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| Rob Mackowiak was given his unconditional release on Saturday as the Nationals are expected to recall right-handed pitcher Garret Mock to take his roster spot, according to MLB.com. "When you hit .132, you can't expect to hang around. I didn't perform with the little appearances that I had," Mackowiak said. "I guess the only thing that bothers me is the when you decided to sign the team, you were promised more at-bats. I understand they have their guys they want to play. I didn't do well when I got in there. I had a horrible spring. It's my own fault." |
Our View: Mock will likely make his first start of the season against the Giants on Sunday. As for Mackowiak he was hitting just .132 in 53 AB and will have to hope another team takes a chance on his veteran bat.
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| Ryan Tucker was called up from Double-A and will make his big league debut on Sunday, according to the Associated Press. Paul Hoover, a catcher, was optioned to Triple-A to create a roster spot. |
Our View: Tucker was 4-2 with a dominating 1.41 ERA at Triple-A, and he will replace Burke Badenhop who was originally scheduled to start the game, but after pitching 1.1 inning of relief on Saturday, he will obviously be unavailable on Sunday.
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| Francisco Rodriguez earned a franchise record 23-consecutive save on Saturday night though it was an adventure as he allowed two hits, a walk, and a run against the Athletics. |
Our View: K-Rod is 26-for-27 on saves this year despite a greatly reduced strikeout total and an increased walk rate. Those two things don't scream out "saves record", so something will have to give.
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| Maicer Izturis had two hits, two RBI and three runs scored on Saturday night for the Angels. He also stole his seventh base of the season. |
Our View: Izturis is now working on a 7-game hitting streak that ha s brought his average up from .202 to .256. With Chone Figgins hopeful of a return in the coming week, it remains to be seen if the team will leave Izturis at the top of the order or insert Figgins there.
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| Carlos Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with two doubles to give him doubles on each of the first seven hits of his big league career, good enough to tie the major league record set my Johhny Mize in 1936. |
Our View: Gonzalez is only hitting .233 during his young career, but the A's apparently are ready to run with him in an everyday capacity even when Ryan Sweeney returns from the DL. When that happens, the club will have to decide what to do with Rajai Davis.
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| Travis Buck his just his third home run of the season, an opposite field job, for the A's on Saturday night. |
Our View: Its nice to see Buck generate some power after all his struggles this year. Still, he was replaced in the ninth inning for a pinch runner, a sign that his legs likely aren't at 100%.
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| Jon Garland entered the game averaging 2.58 K/9 only to strike out eight Athletics on his way to allowing two runs over seven innings to pick up his sixth victory of the year. |
Our View: Where did this performance come from? Garland didn't have a single game with more than five K this season, but he has been on his game with just five runs allowed over his last three starts. Still, it's tough to recommend a pitcher who strikes out so few batters.
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| Carl Crawford went 1-for-5 with a stolen base from the number two hole in the Rays batting order on Saturday. |
Our View: Crawford's average fell to .267 after this effort as he is now just 3-for-20 in June (.150). It's clear that his knee is bothering him, but the fact he stole a base is clearly a positive sign.
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| Milton Bradley, in his continuing assault on major league pitchers, pounded his 14th home run of the year on Saturday night. |
Our View: Bradley is now hitting .338 with and OPS approaching 1.100. The key, as always, is whether or not he can stay healthy long enough to pick up 500 at-bats, because if he does, the numbers will be huge.
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| Michael Young played despite a broken finger and extended his hitting streak to 22 games, the longest steak in the majors this season and just three short of his career best stretch. |
Our View: Young was 2-for-4 on the night and is now hitting .309 as he continues to be one of he better average hitters in the game. He also has 49 runs scored contributing heavily in that category as well.
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| Delmon Young took only 233 AB in 2008 to hit his first home run in the Twins 11-2 loss to the White Sox on Saturday. |
Our View: Oh happy times. Young has only 10 doubles as well in a shocking display of how not to record extra base hits. For a man with this much talent, the lack of production has been simply staggering.
