Wednesday's Roundup: Tejada's 1000th (No, Not HR)

Yovani Gallardo - 2 2/3 IP, 12 H, 11 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. Doesn't get much uglier than this. Despite Gallardo falling apart in the 2nd inning, he was left in to give up 7 runs in the frame, and then brought back out in the 3rd to give up 3 more. Just horrible management by the Brewers who are slowly falling apart. This is just a random blowup, and the fact that it came at the hands of the surging Rockies in Coors is nothing to be ashamed of. That being said, he's a young kid, and it'll be interesting to see how he bounces back from this.

Jeff Francis - 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (13). Not a good outing from Francis, but thanks to the offensive explosion, he cruised to an easy win. He wasn't efficient at all, but the Brewers are still a pretty tough matchup for pitchers.

Troy Tulowitski - 4/5, 4 R, 3 RBI, HR (14). He's starting to catch fire again, going 6/9 in his last two games with 5 R, 2 HR, and 4 RBI. He's been moved up to the 2nd spot with Tavares hurt again, and will maintain bigtime production in the R catagory ahead of Holliday/Helton/Atkins as long as he's getting on base.

Garrett Atkins - 4/4, 1 R, 6 RBI. Atkins is on fire in August, hitting .531 with 2 HR, 18 RBI, and 6 R in only 8 games. He's turned his season around in a big way since May and remains among in the 2nd tier of 3B behind A-Rod/Wright/Cabrera.

James Shields - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (9). A very impressive outing against the powerful Tigers lineup from Shields, who was obliterated in the month of July for a 6.62 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He has looked better this month and is hopefully settling back down, but his schedule is still not favorable at all down the stretch. I'd use him to try to make a deadline deal, hoping that someone thinks he'll return to his April/May form.

Delmon Young - Put him on your undervalued list for next year. Young has been a pretty big disappointment after putting up huge numbers to close 2006. He's been on fire since the AS break by hitting .356, but with 0 HR, 11 RBI, and 1 SB in that same timeframe, he hasn't been helping fantasy teams very much. He's due to breakout at some point with his 40 HR power potential and still could put up a huge rest of the season, but it looks like he's still acclimating to major league pitching and he might not make a legit fantasy splash until next year.

Felix Hernandez - 6 2/3 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, W (8). Not a great start, but owners will take the win. His walk rate is a bit down from last year, but he's posted a .286 BAA, which is ridiculous for a pitcher with his kind of stuff. He's still learning how to pitch at the major league level and he's only 21 years old, so the hype he's gotten the last two years has definitely been over the top. He is going to breakout one of these years, but owners will have to wait another offseason for it to happen. Hopefully he can close strong to give himself something to build off of.

Jeremy Guthrie - 4 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. I hope he still isn't on your roster. His overall numbers still look sharp, but he hasn't been consistently pitching well for about a month now. Get rid of him for what you can.

Miguel Tejada - 3/4, 1 RBI. Tejada drove in his 1,000th run last night. Congrats to one of the best SS of our era.

Miguel Cabrera - 1/3, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (28). From one Miguel to another. This one has 5 HR in his past 10 games, and is obviously feeling just fine after leaving early 2 games ago thanks to a HBP.

Chien Ming-Wang - 2 2/3 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. His numbers are pretty much in line with last year after this shelling. He has brought up his K rate, which is good, but his BAA is now .273 which is really limiting what he can do for his ERA. He has to start missing more bats to take the next step.

Roy Halladay - 7 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (13). Despite the ER, this was a very good start against the Yankees. Despite the DL stint and the poor pitching, Halladay is one back from the major league leader in wins. His overall numbers don't look that great, but he's been pitching very well for about a month now.

Vernon Wells - 3/4, 2 R, 4 RBI. A rare big game from Wells. He has been hitting .286 since the AS break, which is better, but the power still isn't there with only 1 HR and 14 RBI in 26 games. The production will come with if he sustains a better AVG in the 2nd half.

