at Triple-A and will bring his potent bat to the Nationals lineup. Given the early struggles of Wily Mo Pena and Austin Kearns, Dukes could end up picking up quite a few AB.
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| Johnny Estrada will be placed on the DL on Friday with ulnar neuritis in his throwing elbow, according to the Washington Post. "I'm done trying to just battle through," Estrada said. "I've got to look out for what's best for me and my career." |
Our View: Jesus Flores will be recalled from Triple-A to take Estrada's roster spot and he will back up Wil Nieves.
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| Paul Lo Duca will be placed on the DL on Friday with a broken bone in his right hand, according to the Washington Post. |
Our View: Johnny Estrada will also be placed on the DL meaning that Wil Nieves will be the team's starting moving forward, perhaps the best thing for the squad given that he has been the best hitter of the trio this year.
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| Just a day after saying that he wouldn't be placed on the DL, John McDonald was placed on the DL on Thursday with a sprained right ankle, according to the Associated Press. “I’m walking on it but I can’t run on it,” he said. “I wrenched it pretty good. The ligaments have got to heal up.” |
Our View: McDonald will be replaced on the roster by Joe Inglett who was promoted from Triple-A Syracuse.
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| Just a day after saying that he wouldn't be placed on the DL, David Eckstein was placed on the DL on Thursday with a strained hip flexor, according to the Associated Press. |
Our View: Are we the only ones who don't trust the Jays at all when it comes to coming clean about injuries? Deplorable that they feel honestly isn't warranted. Marco Scutaro will continue to start at short stop with Jorge Velandia and Joe Inglett to back him up.
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| Joe Borowski reported that his his arm felt great after his first bullpen session on Thursday, according to MLB.com. "A huge difference," he said. "I could see my arm speed, compared with the way it was before, was decidedly better." |
Our View: Borowksi is scheduled to throw four bullpen sessions every other day, then a simulated game, then go out on a short rehab assignment. When healthy, it appears that Borowski will slide back into the closers role with Rafael Bentancourt moving back into his customary setup role.
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| Pat Neshek felt a pop in his elbow on Thursday and had to be removed from the game with a right elbow strain, according to the Associated Press. "I felt something tweak," Neshek said. "It kind of rolled over real quick like a snap. I'll get it checked out [Friday] morning and make sure nothing happened." |
Our View: Uh oh. No further details are yet known, but after dealing with some arm issues toward the end of last season, this certainly could be bad news.
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| Former Indians outfielder Jason Michaels was traded to the Pirates on Thursday for a minor league player to be named later, according to MLB.com. |
Our View: Is this move a precursor to a trade of Jason Bay or Xavier Nady? Michaels could never in three seasons replace either of those players production, but he is a nice depth addition for the club and had no role to play in Cleveland when the team recalled Ben Francisco.
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| Doug Davis had a CT scan on Thursday that showed the his thyroid cancer has not spread and that his surgery was a success, according to MLB.com. "The cancer did not spread and it will not spread from here on out," Davis said. |
Our View: Apparently Davis also hasn't been effected by the lethargy that often hits cancer patients who take the medicine he is on. At this point, it appears that Davis is well on his way to returning to the D'backs rotation in a matter of weeks.
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| In our daily look at the plight of Ryan Howard, today was a good day as he went 1-for-4 with an RBI and only one K. |
Our View: Pretty awful when this qualifies as a good day isn't it?
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| Eric Byrnes went 0-for-5 on Thursday to drop his average to .232 thanks to a hideous run of 5-for-45 (.111). |
Our View: On April 19th he was hitting .314, meaning he has lost .082 points off his batting average in just 16 games. He also has just one RBI over his last 13 games, so do yourself a favor and bench him until he turns things around.
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| Eric Bruntlett stole his third base of the season on Thursday in addition to putting up two hits, a run and an RBI. |
Our View: Jimmy Rollins is just days away from returning to the lineup at which point Bruntlett will be rendered a bench play in NL Only leagues.
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| Mark Reynolds had three hits on Thursday and he stole his fourth base for the D'backs. |
Our View: Reynolds really needed a big day like this at the plate as his average has hit the skids the past week. Despite the obvious power production, Reynolds has also stolen four bases which is a great bonus.