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| Joe Crede hit two home runs, his 13th and 14th of the season, on his way to six RBI for the White Sox, according to the Associated Press. “I was definitely in a slump in May and you’re searching for different things and different batting stances and [hitting coach Greg Walker] came to me just in the cage and says one thing simple thing. And it’s been able to help me change my hitting stance and hitting outlook all together.” |
Our View: Crede now has five home runs and 10 RBI over his last three games which could mean that his star is on enough of a rise that the White Sox may consider moving him and calling up Josh Fields. Only time will tell.
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| Mark Buehrle was masterful for eight innings on Saturday as he held the Twins to just one run over eight innings in his third victory of the season. |
Our View: Buehrle hasn't been his normal self for most of the year, but every once in a while he has one of these outings when his control is spot on. He has been on a bit of a role of late having allowed a single run in three of his last five starts.
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| Livan Hernandez took another beating on Saturday as he allowed seven runs in four innings to fall to 6-3 with the loss to the White Sox. |
Our View: This was the fourth straight outing that Livan permitted five or more runs as his ERA has balloned from 3.88 to 5.32 in that time. He will get his double-digit wins, but it's going to be a very bumpy ride.
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| Dave Bush allowed two home runs, including a grand slam, in his sixth loss of the season for the Brewers. |
Our View: Bush has allowed an inordinately high total of 15 home runs in 12 appearances which has been a big reason that his ERA is so high (5.85) despite a decent WHIP (1.33). As they say, he is pitching in some bad luck right now.
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| Greg Reynolds won the first game of his major league career on Saturday holding the Brewers to two runs over six innings for the Rockies. |
Our View: Reynolds didn't strike out a batter and now has nine K against 20 BB on the year. You don't really need us to tell you what that means for his chance of continuing to have success do you?
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| Brad Hawpe hit a grand slam off of David Bush on Saturday as he paced the Rockies attack with two hits on the afternoon. |
Our View: Hawpe is now 3-for-7 since being activated from the DL, and two of the hits are home runs which has led to six RBI. Not a bad return for the 100-RBI performer of 2007.
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| John Bowker hit the fifth home run of his young career on Saturday night, a grand slam off of Luis Ayala. |
Our View: Bowker continues to provide enough offense to be a nice corner infield play in NL Only leagues, and with the Giants willingness to continue to run him out there on a daily basis, that doesn't appear likely to change, at least in the short-term.
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| Bengie Molina had another solid night from the middle of the Giants order as he went 2-for-5 with a runs scored and an RBI. |
Our View: Big Money Molina really is at the point where he should be considered for the all-star team. He may be overweight and only run slightly faster than a tortoise, but he is hitting .332 with 40 RBI on the year.
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| Shawn Hill fell to 0-3 despite a solid outing against the Giants on Saturday as he held the orange and black to seven hits and two runs over 7.1 innings. |
Our View: Hill still can't find the strikeout with three or fewer Ks in six of his last seven appearances, though he continues to battle each outing. Still, he just doesn't offer enough to be used in most 5x5 leagues.
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| Jonathan Sanchez locked in early and the results were impressive as the young left hander held the Nationals scoreless for seven innings to pick up his fifth victory of the year. |
Our View: Sanchez only had four K on the night but he walked only two needing, for him, a low total of 98 pitches to make it through seven innings. While he might not be able to keep that ERA below four all season (3.70), he should continue to pile up the strikeouts.
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| Pat Burrell hit his 15th home run of the year, and he also added his 17th double on Saturday for the Phillies. |
Our View: .281-15-41 is where Burrell currently sits, which puts him on pace to challenge his performance of last season (.256-30-97). Burrell won't bring a high average, but his run production will continue to be substantial.
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| Chipper Jones produced the only two runs the Braves scored on Saturday with a 2-run home run, his 15th of the season. |
Our View: Jones still reached base twice in four AB to leave his OBP at a Bondsian .503, while his .420 average is Cobbian.
