Monday's Ballgames: Felix Sharp, Bay Sucks

Ted Lilly - 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (7). Lilly bounced back from two rough outings to shut down the Nationals. Washington is a great team to catch when you're not pitching too well. He's been a solid 3rd/4th starter this year.

Alfonso Soriano - 2/5, 1 R, 1 RBI, SB (11). Soriano's numbers are down across the board this year other than his AVG, but they do compare favorably to to 2005 if you're not looking at the RBI column. As is, he's been a pretty large disappointment to those who spend a high 1st round pick on him. He'll probably pick it up a bit in the 2nd half, but he won't give you the return on investment that you wanted.

Aramis Ramirez - 3/5, 1 R, 2 RBI. A-Ram has pretty much fulfilled expectations so far, although his numbers, like Soriano's, mirror his 2005 season rather than this career high 2006 season. Still, with the weak overall class of 3B this year, he's definitely been right behind A-Rod/Wright/Cabrera...exactly where he was drafted.

Jason Bay - 0/4...again. I bet I can't name one of you who's happy with Bay right now. He's coming off a complete disaster of a June, hitting a disgusting .173 with 4 HR and 11 RBI. His AVG is down to .256. There nothing in his stats that really indicate a steep decline, although his HR/F is at 12.4%, a good 7% down from where it normally is. Hopefully he'll reward us patient owners with a scorching hot streak sometime very soon. I'd buy low.

Damien Miller - 4/5, 2 R, 7 RBI, 2 HR (3). He's still Estrada's backup, so if you've lost a catcher recently, don't go picking him up based on the hot game.

Roger Clemens - 8 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (2). I knew I should have started him last night given the "he's due" thought process, but I benched him and was punished for it. I know I ranted about him in my last entry, but he's too good of a pitcher to keep pitching poorly, plus he didn't have as much preparation time since the Yankees needed him ASAP. Expect him to be better from here on out, but he won't touch the ERA/WHIP he had for the Astros the past few years.

Boof Bonser - 5 1/3 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. If you're holding onto him for his Ks, stop. His 4.76 ERA and 1.54 WHIP are killing you.

Bobby Abreu - 3/4, solo HR (5). Another high priced fantasy OF killing his owners. He got hot there for a while, but his .253 AVG, 5 HR, and 38 RBI are huge disappointments. The Yankees have bounced him all over the lineup, but nothing has worked so far. I just don't see him continuing to struggle all year long unless he's hiding an injury. His BA/BIP is down a bit, so I expect to see that rebound and his AVG should reflect that. His BA/RISP is a disgusting .230 after hitting over .300 the last few years, so the low RBI total is no surprise.

Jacoby Ellsbury - 2/2, 2 R, SB (1). Boston's prized position prospect is up, but probably not to stay. He could be a cheap source of steals if you're into that sort of thing while he's up, and he has a minor league history of great OBPs. I wouldn't bother with him unless you're looking for a quick fix, although if he stays hot, Boston would be better off replacing the overpriced JD Drew with him Won't happen, though.

Fausto Carmona - 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W (9). A great bounce back start after last outing's disaster. He's obviously not hurt, and those 9 wins are pretty impressive. Keep on using him.

Al Reyes - 2/3 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 2 BB. He was Sizemored. His dream season has come to an end as he now sports a 4.09 ERA. I hope you moved him back when I said you should. He's still the closer, but he's not helping owners anywhere near what he was doing a month or so ago.

Grady Sizemore - 1/5, GS (14). Made his one hit count as much as possible. Gotta love this guy.

Carl Crawford - 0/4, 3 K. He's really struggling, and Tampa Bay is moving him back into the #2 spot. Hopefully getting him out of a more RBI-oriented lineup position will get Crawford back on track. He had a mixed bag in July...he only hit .257, but he was 8/8 in steals with 19 RBI and 18 R. Expect him to get going again.

Dan Wheeler - 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB. He is a disaster right now. De-activate him, and expect Lidge to move back into the closer's role sooner than later. Perhaps he'll right the ship in the 8th inning.

Hunter Pence - 2/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (9). He just won't stop hitting. Nice.

Carlos Lee - 2/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (16). He's quietly putting together the season he was drafted to do, and he's hitting a very nice .296. I'm so happy I picked Jason Bay over him. Pure genius.

Felix Hernandez - 8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. Another nice outing from Felix, giving him 2 in 3 appearances. Unfortunately those two came against Pittsburgh and KC. While his owners will take it, I want to see this sort of performance come against a better offense. I'm keeping him reserved until I see that.

Gil Meche - 6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. A pretty solid outing against his old team. He's doing a good job being a quality end-of-the-rotation fantasy starter, only being held back by the bad offense that supports him.

Octavio Dotel - 1 IP, 2 H, 3 K, W (1). Gotta love it when your closer gets ya a win. Make sure to sell him very soon if you can.

Brandon Webb - 6 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Another blah outing from Webb. STL has given Webb a lot of problems in the past as he's compiled a 4.27 ERA against them in 34 2/3 IP. Just chalk it up to a problem team and don't worry about it. His 3.27 ERA is exactly what owners wanted when drafting him to be their ace this year.

Scott Rolen - 2/5, 1 R, 4 RBI. A nice game from Rolen, but with a .271 AVG, 4 HR, and 35 RBI, he's done as a fantasy force.

Erik Bedard - 5 2/3 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 5 K. Against a weak offense who had problems hitting lefties so far this year, owners expected much more. The problem was the HR ball, as he gave up 3 2 run shots to end his evening early. When you have a good fastball like Bedard does, outings like this will happen from time to time if the location isn't there, and the 4 walks definitely suggest that.

Jim Thome - 2/3, 2 run HR (11). He's due to get on a hot streak sometime soon, so let's hope this is the start of it. He hasn't really had a big tear yet this year.

Tom Glavine - 6 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 3 K. A rare bad command game from Glavine, although many pitchers have trouble against Colorado in Coors Field. He had bounced back well after the beatings both the Tigers and Yankees gave him, so I wouldn't worry much about this despite it being his 3rd bad start in 5 tries. Just be careful who you start him against.

David Wright - 2/4, SB (18). He's really cranked up the running this year as I've touched on several times. He doesn't seem to be slowing down, so expecting a total of 30 steals out of him this year seems quite reasonable.

Vernon Wells - 4/5, 2 solo HR (11). He's really taken well to heading leadoff, batting .361 in 9 games there. Hopefully that was necessary to get his bat moving again, and he'll be dropped back down to the 3 hole that he usually occupies, and his hot streak will continue in the more RBI-friendly spot.

Sergio Mitre - 6 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. No offensive support for him today, but he turned in yet another quality start. He's been a nice waiver wire find, and he's giving you no reason to stop using him yet.

John Smoltz - 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. Another good start from Smoltz, although Lowe outduled him for the win. He's provided a nice value to those who drafted him this year, and he should be ready for another solid 2nd half.

Derek Lowe - 5 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. He's rolling right along, dropping his ERA to 2.98 after this outing. He's been a great find for fantasy leaguers this year as the entire Dodgers pitching staff has really stepped it up. Expect another solid 2nd half from this guy, who probably provides more value to you than to someone you could trade him to.