Robinson Cano - 2/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (13). Cano continues to kill the ball as he's definitely reclaimed his position among the 2nd tier of 2B behind Chase Utley. His patient owners are reaping the rewards.

Chad Billingsley - 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. Up and down and up and down. This was a down, but he did a good job stranding baserunners to maintain a solid ERA. The offense just wasn't there for him, not that he really deserved to win pitching like that.

Aaron Harang - 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (11). A bigtime outing from Harang against a scuffling Dodgers offense who has been shutout in back-to-back games. He's obviously fine after missing a start due to a sore back. He hasn't allowed more than 3 ER since June 27, taking his ERA down to 3.37.

John Smoltz - 6 1/3 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Smoltz has scuffled a bit his past two outings, but he's posted a sparkling 3.03 ERA to date. He's turned into a reliable fantasy ace for those who waited for someone like him while drafting hitting heavy early on.

Orlando Hernandez - 7 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. More of the same from El Duque who's enjoying a career year at 42 years old. Not enough credit can be given to Mets coach Rick Peterson who turned Hernandez/Perez/Maine into a very nice 1/2/3 punch with Pedro hurt.

Carlos Zambrano - 5 2/3 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. His streak had to end somewhere. He has actually looked horrible his last two starts, walking 7 against the Mets in his last outing, and then getting knocked around by a bad Houston offense last night. From what I watched, he was wild again and left way too many pitches over the plate. Hopefully he isn't hurting.

Roy Oswalt - 6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W (12). The command defied him again last night, but it didn't matter against the currently lost Cubs offense. The walks were the only thing preventing him from going deeper into this one, but he picked up the win regardless.

Lance Berkman - 1/3, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (20). He's still showing good power, but his AVG sits at a very disappointing .258 for a career .299 hitter. Berkman had a big June, but he hasn't hit above .253 in any other month. He's a good reason why you shouldn't overvalue veteran players coming off career years, as they often move up cheatsheets the following year, not that veteran players turn in a followup performance quite this bad.

Johan Santana - 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (12). Still not one of his better performances, but thanks to a rare Twins offensive explosion, he picked up the win with ease. Expect him to start dominating more like he usually does very soon.

Torii Hunter - 3/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (23). Hunter slumped a bit at the plate in July, but has roared back by hitting .385 so far this month. He hasn't stolen a base since June, but centerfielders wear down a lot faster than corner outfielders do thanks to their daily obligations in the field. He should steal a few more bags by the time the year is up, but he's not a 20 SB guy anymore. Hunter is falling into the Berkman catagory, especially since he is in a contract year. Don't overpay for him next year.

Greg Maddux - 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Maddux hardly deserved to lose this one, but his offense let him down again. He hasn't allowed more than 3 ER over his past 5 starts, but has 0 W to show for it.

C.C. Sabathia - 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. A bit wild last night, but he did a good job limited the White Sox to 2 ER in the process. His offense didn't help him out last night as he was unable to become MLB's first 15 game winner.

Joaquin Benoit - 1 1/3 IP, 2 K. He's been in all the wrong places at the wrong times so far as C.J. Wilson has picked up all 3 saves since the Gagne trade. Continue hanging onto him because I keep reading that he will receive save chances as well.

Jon Lester - 3 1/3 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. Dump him if you're still hanging onto him. He's not ready to help fantasy teams.

Dustin Pedroia - 3/5, 3 R, 1 RBI, HR (5), SB (5). Great game last night, and he's hitting .326 on the season. He's very much like Polanco...very nice AVG and R production, but he's not going to help in HR/SB/RBI. He's not a bad injury replacement at all, but I wouldn't want him as my everyday 2B.

Matt Cain - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (4). Pretty amazing that a guy with a 3.77 ERA only has 4 W on the year, proving how luck drives the W catagory in fantasy leagues. Cain's put together 3 very nice outings in a row, so hopefully he's turning things around now.