Case Of The Mondays

Man, only 5 games yesterday, and thanks to interleague play, one of my teams didn't have a single offensive player go yesterday. BORING.

Ichiro Suzuki - 2/5 last night, raising his AVG to .337. He's hitting .341 with 10 R, 9 RBI, and 3/3 in SB this month, so he's picked up right where he left off in May.

Raul Ibanez - 4/5 with 2 HR, 1 3B, 1 2B, 2 R, and 5 RBI. Nice way to fill up a stat sheet, but one game won't erase the fact he's been a huge bust so far. Perhaps he's ready to get hot for a while, so pick him up if he was dropped and you need OF/UTIL help. He only had 2 HR prior to this, and he is an established 20 HR hitter, so some more power should be on the way even though he won't hit HRs at the same pace as last year.

Ryan Garko - 0/5 with 8 LOB last night. Ugh. Perhaps I'll miss Teixeira more than I thought. If you're like me and will be without Teixeira for a while, take a look into this guy if he hasn't been picked up already. He's a legit hitter, although not as good as his numbers a week or two ago. He should have plenty of RBI opportunities hitting behind Hafner, Martinez, and Peralta, assuming they don't clear the bases before he gets up.

Adam Eaton - 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. He doesn't have the same stuff he did in San Diego, at least from what I saw of him last night. This former promising young arm seems to be healthy, but given his current ERA and that he pitches half his games in Philly, don't expect an outing like this again for a while.

Javier Vazquez - 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. His line would have looked better, but 3 of the 4 hits he allowed were solo HRs. Whenever he seems to miss with a pitch, it's a bad miss right down broadway. He's still enjoying his finest AL season to date so far, though, and should remain a solid back of the rotation starter for fantasy teams.

Antonio Alfonseca - He has defied all odds by tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings and going 5/5 in save chances since becoming the closer. He's only struck out 2, but he hasn't walked anyone and has only allowed 5 hits in that time frame. Myers and Gordon still remain a couple weeks away from returning, so it looks like he'll be a solid closer until then. Color me stupid for advising to not pick him up, but with 4.79 ERA prior to taking the job, can you blame me?

Carlos Zambrano - 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. Well, to make up for my bad advice concerning Alfonseca, I seem to have hit the nail on the head with Zambrano. He was blowing pitches by everyone last night, and looked on top of his game for the 2nd time since the big fight. Plus, he only walked 1 batter, which is also a great sign. I hope you bought low on him like I did as he'll likely be a top 10 starter the rest of the way.

Ryan Dempster - After a tough blown save the night before where he came into the 8th inning, he pitches a scoreless 9th while only walking 1 batter. Again, it's nice to see him bounce right back after a tough appearance.

Felix Pie - He's now stolen 4 bases in his last 6 games. I'm not sure exactly how ready he is for the majors, but he obviously has plenty of speed and might be worth gambling on in mixed leagues to see how he pans out. His upside as his career unfolds is supposedly along the lines of Grady Sizemore, so keeper league owners should keep that type of potential in mind.

Orlando Hernandez - 5 2/3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. He was due for a rough outing after a long streak of great pitching, so unless he couples this with a few more consecutive bad outings, he should be just fine. Still, given his long history of arm problems, selling him high would be a great idea.

Randy Wolf - 6 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. Not his best outing, but it was a quality start and good enough to beat the Mets thanks to the great bullpen behind him. He continues to exceed expectations and should be a solid fantasy starter all year.

Takashi Saito - After allowing a solo HR in his first appearance back from the DL, he pitched a perfect 9th with 2 Ks for his 17th save last night. He's over his groin injury and ready to go back to being an elite closer.

Matt Morris - 9 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. That's his 3rd CG of the season, and he bounced back brilliantly after giving up all 3 of those runs in the 1st inning. My evaluations of him have been very skeptical so far, but there's a chance that he's found a way to consistently get hitters out without the great stuff he had before his shoulder surgery a few years back. Still, as I keep saying, I still suggest selling high as his value won't be any higher than right now.

Barry Bonds - Hit HR #747 last night, but it's only his 2nd HR since May 8th. He's definitely in a slump right now, so I hope you sold high on him like I suggested a while back when he was hot. Unfortunately he's reached the age where he can't be an elite hitter all season long. However, now's not a bad time to try to buy low on him as he won't continue slumping like he has forever.

Dave Roberts - In his 2nd game back from the DL, he swiped 2 bases last night. Feel free to activate him or pick him up if you're in search for cheap steals.