Belated Wednesday Recap

Lance Berkman - 2/5, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (12). Continues his recent solid hitting with another good game. It seems he's snapped out the slump that's seemingly plagued him through the first half of the season.

Carlos Zambrano - 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (9). He was dominant again before tiring a bit in the 6th and giving up 4 baserunners and both ER in that inning. He was pulled after, and the bullpen held up for him. He's pitching as well as anyone in baseball right now.

Ryan Theriot - 1/4, 1 RBI, SB (14). Those still holding onto him can cut bait. With Lee and Ramirez entrenched at the corner infield spots and both DeRosa and Fontenot yielding hot bats, Theriot will no longer have consistent playing time. His only value lies in steals, so he's not worth owning.

Mark DeRosa - 2/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (7). He's going to keep playing while hot, so if you need a middle infielder, pick him up for his hot streak. He's swinging the bat very well right now, but he's not going to be a long-term option.

Greg Maddux - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (7). The veteran is moving right along, and he might post his first sub-4 ERA in 4 years with Petco Park aiding him.

Matt Cain - 7 2/3 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. He dropped to 2-9 on the year, and while he's had some problems with his command in numerous starts, he's pitching far better than his record indicates. Play up the bad record and try to buy him for the 2nd half when things should even out.

Khalil Greene - 1/3, solo HR (13). 6 HR and 11 RBI in his last 10 games. Still, the hot streak only leaves him with a .241 AVG, and he just doesn't do enough in other catagories to make him worth using.

Jered Weaver - 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. Unfortunately he allowed the only run in the game as his offense failed to score against De La Rosa and the Royals bullpen. He's definitely healthy again and ready to roll. I don't like him as much as most due thanks to this flyball tendencies (only sporting a 34.7 GB%), but thanks to the strong team around him, he should be a solid fantasy option in the 2nd half.

Daisuke Matsuzaka - 8 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. Probably his best start as a major leaguer. He was dominant against Seattle, and he's now allowed 2 or less ER in 5 straight starts. He's on top of his game now, and has rewarded both patient owners and guys who bought low with a very solid string of outings. Expect a better and more consistent 2nd half, but you obviously won't be able to get a discount on him with his recent performance.

Fausto Carmona - 1 IP, 7 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. Ouch. Hopefully it's just a one-time thing, so I wouldn't worry about this, but don't look at your ERA or WHIP for a few days.

Jack Cust - 2/5, 1 R, 5 RBI, HR (13). Is he seriously settling in as a quality DH for the long-haul? Oakland sure thinks so, and they've actually postponed Mike Piazza's return from his injury until he can perform catching duties. That's 5 HR in his last 8 games. For fantasy purposes, use him while hot, but don't be afraid to pull the plug when he goes cold again.

Jhonny Peralta - 2/5, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (13). He's on pace for a career high in HR, RBI, and R. In a normal season he'd be a candidate for bounceback player of the year for the majors. but with the Josh Hamilton story this year, I'm not sure if he'll be able to claim that.

Aaron Harang - 6 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. Had an off game, and it came against Philly in Philly. That'll happen.

Ryan Howard - 1/4, 3 run HR (18). The AVG will throw you off, but after the early season struggles and the injury/recovery, he's performing about where you should expect him to.

Sergio Mitre - 6 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. A rough outing for Mitre, but he's still worth using unless he strings together a couple poor performances. He has a solid lineup supporting him, his K rate is quality at 50 K in 75 1/3 IP, and he's getting groundballs at a high rate of 59.8%.

Xavier Nady - 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (13). He's been quite a surprise this year, hitting .283 with 13 HR and 46 RBI. He's not a bad 2nd 1B/3rd OF for your fantasy team. He's managing to drive in plenty of runs despite having a pathetic lineup hitting ahead of him.

Erik Bedard - 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. Completed dominated the Yankees lineup. Even though he pitches in the AL East, he has the stuff to take care of great offenses when he's on. That is why he's a great #2 starter for your fantasy team.

