Wednesday - Saturday Recap

Sorry guys, I took a long weekend and wasn't around the computer until today. I'll recap the last couple days that I missed, but I'll be far more selective in who I cover. I'll be back to the daily updates tomorrow.

Andy Pettitte - 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (7). Pettitte turned in his best start in about a month and a half, and even though the White Sox performing like a weak offense this year, they're even worse against LHP. Still, it was nice to see him turn in a great start, and that's 4 straight quality starts in a row. He's a fringe mixed league starter despite the name recognition.

Bronson Arroyo - 1 2/3 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. Ugh, and against the Nationals no less. He had been pitching quite well before this game, so let's give him a pass on this ugly outing and hope he bounces back in his next appearance. It's only his 2nd non-quality start in his past 8 appearances.

Rich Hill - 4 2/3 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. Bad times for Hill against Philly, even without Utley in the lineup. Rich Hill's numbers are living off of his strong April, where he posted a 1.77 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. Since then, he's posted a 4.40 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. He's also only had 3 wins in the past 3+ months as well, so he's really only contributing in the K column. I'm surprised I didn't notice this earlier, and it's very possible that the league has caught up to his average fastball and big curve combination. See what you can get for him in trade.

Alfonso Soriano - 2/4, 3 SB (18). I can't imagine owning him in H2H leagues with his ridiculous streaks. Still, it was nice to see him get active on the basepaths again. He's on pace for 27 HR and 27 SB, so he's way behind what people were expecting this year. Still, he's had a productive fantasy season. The Cubs would be smart to pursue a leadoff hitter in free agency and move Soriano to the 5 spot, whether or not Soriano likes it.

Oliver Perez - 6 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 11 K, W (10). Perez wasn't at his best last night, but he still pitched pretty well against a solid Milwaukee offense, and picked up the win thanks to good run support. Plus, who doesn't love 11 Ks?

Jered Weaver - 6 IP, 12 K, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. Back to back 6 ER starts from Weaver. He's been very erratic so far this year, but he pitches for a great team and patience should be shown here. He should bounce back from these outings and be useable.

Felix Hernandez - 8 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. Love the K:BB ratio here as Felix continues to show more and more progress as the season moves along. He was in line for the win until Putz uncharacteristically blew the save.

Tim Lincecum - 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K. He can get through outings like this with all the walks thanks to how unhittable he is right now. Over his last 7 starts, he's allowed 27 H in 44 1/3 IP, which is incredible. He's pitching about as well as anyone in baseball, but given the innings limitation he'll most likely be on come season's end, redraft leaguers should part with him for a n equal value veteran pitcher.

Anthony Reyes - 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Not what I was looking for against Pittsburgh. He's slowly getting better, but I expected more against a weaker offense. He's not worth picking up, but he's very well worth monitoring down the stretch.

Jeremy Guthrie - 5 1/3 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. Boston smacked him around pretty good, and he was really lucky his ERA wasn't crushed given the amount of baserunners allowed. His stellar command is falling apart, and his ratios will go nowhere but up. As I've been preaching, get rid of him, if you can.

Jon Garland - 1 1/3 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. His ERA has shot from 3.15 to 4.60 over the past month. I was saying how I had no idea why he was continuing to post the numbers he was, and things have evened out now. He's not worth hanging onto anymore.

Roger Clemens - 1 2/3 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K. And his ERA shoots back over 4. He gave up 8 runs in all. I am elated I was able to get good value for him because he's just not going to be providing consistent mixed league value in the AL. Deal him if you still have him, and hopefully cash in on the name recognition.

Sean Marshall - 2 2/3 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Philly really lit him up. I still view him as a fringe mixed league starter, but be careful with his matchups. As I mentioned before, his Ks are way down since his first few starts. His command is still better than it was last year, and it's possible he can keep his ERA under 4, but it's probably best if he's just used for spot starts against weaker teams.

Jake Peavy - 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (11). Vintage Peavy. This is his best start in quite some time, and hopefully he'll go back to being the dominant Peavy from the start of the season. Still, through all of his, he avoided getting lit up and he pitched pretty well.

Barry Zito - 5 2/3 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (8). That's a start, I guess. He's on the waiver wire in many leagues, but he's well worth watching because I still think he can turn it around. I'd definitely leave him on waivers, but keep an eye on him and see if he can build off of this.

Orlando Hernandez - 6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. What we've come to expect from El Duque this year, but Zambrano kept him from preventing a win. He continues to amaze despite his age and poor performace last year. I still say he's a great sell high candidate before the deadline thanks to his frequency of injuries.

Carlos Zambrano - 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 BB, 5 K. So yeah, he didn't have his command at all this game, but his ability to be unhittable when he needs to be allowed him to strand a whole host of runners. He again left his start early due to dehydration (I was at this game...it was really hot), so he needs to figure out what's causing this since that's the 2nd straight start he's left with the same problem.

Ryan Dempster - 1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. A leadoff walk, and this happened. Outside of Delgado's rope double down the right field line, it was a bunch of seeing eye singles, so while he didn't pitch well, he wasn't getting killed. Unless he turns in more starts like this, his job as the closer remains safe despite all the hype about the return of Kerry Wood.

