Saturday's Recap

Cole Hamels - 6 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (11). Not his best work, but with the offensive explosion behind him, it was good enough to get him the win.

Jimmy Rollins - 3/5, 3 R, 1 RBI, HR (18). Rollins is proving his 25 HR explosion last year is not a fluke, and he has a great chance of re-setting his career high in HR this year.

Aaron Rowand - 4/4, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (12). He's coming through in a big way during his contract season as he has a chance to set a career high in AVG and RBI. He's been a great waiver wire find for the OF consistently producing like a 3rd OF all year long.

Albert Pujols - 2/4, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (18). He's busting out of that HR drought with HR in 2 straight games. Let's hope his work in the HR derby has helped Albert re-find his HR stroke and that it'll lead to a big 2nd half.

Derrek Lowe - 6 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. He was in line to pick up his 9th win until the bullpen blew a 7-2 lead for him. He's still pitching great and should maintain very good mixed league value all year long.

Matt Morris - 5 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 0 K. Back to the waiver wire he should go. He maintained value for longer that I anticipated, but like I've been warning for some time, he's gone south as his ERA has soared close to 4.00.

Roy Oswalt - 5 1/3 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Well that's not a nice way to treat me after I recommended buying low on you, Roy. I watched this game, and he was not getting some close calls that he normally did, and he completely unraveled as a result leading to a disasterous performance. As an observer of this game, I can tell you that he didn't pitch nearly as bad as his statline indicates. If anything, I believe this extends his buy low window, although he needs to cut back on the walks to make that happen.

Ted Lilly - 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (9). Just what his owners expected facing a weak offense like Houston. Lilly has been another very solid late round mixed league starter this year, and he should produce very similarly to his current numbers for the rest of the season.

Alfonso Soriano - 2/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (16). He's hitting .341 this month, but this is his first HR of the month after 11 last month. Given his current season pace, he's going to be putting up one of his worst seasons of his career, although he does have a chance to set a career high in AVG. That just doesn't make up for the sub-30 HR and sub-25 SB paces he currently owns. He'll be more reasonably priced next year.

Sergio Mitre - 7 2/3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (4). Mitre continues to post mixed league worth stats despite a rough stretch, and is well worth using while he continues pitching like this.

Jeremy Hermida - Hermida is quietly hitting .353 this month with 3 HR and 7 RBI in 10 games. If you have a hole in your OF, he's worth considering given his talent and subpar numbers so far. Continued production like this is far from guaranteed, but he will turn the corner sometime soon and start producing like he's capable of.

Gil Meche - 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (6). Another subpar outing, as he continues pitching more like the mediocre pitcher most considered him to be. With the lack of wins and the lack of elite Ks, it's really hard to continue recommending him as someone to start each time out. I'd selectively play matchups with him.

C.C. Sabathia - 7 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Not what owners wanted in a matchup against KC, but after getting hit around early, he settled down nicely and didn't kill his owners by lasting 7 innings. Just a disappointing outing.

Javier Vazquez - 5 2/3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Vazquez was cruising until the 6th when he grooved a fastball to Millar, and then hung a curveball to Payton, both balls getting crushed out of the park. Typical Vazquez...always getting punished for bad pitches, and always making bad pitches in bad spots. Thanks to the bullpen again, he was denied the win. He was on quite a roll before this, so hopefully he doesn't crumble after this.

Nick Markakis - 3/5, 1 R, 2 RBI. Markakis is scorching this month with a .372 AVG, so maybe he can reward his owners with a 2nd half akin to last year when he produced a .311 AVG with 14 HR, 41 RBI, and 43 RBI.

Ben Sheets - 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. Gulp. He left this start after damaging a finger on his pitching hand in a freak incident as the ball came out of his hand during a pitch. At best case, it's a simple sprained finger that won't be an issue. At worst case, he damaged a tendon much like Zumaya and he'll be gone for the year. Fantasy nation can pray for the best as he's due for an MRI on Monday if he's still feeling pain.

