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| Jay Rainville dominated Double-A Harrisburg on Monday, allowing only one unearned run on three hits in seven innings. He struck out eight batters. |
Our View: Rainville was a solid pitching prospect coming into this season, but he has been awful to this point with a 7.53 ERA and five losses. The former first-round pick has been exposed due to his lack of swing-and-miss stuff, but he still has plenty of time to rebound at age 22.
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| Nelson Cruz belted two home runs for Triple-A Oklahoma on Monday, giving him 13 homers for the season. |
Our View: Cruz got off to an unbelievable start this season, but he has slowed down recently. Still, his .333-13-35 line with 12 steals is awfully impressive. If and when the Rangers call it quits this season, Cruz could get an opportunity in the majors.
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| Josh Hamilton went deep for the 11th time on Monday night as he was 2-for-6 at the plate for the Rangers. |
Our View: Hamilton amazingly has 50 RBI in just 45 games as he continues to make his off-season acquisition seem like a solid move, even if the team had to give up Edinson Volquez. Hamilton is now hitting .303-30-97 in 135 career games.
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| Joe Mauer had two hits and two RBI on Monday night for the Twins in their 12 inning, 7-6 victory over the Rangers. |
Our View: Mauer is hitting .319 but he astonishingly hasn't hit a single home run in 141 AB. Without any long ball pop he's going to have to get that average back up in the .340's to justify his cost on draft day.
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| Boof Bonser lasted 6.1 innings during which time he allowed four runs, three earned, as he walked none and struck out five in the no-decision. |
Our View: Bonser allowed less than five runs for the first time in four starts on this evening and he has yet to be much more than an innings eater this season.
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| C.J. Wilson blew his second save of the season on Monday night as he allowed one hit, two walks and a run in his lone inning on the hill. |
Our View: With tonight's effort Wilson has allowed seven runs over his last 4.2 innings, and with Eddie Guardado lowering his ERA to 3.97 on this night, one has to think that the leash is getting awfully short with Wilson.
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| A night after being caught on the bases for the first time, Jacoby Ellsbury returned to his stealing ways on Monday by swiping his 17th and 18th stolen base. Ellsbury also had a hit and a run scored. |
Our View: Ellsbury has only eight extra base hits in 41 games showing scant power, but as long as he keep running his value will continue to be amongst the top outfielders in the fantasy game.
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| Jason Varitek hit his fifth home run of the year for the Red Sox as he has every so quietly pushed his season average up to .290. |
Our View: With two hits tonight, Varitek is hitting .360 in May as he has really turned around what was a terribly slow start to the season. It would be a shock to see Varitek maintain this average, but that doesn't mean he is devoid of value in mixed leagues.
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| Luke Hochevar allowed seven runs to the Red Sox on Monday night, and though only four of the runs were earned, Hochevar still picked up his third loss of the year. |
Our View: Hochevar was done in by six walks tonight, but no matter how good your stuff is if you fail to throw strikes, you are in trouble. With 20 BB and 26 K on the year, Hochevar could be in danger of pitching himself out of the rotation.
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| Jon Lester threw the 18th no-hitter in Red Sox history on Monday night as he twirled the gem against the Royals. Lester improved to 3-2 while allowing just two walks along with nine strikeouts. |
Our View: Lester, who has overcome cancer, is on his way to establishing himself as a quality major leaguer. Not that we want to put a damper on his historic night, but it's worth noting that he threw 130 pitches which history tells us is danger territory with young pitchers, so keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't show any ill effects in the next couple of games.
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| Kip Wells had a blood clot removed from his right hand and he is progressing very well in his recovery, according to MLB.com. Wells hopes to be able to return in four to five weeks. This week, I think I can start doing upper body stuff," Wells said on Monday. "Next week, I think I'll start playing catch, depending on how stretched out I need to get." |
Our View: Wells appears intent on returning as a reliever as that will allow him to get back in action sooner than if he has to build up more arm strength. He remains an option for waivers, not your roster, as he hasn't shown an ability to remain healthy and productive in years.
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| Hank Blalock went 2-for-4 in an extended spring training game on Monday, according to the Associated Press. Blalock has been out of action since April 26th due to a partially torn left hamstring. |
Our View: Blalock will spend time playing first base as that appears to be the position he will play once he returns to the Rangers, and if all goes well that could happen by this weekend.
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| Carlos Gomez remained out of the lineup on Monday night due to a sore wrist, though he could play as soon as Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. |
Our View: In the long run a couple of days off might do Gomez some good anyway, so if his wrist injury isn't severe there is no reason to think a couple of days off will hamper his ability to hit the ball on the ground and run really fast.
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| Updating an earlier report, Michael Cuddyer will indeed play center field with Carlos Gomez sidelined with a wrist injury, according to the Associated Press. |
Our View: Cuddyer is a strong all-around athlete who should be able to handle the role on a limited basis with Gomez expected back soon as well as Craig Monroe who is getting a night off to rest his weary body.