Chien Ming-Wang - 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (13). Typical start from Wang, and it was nice to see him bounce back after 4 straight starts of 3 ER or more, even if it was against the Royals. Thanks to his lowered ratios over last year, he's become a more reliable fantasy pitcher this season as Ks are the only catagory he's not truly a contributor in.

Tim Redding - 6 1/3 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. He's pitched quite well since re-joining the major league rotation, but that's only earned him 1 win. His history says this won't last for long, even if he did have the talent to pitch like this at one point earlier in his career. Stay away.

Roy Oswalt - 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (11). Oswalt appears to be back at this point, turning in 2 dominant performances in a row. Let's hope he continues to build on this and returns to the great fantasy pitcher he's been over the past several years.

Mark Buehrle - 8 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (9). Tigers or Royals, it just doesn't matter this year for Buehrle. I still remain skeptical about his 3.07 ERA at this point and I think it's due for a correction, but he's pitching as well as any point in his career right now. I'd be really tempted to sell high before the deadline.

Andrew Miller - 4 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. He left this start hurt in the 5th inning, and has been placed on the DL with a bum hamstring. I'll fully take the blame for suggesting everyone stick with him. He's very inefficient with his pitches, and while he's a great talent, it doesn't appear he's ready for the majors yet. You can safely drop him.

Ian Snell - 5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. He's lost 5 straight starts, and he only mixed in one quality start in that span. He's not useable right now, but given how well he was pitching earlier in the season, his owners should stash him and hopes he turns it around.

Roy Halladay - 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, W (12). Not his best start, but the W and Ks more than make up for it. He's still on a very nice roll and is finally turning back into the fantasy ace he usually is when healthy.

Dannys Baez - 1 IP, 1 BB, SV (1). Baez is finally feeling well, and he cashed in on his first save opportunity. Consider him the strongest candidate for saves in the Baltimore bullpen.

James Shields - 6 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. He's been a very mediocre pitcher for the past 10 starts, but his 2 starts have shown a bit of progress back towards the right direction. If you're deep in pitching, you can cut him like I did, but he's worth stashing in most formats to see if he can turn it around. I read that his schedule is very rough over the rest of the year, so that will only complicate his chances of returning to fantasy relevance.

Jeff Francis - 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (12). He's come roaring back over his last two starts after a very worrisome set of starts where he was giving up 5-6 ER consistently. Pick him back up if he was dropped.

John Smoltz - 6 2/3 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 5 K. A bad outing against Colorado is not a bad thing, so don't worry about his one. He had 3 straight quality starts since coming off the DL until this one.

Mark Teixeira - 2/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (16). He's been on fire since joining his new team, slamming HRs in his first three games. Some will make noise about the ballpark switch affecting his value, but like I mentioned in the trade summary, his HR rate was still very strong on the road, and the only thing he needs to prove is that he can hit for a solid AVG.

Yovani Gallardo - 6 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. Another outstanding start from this season's 2nd best rookie pitcher. The Brewers have stated that he'll be limited to about 175 IP, so he's only got about 40 IP left. Try to cash in on this in redraft leagues and deal him before the deadline.

C.C Sabathia - 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (14). AL's first 14 game winner. He's settled back into a fantasy ace after a tough stretch of games earlier last month.

Johan Santana - 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. He's been far more hittable this summer than usual, losing as many games this summer as the past 3 years combined. His numbers are still elite thanks to a stronger start than usual to the season, so expect him to be more Santana-ish very soon.

Joe Borowski - 1 IP, SV (30). His ERA still sits at 4.85, but that's mostly to a brutal April. He had an ERA of 4.00 in May, 3.38 in June, and 3.60 in July, so he's not hurting your team as bad as his overall numbers indicate. He was pretty solid in both May and July in the WHIP catagory, so hopefully he can continue pitching well and not make his owners pay too much for all the saves he generates.

Jon Lester - 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. He's not pitching like a mixed league option, so he's not worth owning right now. Don't forget about him though, since he's still a talented pitcher.

Matt Cain - 7 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 11 K. Is anyone unluckier than this guy? I'm not sure what he has to do to pick up a win, but he's posted 2 straight impressive starts and appears to be re-capturing mixed league form. He's safe to activate again, but he's risky and can't seem to win. He's not a good option for a team that can't afford a blowup risk in their rotation, so trade him unless you have solid options that can offset his ratio risk.

Greg Maddux - 6 1/3 IP., 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. Steady, if not exciting. Cain outpitched him tonight. I'm not a big fan of his mixed league value, but he is fairly consistent and is probably better than most waiver wire options at this point.

Chad Billingsley - 7 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. He continues alternating strong and weak outings. As I said before, it'll balance out to be a pretty good positive for your mixed league rotation when all is said and done. He's well worth owning.

Phillip Hughes - 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Not a great start, but there's good news here. Thanks to his leg injury, his arm will be fresh, and unlike Lincecum and Gallardo, he's at no risk to be shut down prior to the season's finish. This kid is for real, and while he'll present the usual inconsistency risk that rookie pitchers offer, he has bigtime upside and great win potential. He'll have good mixed league value over the rest of the year.