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| Jo-Jo Reyes piled up eight strikeouts over 7.1 innings, but he allowed two home runs and four runs to pick up his fourth loss. |
Our View: Reyes long ago lost the feel good aura that was surrounding him. He is now 0-2 in his last four decisions and he has allowed 17 earned runs over his last four starts (6.04 ERA).
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| Kyle Kendrick was able to hold the Braves to just two runs despite allow a ton of runners in his 5.1 innings. Kendrick permitted four hits and five walks, but held on long enough to give the Phillies a chance to win late (which they did). |
Our View: Kendrick misses a bat about as often as a good bat boy, which is to say not very often. When his control is off like it was tonight, the results can be pretty detrimental to your ratios.
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| Bronson Arroyo looked poor for his second straight start last just 4.2 innings during which time he gave up seven hits, two home runs, and two walks leading to four runs. |
Our View: Arroyo was lined up for two starts this week, and he rewarded those who started him with nine runs in nine innings while permitting 17 hits. Great work Arroyo.
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| Adam Dunn went deep for the 16th time on Saturday, his lone hit against the Marlins (he did score two runs). |
Our View: Dunn has the power bat going with 16 long balls in 59 games, putting him on pace to challenge the 40-HR plateau for the fifth straight season.
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| Cody Ross hit his 11th home run in the ninth innings against the Reds to finish up a 2-for-4 day with three RBI. He also stole his fourth base of the season in the game. |
Our View: Ross has now gone deep five times in his last 10 games with 12 RBI marking himself as a terrific pick up if you are looking to play the hot hand.
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| Scott Olsen held the Reds without an earned run over six innings though he wasn't involved in the decision. |
Our View: Olsen wasn't great on the night as he actually allowed four runs to score, but he only allowed four hits and a walk while nailing down five strike outs in a solid overall effort.
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| Shawn Chacon gave up 10 hits and three walks as the Cardinals scored seven runs off the big right hander in five innings to hand him his second loss of the season. |
Our View: Chacon is nothing more than a drifter who finds a job when no one else can take it. He barely holds any value in NL Only leagues at the moment.
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| Hunter Pence pushed his average up to .300 on Saturday thanks to three hits. He also scored a run and knocked in two for the Astros. |
Our View: Pence was hitting .161 through 14 games this year causing many owner to curse the experts that recommended Pence. Hopefully you exercised some patience and held on to him, as he is currently doing a decent job of providing production at levels that owners were expecting.
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| Ryan Ludwick put a charge into one on Saturday night, his 14th long ball of the year, in the Cardinals 8-4 victory over the Astros. |
Our View: Ludwick, who knocked in three runs on the day, continues to be a viable option behind Albert Pujols in the order. With #5 hitter Troy Glaus finally hitting as well, the Cardinals offense is clicking in the middle of the lineup.
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| Michael Bourn will likely begin to lose playing time with the Astros recent decision to call up Reggie Abercrombe, according to the Houston Chronicle. "I spoke to Reggie early today about what the plans are," manager Cecil Cooper said. "Initially the plans will be for him to be maybe get some at-bats that Michael (Bourn) might not get. They'll kind of split some time. I won't say split time, but he'll get his starts when Michael's not playing. |
Our View: Finally. We love the kids wheels, but he is simply deficient at the plate right now with a .274 OBP that is barely passable for a gold glove shortstop let alone a purported leadoff hitter.
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| Eric Gagne continues to throw off flat ground in his attempt to comeback from a right shoulder strain, according to MLB.com. "I'm just trying to get my strength back," Gagne said. |
Our View: Gagne threw at 75% from 120 feet on Saturday, and he estimated that he would have to be throwing at about 95% before taking the hill. Best case scenario for Gagne would likely have him back in about two weeks.
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| David Riske threw off the mound on Saturday for the first time since going on the DL with a hyperextended right elbow, according to MLB.com. |
Our View: Riske is scheduled to throw again on Tuesday, but chances are that he will need to throw multiple bullpen sessions before the team would consider activating him.
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| Chris Snyder hit a game-winning home run off John Grabow in the ninth inning of the D'backs 4-3 victory over the Pirates. |
Our View: Snyder now has six home runs and 30 RBI, excellent power production from a secondary catcher who doesn't even play every day.