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| Donnie Murphy was placed on the DL on Monday with inflammation in his right elbow, according to the Associated Press. The team recalled Dallas Braden to take his roster spot. |
Our View: Murphy, who is hitting only .200 through 55 AB, had played in 5-straight games before Sunday when the pain became too much. By the time he is healthy Eric Chavez could be back rendering Murphy with no roster spot to return to.
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| Joe Borowski (strained triceps) turn in the minors might be brief as the team could recall their closer after just one minor league appearance, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. "I'm hoping at most he'll need [both of those], Monday and Wednesday," manager Eric Wedge said. "Then we can get him back in there after that." |
Our View: Sure the Indians are experiencing some issues with their bullpen, but is rushing Borowski back such a good idea? It's not as if Borowski was lights out anyway considering his 18.00 ERA and 2.75 WHIP over five outings this year.
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| Curtis Granderson started this season well after getting healthy and back out on the diamond, but things have turned south of late, according to MLB.com. Granderson is just 5-for-37 with 14 K and no extra base hits of late. |
Our View: Granderson will certainly snap out of his slump, and given that he missed as much time as he did at the start of the year, it's really not surprising to see him struggle a bit to find his groove. Continue to be patient.
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| With Asdrubal Cabrera hitting a sickly .180, will the Indians finally call up Josh Barfield from the minor leagues? The answer appears to be no for the time being, according to beat writer Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. |
Our View: Barfield could certainly use some work at the plate in regards to his plate discipline, but isn't it a bit odd that when he hit .243 with 14 SB last year he ended up in the minors this year whereas Cabrera is currently performing at a substantially lower level yet he is keeping his job this year?
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| Oneli Perez is switching addresses moving from the White Sox to the Indians on Monday through the waiver process, according to the Associated Press. |
Our View: Perez will be placed on the 40-man roster and sent to Triple-A Buffalo. In 14 appearances this year at Triple-A Charlotte, Perez was 0-1 with a 9.53 ERA, but he does have talent as evidenced by his 6-2 record, 16 save season in Double-A.
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| Hideki Okajima, who hasn't thrown since last Wednesday, was given permission to play catch this afternoon, this according to the Providence Journal. Okajima was shut down after that outing in Baltimore, with the team saying the left-hander has been suffering from soreness in his left wrist.
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Our View: The Japanese import, according to the report, was throwing from about 20 feet, but felt well enough to play catch from 60 or so feet. His status for tonight, and the series against the Royals has yet to be determined.
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| Mike Napoli's power has never been questioned, but his production in April and May far exceed his career peripherals. With two more long bombs on Sunday, Napoli now has 10 on the season. More amazing is his HR Rate of 8.3. |
Our View: On the season the Angels catcher has 23 hits, almost half of those are home runs. This of course explains his .258 average, which in the big picture, isn't horrible. I In 2005, Napoli hit 16 home runs in limited playing time, 268 AB (16.8) and last year he hit 10 in 219 at-bats (21.9) Owners who can put up with his .250 average should keep him around for the long balls, something tough to come by so far in 2008. For those who need boost in average, should consider selling high.
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| What goes up, usually has to come down. Boston's speedy outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury finally struck out. At stealing second base that is. It was the first time the fleet footed outfielder had been caught in his major league career. Ellsbury had stolen 25 straight bases, 16 of them this season, before Milwaukee catcher Jason Kendall made that perfect connection with second baseman Rickie Weeks in the fourth inning yesterday. |
Our View: It was the most consecutive steals without being caught by a Red Sox player at the start of his career since 1920.
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| Justin Masterson, who will get a second chance on Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals, earned rave reviews the first time he was called up, April 24, and he held the Angels to two hits in six innings, including a wind-aided home run by Mike Napoli. Masterson has not pitched well since his return to Double-A Portland (16 runs in 19.1 innings over four starts). |
Our View: His poor performance upon being sent down is not an uncommon phenomenon for a pitcher returning to a lower level after experiences the major leagues for the first time. His matchup against KC is favorable.
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| Dustin Moseley (forearm) who threw batting practice for the Angels while starting in place of the injured John Lackey, allowed five runs in 4.1 innings Sunday for Triple-A Salt Lake.
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Our View: Moseley will return to the parent club once he recovers from his forearm injury and can find a way to get hitters out. He will return to long relief in the bullpen.
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| Royals outfielder Jose Guillen was named American League Player of the Week for the period ending May 18, this according to the Sports Network.
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Our View: Guillen, who celebrated his 32nd birthday during the week, went 11-for-24
(.458) at the plate with two home runs and 13 runs batted in.
The veteran outfielder earned his second career weekly honor and is batting
.245 with five homers and 30 RBI this season.