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| Brett Myers needed 101 pitches to get through five innings on Friday as he fell to 2-3 with a loss to the D'backs. Myers allowed seven runs, six earned, on nine hits and three walks. |
Our View: Myers has now allowed 18 runs in his last 24 innings and he really seems to be falling apart. He is still striking out a lot of batters despite losing some speed off his fastball, but the real culprit has been the long ball as he has allowed an astonishing 13 HR through nine starts.
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| Brandon Webb improved to 8-0 with his 13th career complete game against the Phillies. Webb, who became the first NL pitcher to win his first eight starts since Pedro Martinez in 1997, allowed two earned runs with no walks in nine innings. |
Our View: How good is this guy? Others get more publicity, but few can match the sustained level of dominance that Webb has shown the past three plus years. Continue to ride this horse.
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| Nick Swisher went 0-for-4 on Thursday to drop his average to .200 on the season thanks to a 10-for-70 stretch. |
Our View: One word for you - ugly. Swisher has never been a big average hitter, his career mark is .248, but the depths we are seeing here are shocking. However, he is getting on base at almost a .350 clip, so he has still been able to produce in the runs scored category (23).
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| Joe Mauer returned to the lineup after a day off to go 2-for-3 to raise his average up to .346. |
Our View: Mauer hit .347 in 2006 before slumping to .293 last year, so there is certainly a possibility that Mauer will continue to push for the AL batting lead. However, injuries often up to catchers, so it's a bit of a stretch to expect Mauer to maintain his current pace.
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| Michael Cuddyer went 1-for-3 on the day but the big news was that he stole two bases. |
Our View: Cuddyer now has 26 SB in... 635 career games. Today's effort was a total fluke, he has only stolen 11 bases the past two seasons, but it certainly was a nice bonus.
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| Juan Uribe hit s home run, his third of the season, though he is still hitting under his weight at .191. |
Our View: There still hasn't been a decision on what will happen with Uribe but perhaps today's home run will buy him a few more at-bats.
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| Carlos Quentin had two hits, and RBI and stole his third base of the season for the Sox on Thursday. |
Our View: The team announced that Jerry Owens is fully healthy but that they will leave him in the minors with Quentin playing so well, so breathe easy if you had been worrying about it.
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| Jermaine Dye went 2-for-3 on Thursday with a home run, the third straight game he has gone yard. |
Our View: Dye has pushed his average to .275 and he now has six home runs, though he only has knocked in 14 runs. Dye should finish between the two extremes he posted the past two years, making him a solid third outfielder in most leagues.
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| Adrian Gonzalez pushed his average up to .307 on Thursday thanks to three hits in five at bats. |
Our View: Gonzalez, who is now working on a 9-game hitting streak, is on almost the same pace that he was on last year when he hit .282-30-100. Gonzalez isn't a top option at first base, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't fit nicely on that second level of talented game-breaking hitters at the position.
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| Free agent to be Mark Teixeira went 1-for-4 on Thursday with an RBI and a walk, but he is still batting just .254 on the year. |
Our View: Tex may want a $200 million contract this off-season, but unless he starts hitting more like Albert Pujols and less like Lyle Overbay, that contract could remain a pipe dream.
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| Yunel Escobar had two hits and scored three runs for the Braves on Thursday. |
Our View: Escobar is hitting .333 and now owns a .325 batting average in 436 career AB marking him as a terrific middle infield option in mixed leagues.
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| Wilfredo Ledezma made his first start of the season on Thursday and he lasted four innings while giving up one run that was unearned. He allowed two hits and three walks in the game. |
Our View: While Ledezma hasn't been officially named the team's fifth starter, this effort will go a long way to making that a possibility. Ledezma has posted a 1.61 ERA in 22.1 IP this year for the Padres with 21 K.
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| Heath Bell was credited with a blown save on Thursday by allowing a runner put on base by Cla Meredith to score. Still, Bell allowed no earned runs to score and lowered his ERA to 2.29. |
Our View: Bell hasn't come anywhere near close to matching his K/9 total of last year (9.80) with a 5.78 mark this year, but he has still been successful this year and has in fact pitched much better than the team's closer, Trevor Hoffman.
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| Freddy Sanchez went 3-for-5 with two runs scored in Thursday's 5-4 win over the Giants. |
Our View: He has scored seven runs over seven games | |
