Thursday's View: Beckett Loses, Gordon Hot

Justin Germano - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Another outstanding performance from the youngster. I think he'll continue to have success against those who haven't seen him before, so take that into considerations when deciding whether or not to use him. The only team that's faced him twice, Seattle, gave him his worst start of the year the 2nd time around.

Jonny Gomes - With Upton out and Wiggington moving to 2B, Gomes was called up and used in RF. If he gets consistent playing time with Upton out, he's worth keeping an eye on. He's been yanked around by this organization, and while he's never going to be a great defender or hit for AVG, he has legit 30 HR power and should post a quality OBP.

Bartolo Colon - 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. 2 HRs did him in. With at least 4 ER in his last 4 appearances, I wouldn't trust starting him.

Gary Matthews Jr. - Stole his 10th base last night. With a .282 AVG, 9 HR, and 10 SB, he's proving that last season was no fluke and that he can be a useful 3rd OF. Thanks, steroids!

Ken Griffey Jr. - Two Jr. posts in a row. That's a record for this blog. Hit his 16th HR last night, and with the .281 AVG, he's been quite a nice fantasy OF for those who risked drafting him this year.

Ben Sheets - 5 2/3 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. Predictably struggled last night against the powerful Detroit offense, and he did a good job of straning baseunners and only allowing 3 ER. I benched him and could have used the Win. Oh well. His final statline was about what I expected, with a few less ER.

Francisco Cordero - Gave up 2 R and 3 H last night, but held on to pick up his 24th save. Don't worry too much about his struggles as he was overdue for a regression to the mean. He has the talent to maintain a sub 3 ERA this year.

Gary Sheffield - 3/4 last night with 2 R and an RBI. He's got his AVG all the way up to .288 now as he continues to smoke the ball.

Andy Pettitte - 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Apparently his back is treating him just fine, shutting down the Diamondbacks last night. He's likely to have additional health problems as he does every year, so consider trying to sell him high. I see his ERA hitting the mid to high 3s by year's end.

Doug Davis - 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 5 K. He should change his name to Suck. I hope you got rid of him when I told you to. He's not the 200 K pitcher like he was a couple years ago.

Alex Rodriguez - 3/4 with 2 R and 2 RBI last night. Sweet.

Chad Gaudin - 4 1/3 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. Not what his owners wanted to see against the subpar Houston offense. Hopefully this isn't the end of his Cinderella season.

Justin Jennings - 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. Blah. Left after only 74 pitches, so it's possible his arm is bothering him again.

Brad Lidge - Since they were at home last night, there was no save chance after they Astros didn't score in the top of the 9th, so he worked two scoreless innings in relief, and unfortunately the offense didn't get him a win. He's definitely the current closer, but I'd continue to stash Wheeler (don't have him active) for a while.

Jeff Weaver - 6 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. This lowered his WHIP, and significantly lowered his ERA. I think he's deserved the right to swap roles with his brother, and we'll now refer to them as Jered, and Jered's brother. Quite uncommon for the elder to be referred in that way, but when you suck this bad, you don't give us much choice.

Jason Marquis - 5 1/3 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Two hits, but 4 (3 earned) runs? Only Jason Marquis. If you have him on your roster, please make sure you don't for much longer. This out-of-character story is slowly becoming a train wreck.

Jeremy Guthrie - 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. This has now been going on for a little over a month. Well, ride the hot hand I guess if you have an extra spot. Much like Justin Germano, be careful of starting him against an offense he's seen before. He's faced Washington twice, so maybe I should clarify and say "against a major league offense he's seen before". There, that's better.

Jason Stanford - 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 7 K. Who? Exactly. Don't bother.

Dontrelle Willis - 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K. Very impressive outing against the Indians, but unfortunately Stanford was better. He had a bad start last year, but yanked his ERA under 4 as the season carried on. Perhaps he's ready to go on a hot streak, and if you have a hole in your rotation, inquire about him. Just don't give up a whole lot.

Victor Martinez - Cranked his 13th HR last night, and he's hitting .326 on the season. Mauer was likely taken ahead of him in almost every draft, even though they're in the same top tier for catchers, so those who waited another 2 rounds or so made the smart decision here.

Kameron Loe - 8 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. Don't you dare. This is probably the only time you'll see him mentioned here.

Tom Gorzelanny - 7 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. 3 HR did him in last night. Against a depleted Texas lineup, much more was expected here.

Josh Beckett - 5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. It's the only time a non-Yankee lineup has gotten to him for over 3 ER, so an outing like this was going to come sooner or later. Pitching against Colorado in Coors is still a tough assignment for anyone.

Jeff Francis - 5 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Lots o' baserunners, but he pitched out of jams and the bullpen stranded 2 more after he left in the 6th. If you had the balls to start him, you were rewarded with a solid outing.

Garrett Atkins - Another grand slam last night amongst a 3/5 evening. He's not a 30 HR hitter, but he's way better than he's performed so far, and a progression to the mean is definitely underway.

Johan Santana - 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K. Boned again by his offense. A 6-6 record for a pitcher with a 3.19 ERA is just bad luck. Expect the wins to start coming his way more often.

Tim Hudson - 7 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. He's back at it, turning in a great outing after the meltdown against the Cubs in his last outing.

Bob Wickman - 1/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K. About as ugly of a blown save as you can get. He's been good since returning from his back injury, so this is probably just a blip in the radar of this usually consistent closer.

Kip Wells - 1 1/3 IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 1 K. One upped Marquis by somehow allowing 6 runs on only 3 hits. Good ole hot vomit.

Zach Greinke - Scott Elarton was bombed again, and Greinke pitched 4 quality innings in relief to pick up the win. It's possible that KC might make a switch given Elarton's unsightly 8.54 ERA, and if so, keep an eye on Greinke.

Albert Pujols - 2/5 with his 16 HR last night. All of us who bought low on him are laughing our way up the standings.

Chris Duncan - 2/4 with his 11th HR and 4 RBI last night. He'd been scuffling quite a bit since a back infection, so hopefully he'll be ready to put together a hot streak to make up for missed time.

Alex Gordon - 2/5 with his 5th HR last night, yanking his AVG above the mendoza line to a cool .2004. Perhaps he's ready to show the talent that's been hidden inside learning the big leagues after not playing above AA, so pick him up if you have an extra spot and see what happens.