Roger Clemens - 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 K. We waited 2 months for this? I hate Roger Clemens, but I know his fantasy value and didn't have any problem drafting him and sitting on him until he came back. He's been horrible so far. Owners don't have any choice right now though...you can't trade him for much since he's not pitching well, but you can't drop him either because odds are he'll probably get back on top of his game.

Brian Roberts - 1/4, SB (25). I'm sure owners were expecting more along the lines of 30 steals, so the fact Roberts is on pace for 50 is very nice. Plus he's sporting a .322 AVG to boot.

Anthony Reyes - 5 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. He finally puts in the quality performance that was long overdue, but his offense fails to show up and the game gets rained out. It's partially luck like that as to why he's 0-10.

Tom Glavine - 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, W (7). At only 81 pitches, he probably had another inning left in him, but his owners have to be elated with what they did get with him in the game.

Albert Pujols - 0/1, CS (5). He surprised owners with 16 SB 2 years ago, but dropped back to 7 last year and is 1/6 on the basepaths his year. Not that it impacts his fantasy value that much, but I don't think we'll see double digit steals from him again.

David Wright - 1/1, 2 run HR (13). Wright is back on top of his game, and should provide his owners with a great 2nd half. He's raised his AVG back to .288, and could get that to .300 by year's end.

Mark Buehrle - 7 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (5). Pitched his way out of some jams and turned in a fine outing. If the Sox can plug the bullpen holes, the hitting should come around and Buehrle should win a few more games in the 2nd half. Rumors of trading him have subsided, only to be replaced with re-signing. It's a bit of a disappointment since the NL would have given his fantasy value a boost, but he's pitching very well regardless of the league right now.

Scott Podsednik - 2/5, 1 R. Probably a forgotten man in many fantasy leagues after hitting a disappointing .261 last year, and then having a serious groin injury knock him out a touch over 2 months this year. If he can hit .300, he can be a decent 3 catagory player for you assuming he can score with the slumping offense behind him. Still, with Thome and Konerko behind him, he'll be able to score enough to maintain some fantasy value. Just keep an eye on his AVG...if he can't hit .300 he's not worth owning.

John Smoltz - 5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. Right on par with what was expected from him facing the weak Washington offense. He was pinch-run for since with the big lead, there was no reason for him to keep pitching at that point, especially coming off of shoulder soreness a little bit ago. Smart move by Atlanta, who seemingly always handle their pitchers well.

Chipper Jones - 3/4, 1 R, 4 RBI. He's rolling right along since coming back from the DL.

Jeff Francoeur - 3/3, 1 R, 3 RBI. He's been in quite a slump, as I mentioned previously, so hopefully this is the start of him turning things around. I put him back in my active lineup just in case, so if you've been benching him, you might think about doing the same. He's not going to keep hitting this poorly for much longer.

Brian McCann - 2/4, 2 run HR (6). Much like Francouer, I think McCann should turn it around shortly as well. I was on the fence with him, but I have a hard time thinking that last year was a fluke the more I consider it. Not a bad buy-low guy depending on your catcher situation.

Boof Bonser - 6 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. That's at least 4 ER in 4 of his last 5 starts. I'd consider matchups with him...I don't believe he's an automatic start.

Brandon Webb - 7 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, W (8). He wasn't at his best last night as his command failed him, but he did a great job pitching out of jams, and amazingly enough with those 12 baserunners and his big sinker, he didn't force a single GIDP.

Jose Valverde - 1 1/3 IP, 2 K, SV (25). He's been one of the best draft day values at reliever, and yet another example of why you don't need to spend early round picks on closers to put together a solid bullpen. His 2.78 ERA and 1.11 WHIP are very good.

Derek Lowe - 6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Deserved a win, but his offense couldn't break through against Webb. He's been an outstanding draft day value at the SP position.