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| Alex Rodriguez had two hits in his final rehabilitation assignment Monday in his return from a strained right quadriceps, notes the NY Daily News, and will be back in the Bombers' lineup Tuesday night when they host Baltimore at Yankee Stadium.
"I'm happy," said A-Rod, who has been on the disabled list since April 30 "I'm excited to get back into Yankee Stadium and playing baseball.
"It's where I belong."
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Our View: Rodriguez played in an extended spring training game against minor leaguers from the Philadelphia Phillies and went 2-for-6.
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| David Ortiz, who was batting .172 on April 29, and his sore right knee was the top conversation in the Boston media outlets, has improved his average to a season-high .250 in 17 games since. His three hits on Sunday has him hitting .344 (22 for 64) with six home runs, seven doubles, 11 walks, and 17 RBI in that span. |
Our View: Sunday's two home run game was the 31st multihomer session of his career.
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| Sox starter John Danks allowed more than two runs for only the second time this season. His 2.94 ERA with 1.19 WHIP are evidence of his consistency this season. |
Our View: Danks left after six innings against the Giants with a 4-3 lead but didn't get the decision.
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| Ken Griffey Jr. remains stuck on 597 home runs, where he's been since homering off Houston's Chris Sampson back on April 23. |
Our View: In 78 at-bats since, Griffey has only three extra base hits.
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| Catcher John Buck is expected to rejoin the Royals in time for tonight’s series opener against Boston at Fenway Park. |
Our View: Buck missed all three games against the Marlins while on bereavement leave because of his wife’s early-term delivery of twins. The Royals are likely to clear roster space for Buck by optioning catcher Matt Tupman back to Class AAA Omaha.
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| Justin Duchscherer surrendered more than two runs Sunday for the first time in six starts. The right-hander gave up an RBI double to Brian McCann in the first and a two-run single to Yunel Escobar in the second to get off to a rough start. |
Our View: More forgettable were Duchscherer's first two at-bats as a big-leaguer, both strikeouts, one with the bases loaded and one trying to sacrifice. In the days leading to his first interleague start, he took only one round of batting practice, and nothing on game day. This sparks the debate of interleague contests, one where AL teams visiting NL teams have a huge disadvantage, while NL teams visiting AL teams don't.
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| Eric Chavez hit a home run in his third rehab game with Sacramento. He went 2-for-4 with a strikeout and scored two runs. |
Our View: Chavez is expected to make his field debut at third base today. The team has no released any information on a timetable for his return to the 25-man roster.
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| One of the Yankees' top starting pitching prospects, right-handed Alan Horne , threw 26 pitches over two scoreless innings, according to the AP. |
Our View: On the disabled list with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with a biceps injury, Horne is scheduled to throw 50 pitches in an extended spring game Thursday.
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| Mike Jacobs' seven-game absence from the starting lineup did not affect his power. He hit is second home run in as many games during Sunday's 9-3 loss to the Royals. |
Our View: The long ball gives him 11 on the season, two behind team leader Dan Uggla.
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| The New York Yankees/Detroit Tigers game postponed due to rain on May 11 finally has a new date, according to the Sports Network.
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Our View: The game has been rescheduled for September 1 at 1:05 p.m. (et) at Comerica Park.
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| The return of Hank Blalock will force the Rangers to make a roster move. With Blalock's new role the team won't need three first basemen. Though Chris Shelton has worked counts well, he's hit just .200 since replacing Jason Botts, and is the most likely to be sent back to Triple-A Oklahoma. |
Our View: Shelton saw playing time against right-handers and lefty's. The former Tiger has 35 at-bats, five runs, three RBI and two home runs.
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| With Hank Blalock scheduled to move to first base, Frank Catalanotto will lose significant playing time. Blalock will play first base regularly. |
Our View: Catalanotto had already been taken out of the outfield mix by the arrival of Brandon Boggs. While Boggs has slumped at the plate, it's clear he's a huge defensive upgrade, so it's unlikely he's going to be removed any time soon. There are no at-bats at designated hitter since Milton Bradley is still physically limited. And now there is probably no more than one game a week at first base for him.
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| Tigers' outfielder Magglio Ordonez was charged with an error in the sixth inning of Sunday's 4-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, his first error since April 6 of last year, a stretch of 180 games. |
Our View: Occurring on a double that Ordonez was running to his left to cut off, the mistake ended the longest errorless streak for a Tigers outfielder since Al Kaline's 242 consecutive games from April 15, 1970 to July 2, 1972.
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| There are whispers that Twins manager Ron Gardenhire will use Michael Cuddyer in center field while Carlos Gomez recovers from a sore right wrist. |
Our View: Gomez appeared in Sunday's game as a pinch runner in the seventh inning and was doubled up on a line drive to shortstop. He remains day-to-day.
