Sunday: Halladay Back On Track, Manny Stays Hot

Bronson Arroyo - 6 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K. Unfortunately he was left in an inning too long. He started off the 7th inning with a walk and a HR, and then was pulled. He had a pretty solid outing going prior to that, so the optimism about his rebound should remain. Just be careful about his home starts.

Hanley Ramirez - 0/0. He left the game in the 1st inning with a left shoulder subluxation, but it's reported that he could be back in the lineup on Tuesday. I'll report if I read otherwise.

Dan Uggla - 4/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (19). He only hit .241 last month, and had been scuffling with a .219 AVG this month before his big game last night. Hopefully this will be a precursor to a long awaited hot streak. His power numbers still keep him being a valuable fantasy 2B.

James Shields - 3 1/3 IP, 10 H, 10 ER, 4 BB, 1 K. To say he was off last night would be an understatement. The Yankees have smashed him so far this year, pinning 15 ER in 9 1/3 IP on him with 4 HR. I benched him last night, much to my ERA's delight. As I stated before, be careful with his matchups and he'll still provide value for you.

Andy Pettitte - 6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. Not a bad outing, but not a good one either for Pettitte. Thanks to the offensive explosion, he had no problem picking up a win. He hasn't been too bad his past 3 outings, so he should remain a fairly effective fantasy pitcher for the rest of the season.

Hideki Matsui - 5/6, 3 R, 2 RBI, HR (17). He's upped his month totals to a .349 AVG, 9 HR, and 17 RBI and he's having one of the best months in baseball. He'll cool off eventually, but he's re-established himself as a very good fantasy OF for the remainder of the season.

Robinson Cano - 4/6, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR (8). Cano got his season AVG up to .291 with this game, but he's been quite disappointing with only 8 HR and 2 SB on the year. He's really heated up this month, posting a .377 AVG with 5 HR, 17 RBI, and 16 R. It's been the only month that he's given his owners fantasy value, so let's hope he improves over the rest of the season. If he does, he could be a nice value next year.

Carlos Pena - 2/5, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (23). He continues mashing righties, and currently hits .305 with 19 HR against them versus .233 with 4 HR against LHP. Again, only start him against RHP and you'll get the most value out of him. He's worthless against LHP.

Felix Hernandez - 6 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 7 K. Another bad performance from Felix, but at least this one came against a pretty good Blue Jays offense. Still, he's been completely frustrating since his first 2 starts and hasn't put a really good string of outings together. You have to be really careful with which matchups you choose to use him in.

Roy Halladay - 9 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (11). Back to back excellent outings have Halladay looking like a fantasy force again. We've been fooled before this year, so let's hope that he's turning it around for real this time.

Troy Glaus - 1/4, 3 run HR (15). Glaus is hitting .315 with 4 HR and 12 RBI this year, and he's been a real surprise in the AVG department. He only hit .241 in May, but he hit over .300 in April and .282 in June, leaving him with a .284 overall AVG, much higher than was expected. His K rate is actually down a bit this year and his LD% is up 3%, indicating he's making more contact, and also higher quality contact. His BA/BIP is up to .318, which is the best of his career, but it makes sense if he's hitting the ball harder. Things seem to point to him maintaining a better AVG so far this year.

Matt Holliday - 1/3, SB (6). His .230 AVG this month is easily his worst mark this year, and his only AVG below .300 of any month. Expect him to heat up again soon.

Brad Lidge - 1 IP, 1 H, 3 K, SV (3). A nice bounce back outing from Lidge, who converted his 3rd straight save opportunity. He appears to be settling in, but let's not get too comfortable yet.

Jon Garland - 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 3 K. He was hit hard by the Red Sox, so this shouldn't have surprised anyone. He bounced back well after the shelling by the Twins, but this outing has raised his ERA to a more appropriate 4.15 on the year. He'll still have value, but like numerous other pitchers, you can't use him every time out.

Manny Ramirez - 2/2, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR (15). He's continues on fire after the AS Break, hitting .385 with 4 HR and 13 RBI in 11 games. He's made up for the tough start to the month, and he's put together 3 straight solid months. Hopefully this power surge continues, as the HR/RBI totals for him are well below his standard.