Alex Rodriguez - 3/4, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR (36), SB (13). #500 for A-Rod! What a career so far for A-Rod, and count me in with the many people who hope he eventually breaks the HR record. He's busted his slump with 2 very nice games in a row, so settle in and enjoy fantasy's #1 player over the rest of the year.

Bobby Abreu - 3/5, 4 R, 2 RBI, HR (11). He's carried over his big July into August so far as he's reclaiming his previous fantasy value. Let's hope he's re-found his groove and continues to close out the year in a very strong fashion.

Shaun Marcum - 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (8). 3 straight wins for Marcum who's definitely providing mixed league value right now. Continue using him while he's hot, and don't be afraid to cut bait if he puts together a couple bad outings.

Matt Garza - 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Very inefficient with his pitches, needing 93 pitches to get through 4 innings. He'll have outings like this, and he had a tough assignment pitching against Cleveland last night. He'll be more useful than not, so he's worth owning in mixed leagues as well. He'll be at risk of being shut down early as well, but he likely has no trade value, so just use him in the right matchups.

Kelvim Escobar - 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 BB, 2 K. Obviously nowhere close to his best start, but he pitched around all the baserunners and held Oakland to only 2 hits. Unfortunately his offense failed him for the 2nd start in a row.

Joe Blanton - 7 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. Not bad for not striking out a single batter. This was a step in the right direction after a run of bad starts, but the 0 strikeouts still has me worried a bit. He was lucky here.

Alan Embree - 1 IP, 1 K, SV (13). He's still the closer even though Street has returned. Oakland's manager has stated that he's in no rush thanks to the success Embree is enjoying in the closer's role, so Street owners might have to be patient. Don't drop him yet, and make sure Embree is owned in your league.

John Maine - 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. Didn't have his control last night. He had bounced back well after a couple rough stretches, but odds are he'll have some control problems here and there and turn in an outing like this. Nothing to worry about here.

Ted Lilly - 7 2/3 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (12). Back on the winning path. He's been on an incredible winning streak, winning 8 of his last 10 starts. With the Cubs on fire, he's in a great position to win each time he turns in a quality start. He's turned into a great late round pickup in drafts this year.

Tim Hudson - 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (12). Hudson shut down the powerful Colorado offense last night in the latest of his 5 consecutive great outings. He's pitching as well as anyone in baseball right now, and would have 5 consecutive wins as well if not for a blown save by Wickman mixed in.

Garrett Atkins - 1/4, 1 R, 4 RBI, HR (17). He's on fire again so far this month, hitting .467 with 2 HR and 10 RBI in 4 games. After two straight months hitting over .300, he's back as a great fantasy option at 3B after a slow first two months.

Javier Vazquez - 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (9). He continues to pitch well against even the toughest of opponents in a mixed league revelation. He's been a great find for his owners, only turning in one substandard month (5.03 ERA despite a 1.09 WHIP) on the season so far. Too bad the offense has tanked or else he'd likely be contending for the AL lead in wins.

Jeremy Bonderman - 7 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. It's happening again as Bonderman continues to blow up after the AS break. Many, including myself, thought this would be the year that he finally stopped the 2nd half meltdown, but he's going to have to be incredble the rest of the way to avoid yet another bad 2nd half.

Cole Hamels - 7 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Tom Gordon blew the lead for him in the 8th inning, and that was the night for Hamels. He again pitched well, but gave up 3 of those 4 ER in his last inning of work, coupling several hits together. He's still pitching very well.

Dave Bush - 5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. A bad outing from Bush against a quality Philly offense. He's definitely one you have to watch out for in his matchups...he's not a starter you should plug in regardless of his opponent.

Jason Bay - 1/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (17). Bay is hitting .288 with 4 HR, 15 RBI, and 13 R in 20 games since the AS break, so he's definitely hitting more like he usually does. I still think he's due for a patented Bay hot streak sometime soon.

Scott Kazmir - 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K. I took longer than I anticipated, but Kazmir is definitely back on track now, posting 5 straight quality starts. Kazmir is showing much improved control, leading to these improved results. Ever since he said that he wanted to stop worrying about his mechanics all the time and just pitch the ball, he's produced far better results. Expect a nice finish.

Daisuke Matsuzaka - 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K. 2 solo HR accounted for all the damage as Matsuzaka turned in a very nice outing. He had a 3 outing speedbump after a long stretch of successful starts, but he's back on top of his form with 3 straight quality outings. He seems to be streaky, but he's been more good than bad so far this year.

Barry Bonds - 1/1, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (21). #755 for Bonds. Meh.

Derek Lowe - 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Another rough start for Lowe who hasn't pitched the same since injuring his groin. I'm not sure if he's still not feeling healthy. Never underestimate a leg injury for a pitcher, especially if that's his planting foot. Hopefully he shows some progress in his next outing.

Eric Byrnes - 2/5, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (17), SB (28). He's done an incredible job of being consistent this year, which was his downfall last year during the first fantasy-relevant season of his career. Given he's playing for a new contract, expect a solid finish, which was his problem last year. He's coming of an incredible 12 steal July.