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| Nate McLouth knocked in two runs on two hits and now has 45 RBI on the season chiefly from the leadoff spot. |
Our View: McLouth continues to produce at a level that will find him on every mid-season fantasy all-star squad.
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| Tom Gorzelanny had one of his better outings of the season on Saturday allowing three runs over seven innings to the D'backs. Gorzelanny allowed five hits and three walks in the outing. |
Our View: Gorzelanny has been hideous this season in almost every start, so don't think that one outing of value is worthy of your attention.
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| Dan Haren hurled another quality start on Saturday allowing three runs in seven innings against the Pirates to pick up a no-decision. |
Our View: Haren was stung for two home runs on the day, but thanks to his ability to limit base runners, he allowed one six base runners, he was able to limit the damage.
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| Mark Kotsay continues to be patient but proactive in his rehab with his injured back, according to MLB.com. "It's one of those things that I've dealt with," Kotsay said. "There's no timetable as to when it will respond to the medicine. But hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later." |
Our View: Kotsay has been out since May 25th, and up until this point he hasn't even swung a bat as he has been focusing instead on exercises to strengthen his back. He appears to be at least a couple of weeks away from returning to action.
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| Jake Peavy threw a simulated game on Saturday and the hope is that he will be able to take the hill for the Padres by the middle of the coming week, according to MLB.com. "It wasn't crisp by any means but I came out of it healthy," Peavy said. "Just have to get better than that before I pitch in a Major League baseball game, I know that." |
Our View: Peavy will throw on Monday in a side session, and if that goes well he will likely start on Thursday against the Dodgers.
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| Adam Wainwright was forced to leave his start on Saturday with a sprained right finger, according to the Associated Press. |
Our View: The Cardinals pitching staff is being decimated by injuries, so hopefully this isn't a situation that leads to any DL time for Wainwright.
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| Chone Figgins (hamstring) will likely begin his minor league rehab assignment on Monday for Triple-A Salt Lake City, according to MLB.com. "Figgy worked out early today," Scioscia said. "He ran the bases, did different workouts. He feels good. If he comes out of it OK, he'll be ready for a rehab assignment on Monday. Izzy will go to Salt Lake." |
Our View: The Angels offense has been greatly hindered by injuries to Figgins, Vlad Guerrero and Howie Kendrick limiting their overall effectiveness. It will be interesting to see if Figgins curtails his running once he is activated, hopefully by the end of next week.
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| Ryan Church was not in the Mets lineup on Saturday for the third time in four days, and he will likely also be out of the lineup on Sunday, according to the New York Daily News. |
Our View: Church had returned from his concussion to have a few productive days, but it's clear that he isn't 100% as the Mets continue to be very careful with him after many believe he was rushed back initially.
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| Johnny Estrada will travel to Florida to continue working on his recovery from an injured elbow, according to MLB.com. Estrada hopes to return to action by the end of the month. |
Our View: When Estrada is healthy, it's not a certainty that he will be able to unseat Jesus Flores or Paul Lo Duca (also to be activated soon).
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| Chad Cordero will travel to Florida to throw at the team's spring training complex for at least two weeks as he attempts to build up strength in his shoulder, according to MLB.com. |
Our View: Cordero hopes to return to the Nationals by late June, but even when he does find his way back to the mound he will find it extremely difficult to pry the closers job from Jon Rauch.
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| Jeff Francoeur continues to struggle along, a fact highlighted by an 0-for-5 night with nine runners left on base on Friday leaving Francoeur batting .237 with a .379 SLG over his last 50 games, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. |
Our View: Francoeur has always been too much of a free swinger, and while the run production figures to be there by the end of the year, he will go through periods of extreme ineffectiveness because of his lack of strike zone control.