Yovani Gallardo - 4 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 K. Pick him up immediately. If Sheets misses anywhere between a start to the season, Gallardo will pick up all of those starts and will be worth using in all leagues.

Rickie Weeks - 0-2, SB (10). He's now hitting .220 and has hit rock bottom in fantasy value. He's an interesting player to speculate on for a keeper league next year, but his value this year is on thin ice. He should not be active in any lineup until he shakes this slump. He's on the waiver wire in both of my leagues and hasn't been touched.

Chuck James - 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. A great matchup for James last night against an impatient hitting ballclub with bad on base skills. Unfortunately his bullpen blew the 4-0 lead. I can't see using him each time out, but selectively using him in the right matchup seems like a good idea.

Tom Gorzelanny - 6 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. A very good outing outside of the ER. He bunched hits together in the 1st inning, giving up 3 of those 4 ER in that inning. He's still pitching well but remains a sell high candidate as his ERA stands to rise.

Andruw Jones - 1/3, 2 run HR (17). He's back. You don't have much time left to buy low now as he's really hit his stride this month.

Daisuke Matsuzaka - 6 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (11). A subpar outing, but good enough to get the win. He had a great run for a while, but has struggled in back to back outings. I don't see any cause for concern.

Julio Lugo - 3/4, 2 R, SB (24). If you need 2B/SS help, go get Lugo off your waiver wire if he's there. His .209 AVG is horrible and he was likely dropped because of it, but he's hitting .375 this month and if I had to guess, I'd imagine he'll hit .275 - .280 the rest of the way with very good steal totals.

Tom Glavine - 8 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (8). The AL lit him up pretty good, but as expected, the return to the NL marked the return of Glavine as being a decent fantasy starter in mixed leagues.

David Wright - 2/4, 1 R, SB (20). He's already matched his career high in SBs as Wright makes his way towards his first 30 SB season.

Joe Blanton - 7 2/3 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. He was off last night, but it wasn't a bad start either. He continues to be a mixed league asset, and he'll likely rebound from his 2 subpar performances. I do expect his ERA to go up a bit, though.

Chien Ming-Wang - 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (10). His first start above 3 K since his 10 K performance. As I've said before, despite the lack of Ks, he's providing better fantasy mixed league value this year than last year, and he was actually underrated in drafts this year based on his performance so far.

Hideki Matsui - 2/5, solo HR (13). Matsui has slugged 5 HR in his past 8 games as he's finding the power that had been lost most of this season. Perhaps he's finally recovered from the wrist injury he sustained last year. Wrist injuries, on the whole, are bad news for power hitters and usually take a while to recover from, even though the player may seem healthy.

John Lackey - 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (12). Not the best outing from Lackey last night, but good enough for the win.

Chone Figgins - 1/3, 1 R, SB (21). He's predictably cooled off a bit, but his .300 AVG, 21 SB, and 38 R in limited time are very impressive. He's been moved back up towards the top of the order, which obviously helps his fantasy value over the rest of the season.

Chris Young - 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K. His ERA is now a league low 1.97 as his ridiculous season continues. Unfortunately his offense didn't support him enough. I'm still advising selling high thanks to his abnormal ERA and his history of slow 2nd halves. He just can't keep this up, but enjoy it while it lasts.

Khalil Greene - 1/4, solo HR (16). He had a great June hitting .292 with 6 HR and 17 RBI. He'll continue hitting HR, but he's also going to continue posting a bad AVG with decent run production due to his spot in the lineup. It'd be really interesting to see what he'd do offensively in a ballpark that doesn't favor pitchers so much, or if they'd just try him in the 3/4 hole considering the lack of power the rest of the lineup has.

Kenny Rogers - 5 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 0 K. Just didn't have it last night, and he was due for a bad outing anyways. I'd continue using him as a back-of-the-rotation mixed league starter.

Kenji Johjima - 1/3, GS (9). He's slightly behind last year's pace in HR/RBI/R, but he's still producing pretty well from a fantasy perspective and remains a reliable fantasy stater.