Tuesday: Griffey Hits One Deep To Right...

Ryan Howard - 3/4, 3 R, 4 RBI. He's due to get hot sometime soon, and it might have already started. He wasn't much of a buy low candidate because his power numbers were still there, but you could get a discount on him if you act quickly.

Jason Simontacci - 3 IP, 10 H, 10 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. Ever need a good laugh? Take a look at the Nationals starting rotation. *snicker* Jim Bowden sucks.

Magglio Ordonez - 3/3, 3 R, 2 RBI. Like I said before, sell high. He has a ridiculous .391 BA/BIP, and the reason that's so high is due to luck. He'll start to normalize soon, but like I said before, only trade him if you can get an elite OF in return. It's not that his numbers will fall off the map, but it's a suggestion based on getting max value from a player.

Gary Sheffield - 2/3, 3 R. Remember when he was hitting about .200? I don't.

Brad Penny - 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. He just keeps making me look stupid by pimping selling him high, doesn't he? He has a strong GB% of 52.8 and his FIP is second best in the NL at 2.95, so while his peripherals don't indicate that he's due for a blowup, I still don't trust him after the All Star break. (2006: Pre AS Break - 2.91/1.21, Post AS Break - 6.25, 1.60). Now, one thing to note was that he was grunting and chucking 98 MPH fastballs in the All Star game, and he might have screwed up his arm doing that.

Russell Martin - 2/4, 8th HR. Was in a small slump prior to this game, but no catcher has been better filling up the stat sheet. Martinez has more power, but 11 SB from a catcher is awesome.

Juan Pierre - 2/4, 3 R, 1 RBI, 3 SB. He's up to .281 with 23 SB and 39 R, so he's doing exactly what's expected of him in the fantasy world.

Johan Santana - 9 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. Sure, only 1 K sucks, but he was amazingly efficient against a very aggresive, struggling Mets lineup. Owners will take it!

Jorge Sosa - 3 1/3 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. Hmm, 2 bad starts in a row. Might want to sit him next time out, depending on the matchup, and make sure he isn't going south for good. He's not the type of pitcher you want active while you're waiting to ride out a cold streak.

Joe Mauer - 2/4, 2 R, 1 RBI. 4 for his last 11 with 5 R. He's really struggled at the plate since coming back from the DL, but that was to be expected given he didn't have much of a minor league rehab assignment. Let's hope he starting to get hot. I'm really irritated that the Twins moved him out of RBI chances into the #2 hole, but it makes sense for their team given the lack of alternatives. Plus Cuddyer has really responded to the #3 spot, hitting .325 with 6 HR and 25 RBI.

Josh Beckett - 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. He left after only 88 pitches, but that was due to a 45 minute rain delay. No injury concerns here in case you looked at the box score wondering what happened.

Tim Hudson - 5 1/3 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. Hopefully you sold high before his cold streak, like I suggested a few weeks back. His ratios (3.43 ERA, 1.15 WHIP) are now fairly normalized, so he should be good to go from here on out.

David Ortiz - 1/3, 12th HR. His HR pace has slammed on the breaks recently. He should get going and start hitting for more power as he recovers from his hamstring problems.

Ben Sheets - 9 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. He's been awesome since April, and should continue rolling right along. I was definitely on the fence about him in the early going after his struggles given his injury history, but he's definitely proving that he's healthy.

Tim Lincecum - 4 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 6 K. Do NOT give up on him. He's going through a rough rookie patch with his control. He will turn it around, I promise you. Just keep him benched for a bit.

Corey Hart - 2/4, 2 R, 13th SB. He's proving to be just as valuable as Hunter Pence in terms of fantasy value for rookie hitters. Awesome keeper potential here.

Chris Duncan - 2/3, 1 R, 3 RBI, 13th HR. He looks healthy again and ready to go back to being the underrated fantasy OF that he is right now. He doesn't get the hype that guys like Pence and Braun get, but he's turning into a very nice young player for the Cardinals.

Dontrelle Willis - 1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 K. He's hurting, complaining of left forearm tightness after the game. He might miss a start, but it appears minor and he'll avoid the DL for now. We'll know more after his upcoming bullpen sessions.

Kevin Gregg - Boy do I look stupid for dropping Kevin Gregg. I sometimes don't take my own advice that I write here, and that usually doesn't work out well since it's an impulse move when I don't. Gregg is definitely the closer for the rest of the year unless he pitches himself out of it.

Josh Fields - 1/4 with a 3 run HR. His AVG will fluctuate as it does with most rookies, especially given his 17:2 K:BB ratio, but continue keeping an eye on him if you have 3B problems.