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| Word out of Atlanta is that Rafael Soriano was unavailable to pitch on Friday even though they were nursing a 2-1 lead because of soreness in his elbow, this according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "We thought he was good to go," manager Bobby Cox said. "Had him set to throw the ninth inning. Called down [to the bullpen], and they said he couldn't go." |
Our View: The Braves bullpen went on to blow the game causing Tim Hudson owners to rejoice. The bottom line is that Soriano simply cannot be counted on, period. Manny Asosta is awful, which means that Blaine Boyer could get some looks in the closers role, and don't forget about Mike Gonzalez who should be back soon.
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| The Twins need to cut down their roster from 13 pitches to 12, and it appears that the pitcher most likely to be released is Juan Rincon, according to MLB.com. "I wish I could make a better case [to stay] by pitching better, but if that's what it's going to be, it's what it's going to be," Rincon said. |
Our View: Over his last eight appearances the once dominant setup man has an 8.68 ERA and would have to be placed on waivers in order to be sent to the minors. Whether or not anyone who claim him at this point is an unknown.
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| Tim Wakefield's knuckler was dancing on Saturday as he held the Mariners to two runs over seven innings in his fourth victory of the season. |
Our View: Wakefield has now allowed two or fewer runs in three straight starts to bring his ERA down from 5.19 to 4.33> Wakefield doesn't get much fantasy love, but he always produces decent numbers.
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| Ichiro Suzuki had a nice day on Saturday with three hits at the plate and his 26th SB of the season on the bases. |
Our View: Ichiro is underperforming with a .295 average, but those 26 SB put him well on pace to steal 50+ bases for the first time since his rookie season of 2001 when he swiped 56 bags.
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| J.D. Drew went 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBI for the Red Sox on Saturday to increase his average to .318. |
Our View: Drew is working on a 7-game hitting streak that has produced 13 hits as he has raised his average from .282. If he continues to hit in the third spot in front of Manny Ramirez, Drew will have a great chance to be productive.
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| Coco Crisp had two hits batting in the leadoff spot in place of injured Jacoby Ellsbury, and Crisp also pulled an "Ellsbury" with two stolen bases. |
Our View: Crisp will continue to play until the league rules on his upcoming suspension, and he is vital to the Red Sox lineup until Ellsbury is able to return from his injured wrist.
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| Manny Ramirez hit another long ball on Saturday to tie Eddie Murray for 23rd on the all-time list with 504 home runs. |
Our View: Manny also picked up three walks from the DH spot and didn't seem any worse for the wear with his injured knee and hamstring. Look for him to continue to mash out of the DH spot as his stick is white hot right now.
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| Victor Martinez pinch hit on Saturday and made an out to lower his average to .283. |
Our View: That's 187 AB and counting without a home run, and after three straight .300 seasons, V-Mart is struggling to keep his average above .280. The whole world knows he is playing hurt, and at some point it will likely be best if the team just put him on the 15 day DL, let his body heal, and then hope he could return to the hitter he has proven himself to be, because he isn't even an average major league hitter right now.
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| Kenny Rogers had his third straight solid start as he held the Indians to three runs, one earned, over seven innings in a no-decision. |
Our View: Rogers still has a 5.13 ERA and is nothing more than a spot starter at his age, but he has found the strike zone and has allowed just three earned runs in his last three starts, so you can consider picking him up if you lost someone like Jake Westbrook recently.
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| Aaron Laffey continued his run of excellent pitching on Saturday as he limited the Tigers to just two runs over 6.2 innings. |
Our View: The only runs Laffey allowed were on a home run by Carlos Guillen. Otherwise he was almost spotless in the outing. It's probably time to sell him in mixed leagues, but he has tremendous value in AL Only leagues.
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| Edgar Renteria hit a grand slam on Saturday amidst a three hit outing against the Indians. |
Our View: Renteria has 29 RBI, but other than that production, the majority of his work this season has been completely below what the Tigers had hoped for. One look at his .271 average, a year after he hit .332, confirms that.
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| Scott Olsen is finally getting his "stuff" back even though he had a rough start last time out against the Braves, according to MLB.com. Olsen's fastball hit 92 in that outing, and his slider had more bite than he has been getting earlier in the year. |
Our View: Olsen had been throwing in the 85-88 range for most of the early going, so it's very encouraging to hear that his fastball had that extra little giddy up. He'll need to bring his K-rate back up (4.32 per 9) while drastically cutting his walks (3.96 per 9), or it won't matter.
