Belated Monday Recap

Cole Hamels - 5 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. Just didn't have it against one of the AL's top offenses in Cleveland. Nothing to worry about as he had 4 straight quality outings prior to this one.

Grady Sizemore - 2/3, 2 R, 2 SB. He's scored 60 runs, so last year's amazing total of 134 seems within reach yet again. He now has 22 SBs on the season, which is already tied for his career high. Owners have to be loving the speed boom this year.

Todd Jones - 1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. Another bad outing for Jones, although he had gone 5 appearances in a row without being scored upon prior to this. With a 5.86 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP, he's doing an awful job, but due to a lack of better options, his job appears safe. Zumaya is hurt, and Rodney isn't pitching well. His fantasy owners have to be cringing at the ratios he's giving them. He did this last year too, but then rebounded and closed out the year strong. You have to hope that he'll do the same this year since he doesn't really have any fantasy trade value.

Carlos Guillen - 3/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, and his 10th HR. Great production from a SS drafted so late, and he's finally proving he can stay healthy. I still think he's likely due for a DL stint at some point this year given his history, but maybe he'll prove me wrong.

Curt Schilling - 4 1/3 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. More like Curt Shelling. A complete disaster, and his fastball topped out at 89 MPH. I was going to blog that it appeared he was pitching hurt yesterday if I had time, and ironically the day after this start, Boston sent Schilling home to have an MRI done on his shoulder. This morning it was reported that no structural damage was found, so that's great news for the long term prognosis. It would be smart for Boston to DL him and let him rest for 2 weeks as they'll need him down the stretch, even if they can't find anything in the MRI. We'll see what happens.

Chuck James - 5 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K. Not bad against the Boston offense. Since the beginning of May, he's gone at least 5 IP in all but 2 starts, and he's given up less than 3 ER in all but one start. You could do worse for your last starter, especially once interleague play is done for the year. He has control problems and won't be of much help to your WHIP, but he'll likely win a decent number of games, keep his ERA around 4.00, and he has 60 K in 81 IP.

J.D. Drew - 1/5 with his 5th HR. What a waste of talent he's been, and he's surely not giving the Red Sox what they paid for. Fantasy owners don't need to be as patient with him as Boston does. If you're still starting him, at least bench him until he gets hot. He's better than this, but you do have to wonder if all those injuries have caught up to him and he's just not that good anymore.

Brian McCann - 2/4, 1 R, 4 RBI, and his 5th HR. Easily the biggest bust among catchers. McCann is one reason why I don't pay for one year's worth of numbers as he was likely the 2nd catcher drafted in your league this year. He's nowhere near his numbers last year, although he's only 23 years old and should get better this year. His owners should stick it out with him just due to the fact he'll be better over the rest of the year than anyone you could find on waivers, even if he doesn't start hitting like last year again.

John Maine - 7 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. He's only walked 4 hitters in his last 4 appearances, so it looks like he's worked through the control problems he displayed earlier this year. Thanks to that, I no longer think he's due for a ERA tumble. He's not a sub 3 ERA guy, but I don't see him pitching above 3.50 either.

Yovani Gallardo - 6 1/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. A very successful and promising debut for the youngster. The Brewers probably shouldn't have let him come back out for the 7th inning at 90+ pitches, but they did and he gave up a solo HR and a walk, which later scored on a HR. He pitched a bit better than his line indicated. He had some control problems and jitters early, but he settled down nicely. With a start against the Royals up next, he has to be activated now.

Prince Fielder - 1/4 with a 2 run HR. Meet the Ryan Howard of 2007. A new power hitter has emerged.

Adam Wainwright - 7 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K. Not what was expected of him coming off a near no-hit performance, especially against the Royals. You can safely leave him on your waivers still, but don't forget about him.

John Buck - 1/3 with his 13th HR. He now has 13 HRs in 154 AB this season, compared to 23 HRs in 772 AB over the past two years. Dunno where the power is coming from, but his fantasy owners will take it.

Jose Contreras - 6 2/3 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. After a solid May, he's crashed in June, posting a 5.70 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. I don't know if age has caught up to him, but on the other hand he has not been the same pitcher after an early season injury last year. It can be argued that he just hasn't recovered from it because his performance is night and day before and after that injury. I'm not going to post about him again unless he goes on a true hot streak.

Josh Johnson - 3 2/3 IP, 9 IP, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. He's returned after an elbow injury has kept him on the DL since the start of the year. Last year's most underrated rookie pitcher is finally back, so keep an eye on his progress. After not pitching for so long he'll probably start off slow, so pick him up if you see some signs of progress. He's not going to post another 3.10 ERA like last year, but he could be of some help once he settles back in.

Jermaine Dye - Dye hurt himself making a great diving grab and had to come out of the game. He returned last night and said he'll be playing through the injury. As if his owners needed another reason to worry about him. I'd keep him benched for a while, if you haven't done that already. He's a perfect example of why not to overpay for older players coming off career years.

Brendan Harris - 3/4, 2 R, solo HR. He was a double short of the cycle and had another great game. I love the fact I gave up on Crosby and gave Harris a shot. He shouldn't be left unowned in any league.

Jonny Gomes - 2/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR. Pick him up and ride out the hot streak. It might be a bit late, but he's killing the ball right now. He will cool off, so just use him until he strings together a couple O fers.

Joe Blanton - 8 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Boy he's making me look stupid for throwing him in with Soriano to get Beltran. After a 2 start hiccup, he's been great over his past 4 starts. Like I said before, thanks to his vastly improve K rate, he should remain very good all year long.

John Lackey - 4 2/3 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 4 K. His worst start of the year. He complained of some shoulder tightness after the game, so keep an eye on this.

Chone Figgins - 6/6, 1 R, 3 RBI, 15th SB. I honestly don't think there's a hotter hitter in baseball right now. He's been amazing since busting out of his early season slump, and is back to being a great fantasy 2B/3B.