Hanley Ramirez - 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 9th HR. The Boston/Florida trade looks a lot better for Boston this year with Beckett turning into their ace, but this could go down as a rare trade that works out for both teams. Hanley's numbers are great, but could you imagine him leading off for the Red Sox in front of Youkilis/Ortiz/Ramirez?

Sean Marshall - 4 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. His first hiccup of the year. I watched his start, and he just didn't have it last night. His command was terrible from the first inning, and he left too many pitches over the plate, leading to 3 HRs. No worries, yet.

Ian Kinsler - 2/3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR. He's been close to worthless recently, but his .237 AVG is out of line. He hit .286 last year in his rookie season, so he's not a .240 hitter. His .231 BA/BIP is incredibly low and he should start hitting for a higher AVG soon. One thought I had was due to his huge April with all the HRs, he might have altered his swing to swing for the fences a lot, severely affecting his AVG. Dunno if that's the case, but that might be something he's working to fix.

Alfonso Soriano - 1/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB. That's his first SB since May 25th. Even with the massive power streak, he's been a huge bust for those expecting close to 40/40 again. He's on pace for 25/20 right now. I figure he'll get a bit better from here on out, though.

Mike Mussina - 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Not bad for an outing in Colorado. I'm curious to see what happens with him when he gets back to facing AL lineups.

Brian Fuentes - 1 IP, 1 H, 2 K, SV. He's quietly been an elite closer, posting a 1.95 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. Given Colorado is going nowhere and Fuentes will be 32 years old this year, he's a closer that could be moved to a setup role with a new team. The Yankees have been rumored for a while, so you might want to play up his great numbers and get a closer with more job security in return. Making proactive moves like the one I suggested is a good way to quitely make your team strong for the stretch run.

Al Reyes - 1 1/3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, BS. Well, all closers have that ugly outing, but using a 37 year old reliever with a history of arm problems for more than an inning at a time is a bad idea. However, he is Tampa's bullpen, pretty much, so they don't have a choice sometimes if they want to win ballgames.

Eric Byrnes - 3/6, 1 R, 1 RBI, 14th SB. What a steal he's been this year, huh?

Chris Young (OF) - 3/6, 2 R, 2 RBI, 10th HR. He's doing exactly as expected of him. He has a low AVG (.252), but he has 10 HR and 7 SB. Quietly turning in a nice 3rd OF fantasy season, and he should improve as well. Awesome keeper value here, too, and possibly a high ceiling than Pence and Braun.

Homer Bailey - 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. More command problems, but it didn't cost him here. If he's going to walk people like this, expect a lot of inconsistency across his starts, especially when he's pitching at home in that HR launching pad.

Chad Gaudin - 6 2/3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. 2 rough outings in a row. Much like Jorge Sosa, he's not the kind of guy you ride a cold streak out with in your active lineup. Consider benching him depending on his next matchup.

Santiago Casilla - 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 4 K. He's had control problems in the minors which have held him back, but he's pitching brilliantly and has turned into the A's setup man. I'd think he's #2 for saves behind Alan Embree. I don't see any switch being made since Embree has pitched well in the closer's role, but with the uncertain futures in 2007 for Street and Duchscherer, he's a name to become familiar with.

Ken Griffey Jr. - 2/4, 19th HR. I'm loving every second of this. Who doesn't like this guy?

Jake Peavy - 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. Cruising until the 6th, where he got into trouble and gave up all 3 runs, 3 hits, and 2 walks. That seems to be his only problem this year...random innings where things go bad and he gives up a couple runs. Another quality start though as he continues to pitch as well as anyone in baseball.

Nick Markakis - 3/4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB. He's heating up a bit with 4 multi-hit games in his last 6, with 3 SBs to boot. Maybe the new manager will find a way to get him going. He was a very popular sleeper in the OF, but has done little to justify that so far this year.

Tom Gorzelanny - 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. A nice bounceback outing after 2 outings in which he struggled. I still think he's a great sell-high candidate given sparkling 3.01 ERA, but he's a good pitcher when healthy.

Ichiro Suzuki - 2/4, 1 RBI, 20th SB. Chone Figgins is the hottest hitter in baseball, but don't tell Ichiro that. He might be 1A right now.

Justin Jennings - 5 2/3 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Something's not right. I wouldn't waste a roster spot on him right now.

Bartolo Colon - 6 IP, 11 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. Read above.

Carlos Lee - 1/4, 1 R, 4 RBI, 12th HR. He hadn't homered since June 2nd, so he was due. Expect him to get hot again sometime soon in the power department.

Hunter Pence - 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 6th HR. Re-draft leaguers, it's time to sell high. He's hitting .344, and I just don't think that's sustainable for much longer. He has a .407 BA/BIP, and that's insanely high. Keeper league owners shouldn't trade him unless you get a great player in return that will help you down the stretch. He's a legit stud hitter in the making.