Mike Lowell - 2/4, 3 run HR (15). What a fantasy revelation he's been this year. He had a rough June, but he's put together 3 very solid months around it and he's provided great fantasy value all year long, making good on his RBI position in the Red Sox lineup.

Barry Zito - 5 1/3 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. He gave up two 2 run HRs in the first inning, settled down until the 6th, then loaded the bases. Vinnie Chulk came in, got a pop up for the 2nd out, the gave up consecutive hits to allow all 3 inherited runners to score, making Zito's ERA look pretty bad. He still has a ways to go.

Ryan Braun - 2/5, 1 run, 3 RBI, HR (15). He continues his ridiculous numbers and he hasn't slowed down yet. This is one of the better rookie seasons we've seen in a while from a hitter.

Joe Saunders - 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (4). He's had limited starts as the injury replacement for the Angles, but he now has a permanent rotation spot due to the demotion of Ervin Santana. He's put together a 2.89 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and a rather ugly 19:13 K:BB ratio. I wouldn't use him in mixed leagues except for in spot starts against weak offenses.

Matt Garza - 5 1/3 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. Not a good outing, but not too bad against a quality Anaheim offense. He'll continue to mix up good and bad outings, but I believe the good will outweigh the bad and he'll have mixed league value for most of the year.

Jason Bartlett - 1/4. I mentioned him last month as someone to keep an eye on, or possibly pick up. He's back down to .268 with only 3 steals this month, but he does have 16 R in 19 games since he leads off ahead of the good Minnesota middle-of-the-lineup. He's not a bad injury replacement, but he's not a quality mixed league SS outside of his hot June.

Yusmeiro Petit - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (2). He's put together 2 excellent, and 3 decent outings so far in his 5 appearances. He's only up until Randy Johnson returns, and the Arizona offense doesn't score enough for him to be a factor in wins. I'd pass.

Sean Marshall - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. He's really only had 2 bad outings in his 11 outings. He's been a pretty solid end-of-the-rotation fantasy starter this year. He's playing on the winning team, but his K rate has definitely crashed down after early success in the catagory. I argue he'd have better numbers not pitching behind Rich Hill due to the similarity between pitching styles, but that's where he's there to stay.

Eric Byrnes - 1/4, 1 R, SB (26). That's 9 SBs in 8 games for Byrnes who's on a basepath tear right now. I'm sure he won a lot of SB catagories for his owners last week in H2H leagues.

Jake Peavy - 6 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Another subpar outing from Peavy, although both outings came against 2 of the better NL offenses in the Mets and Phillies. It's hard to judge where he's at health-wise, but you'd figure if it was a big problem, the Padres wouldn't let him keep pitching through it. Let's hope that's the case.

Shane Victorino - 3/6, 2 R, 3 RBI. He's hitting a scorching .359 this month, pushing his AVG to .284 for the year. He's been as consistent as base stealers get, swiping 7 in 3 months (including this month which isn't over yet), and 9 in May.

Jeremy Guthrie - 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. Another dazzling outing from Guthrie who continues his torrid pitching pace. He's posted a 4.11 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP this month after 2 staright months below a 2.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. As I've mentioned before, expect him to continually leveling off what he's done so far, and consider this an extension on his sell high window.

Orlando Hernandez - 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. He got roughed up a bit by the Dodgers after 2 straight great outings. Nothing to worry about here.

Albert Pujols - 2/3, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (22). .391 this month, with 6 HR, but only 12 RBI thanks to the weak Cardinals offense around him. He'll still get on plenty, scoring runs, and hitting HRs, but his RBIs will remain down due to the lack of OBP ahead of him, and the lack of protection behind him.

Josh Barfield - 3/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB (11). The sleeper that never woke up. I mentioned keeping an eye on him after a strong June, but he's followed that up with a miserable .224 July. It's possible he'll re-emerge again next year, but he's making that trade for Kouzmanoff (a highly regarded young hitter) look bad at the moment.