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| Edwin Encarnacion was out of the Reds lineup on Saturday as he is still suffering from a swollen left elbow, the result of a HBP on Friday, according to MLB.com. "You play with a swollen, rusty hinge, boy, with that front elbow, that's bat speed right there," manager Dusty Baker said. "I told him to get some treatment. He fought me on it. Hopefully, he'll be ready tomorrow or the next day." |
Our View: Andy Phillips started in place of Edwin on Saturday who had recently rediscovered his swing at the plate hitting .304 over the past seven games.
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| Aaron Rowand was not in the Giants lineup on Saturday due to a sore right quadriceps, according to MLB.com. "[Manager Bruce Bochy's] just taking precaution," Rowand said. "It's tender, and he doesn't want to take a chance. We're just going to give it a day to calm down." |
Our View: Rowand is said to be available to pinch hit, and he hopes to return to action on Sunday which is vital for a Giants offense that simply can't replace Rowand's bat (.328 average).
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| Derrek Lee went 1-for-4 on Saturday as his batting average continues to plummet as its now down to .283. |
Our View: Lee is 2-for-14 over the past four games, and just 3-for-24 since June began. As troubling is that he has just one home run in 11 games.
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| Matt Kemp went deep for the fifth time this season on Friday on his way to three RBI for the Dodgers. |
Our View: Kemp continues to impress with the Dodgers with his .307 average, but his BABIP is extremely high which could signal a bit of a down turn in the average when things normalize, so keep that in mind moving forward.
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| Russell Martin had three hits, including his fifth home run of the season, for the Dodgers on Saturday. Martin scored twice and was able to knock in three runs in the outing. |
Our View: Even with this effort, Martin has only five home runs and 25 RBI putting him on pace to hit roughly 13 home runs with 70 RBI, which would be a big time step down from his work last season (19-87). He is hitting .316, but the rest of his performance is a bit disappointing including just five SB.
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| Derek Lowe held the Cubs to three runs over seven innings to pick up his fourth win of the season. All told, he allowed six hits and two walks while striking out four. |
Our View: Lowe rebounded from a rough stretch to record his fourth straight quality start and is one again back to being a solid back of the rotation option in mixed leagues.
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| Carlos Zambrano allowed a career worst 13 hits in 6.2 innings leading to sevens runs in a loss to the Dodgers on Sunday. Zambrano had a shutout through five innings before allowing two runs in the sixth and five in the seventh. |
Our View: Zambrano took out his frustrations on a couple of water coolers in the dugout with his best Pele kicking action. Look for Big Z to rebound next time out as he allowed only one walk on the day but just got beat on some bad pitches today.
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| Jose Guillen was forced to leave the Royals and Yankees game on Sunday after seven innings due to swelling in his left shin, according to the Associated Press. “We felt like we were in a position to go ahead and get him off (the shin), ice it and hopefully reduce the swelling,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “We wanted him in better condition for tomorrow’s day game.” |
Our View: Guillen had seven RBI in the game, so the injury didn't appear to be hampering him too much.
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| Ryan Zimmerman, on the DL with a small tear in his left shoulder, will not receive a cortisone shot and will be re-evaluated on Monday, according to the Associated Press. "Cortisone is helpful with certain injuries with certain players, but we don’t want to mask anything with it,” general manager Jim Bowden said. |
Our View: Judging from the tenure of reports coming out of Washington, we are operating under the impression that Zimmerman will be lost for longer than 15 days as the Nats will proceed extremely cautiously with their cornerstone player.
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| Despite a hairline fracture in his left ring finger, Michael Young was in the starting lineup for the Rangers on Saturday, according to the Associated Press. "They said it would be 20 days before it heals. I told them the disabled list wasn’t an option for me. I know there’s going to be a bit of pain involved." |
Our View: Young played with a similar injury in his r | |