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| The Detroit News suggests that Gary Sheffield is expected to return to the lineup for the upcoming Seattle series, but as the Tigers' designated hitter. "He'll DH Tuesday and Wednesday," said Leyland, "and I hope for a third (consecutive game on Thursday)." |
Our View: Sheffield won't be playing in the outfield so during interleague games at National League parks Sheff will likely be on the bench.
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| Dontrelle Willis allowed one run on five hits for Toledo on Saturday night, but the Detroit News report that Leyland said he got was that the "results were pretty good, but the performance was O.K.," meaning his command is still suspect.
"His control was not real good," said Leyland, referring to Willis' four walks and a ratio of 41 balls to 55 strikes.
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Our View: In a meeting between Leyland and general manager Dave Dombrowski on Monday at Comerica Park, the Tigers' next move involving Willis, whether to activate him or have him make another start for Toledo, will be decided.
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| The Mariners optioned catcher Jeff Clement back to Triple-A Tacoma. The prospect, who was called up late last month recorded 56 plate appearances before heading back to Triple-A. Jose Vidro will resume his role as the Mariners' everyday designated hitter despite a season-long 558 OPS that's barely better than the 536 mark that got Clement demoted after three weeks.
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Our View: While Clement has little left to prove in the minors this move comes as no surprise. The prospect needs to play everyday and there is no clear cut path for that to happen, not with the current players on the Mariners roster.
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| Manager John McLaren told the Seattle Times he knew Felix Hernandez wouldn't want to leave the game after the sixth inning, but he didn't give his pitcher the choice. Hernandez's calf was tight, something he said began with his warm-up pitches earlier in the game, perhaps the third inning he said. He threw 91 pitches in six innings, struck out five and walked one in the no-decision.
"We'll monitor this day by day, and hopefully with a little treatment, a little rest, he's going to be fine. We'll know something more Tuesday." |
Our View: Hernandez said after the game he didn't expect the tightness would cost him a start. McLaren didn't expect that would be the case either.
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| The Seattle Times reports that Raul Ibanez's eight-game hitting streak ended on Sunday when he went 0-for-2 and walked his final two plate appearances. |
Our View: The streak was tied for the third-longest active streak in the American League. The veteran continues to be one of the few players in Seattle actually contributing with the bat.
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| Alex Rodriguez went through an extensive workout on Sunday with live batting practice. He and the coaching staff simulated in-game at bats. If there are no setbacks after the strenuous workout, he's expected to rejoin the team on Tuesday when the Yankees play the Orioles, this according to the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball broadcast. |
Our View: It appears safe to insert A-Rod into Fantasy Week 8 starting lineups.
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| Red Sox manager Terry Francona announced his starting pitchers on Sunday for Tuesday and Wednesday against the Royals, this according to the team website.
Bartolo Colon, the 2005 American League Cy Young Award winner who signed a Minor League contract with Boston in February, will make his Sox debut on Wednesday, coming up from Triple-A Pawtucket. |
Our View: Right-hander Justin Masterson will make his second start for the Red Sox on Tuesday, coming up from Double-A Portland.
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| Red Sox manager Terry Francona announced his starting pitchers on Sunday for Tuesday and Wednesday against the Royals, this according to MLB.com.
Right-hander Justin Masterson will make his second start for the Red Sox on Tuesday, coming up from Double-A Portland. |
Our View: Bartolo Colon, the 2005 American League Cy Young Award winner who signed a Minor League contract with Boston in February, will make his Sox debut on Wednesday, coming up from Triple-A Pawtucket.
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| Dustin McGowan becomes a 2-start pitcher for Fantasy Week 8. With Roy Halladay making a relief appearance on Sunday, McGowan gets the Tuesday and Sunday starts. |
Our View: Halladay will take Shaun Marcum's originally scheduled slot on Thursday, and since Marcum only went one inning on Sunday, he will take the mound on Wednesday in McGowan's original spot. Get all that?
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| The Yankees are talking about Jorge Posada returning to the team in early June rather than mid-to-late June. He caught his first bullpen session on Sunday and is throwing from 90 feet. |
Our View: After two straight drubbings at the hands of the Mets, ex-catcher and Yankee skipper Joe Girardi can't get Posada back soon enough.
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| Curtis Granderson has struggled over the past couple of weeks. In the last 12 games, the Tigers center fielder has just seven hits in 45 at-bats (.156). In that time he has lost his power stroke -- with no home runs and no extra base hits. |
Our View: In May, Granderson has just two extra base hits, and is hitting just .177 for the month.
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| The Angels are expected to activate Chone Figgins later this week from the disabled list. His hamstring is reportedly close to 100 percent. |
Our View: Figgins probably won't rejoin the team until next weekend, and when he does don't expect to see him off and running at his normal pace. Keep him out of your Week 8 lineup and be prepared to insert him next Monday, for Week 9.
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