Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Mets not only snapped their five-game losing streak, but they did their part to save the world on Wednesday. After manager Jerry Manuel's team meeting in the wake of Tuesday's loss, the Mets all came to the ballpark on Wednesday on buses, instead of players arriving individually in cabs. Although the team-building experience may have actually done more to save on fuel than to actually bond, the result was a 1-0 victory.
Manuel wasn't going to take credit for his speech firing up the team, especially since pitcher Mike Pelfrey missed it. Pelfrey had left the ballpark early Tuesday night to get some rest.
"I told him, 'If he'd been at the meeting, he would have thrown a no-hitter,' " Manuel joked.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
In yesterday's Rush, we mentioned that Gordon Beckham is heating up and that the power would come. As if right on cue, he posted a 4-2-3-2 line in the box score. That is 4 at-bats, 3 hits, 2 runs and 2 RBI, for those box score challenged. One of the hits was a home run. Beckham went through some predictable growing pains when he was first called up the majors, but he's since raised his on-base percentage to .353. His OPS is 1.396 in his last five games. It's time to keep your eyes on him in all fantasy leagues. There's a reason he was in the majors less than a year after he was drafted.
When the St. Louis Cardinals traded for Mark DeRosa over the weekend, it was basically the unofficial start of teams swapping players before the July 31 trade deadline. Traditionally teams wait for one big domino to fall before they start wheeling and dealing, so it's no surprise that the Yankees and Pirates have now worked out a deal amongst themselves.
NEW YORK – CC Sabathia is just fine. Perfectly healthy.
So healthy he could hit fifth for the Mets.
After a week of consternation in the Yankees universe over Sabathia's pricey left arm – he came out of his last start, Sunday at Florida, with a sore biceps – he proved there was nothing to worry about. Sabathia was perfect in six of his seven innings as the Yankees throttled the Mets 9-1.
Before the game, Yankees manager Joe Girardi wasn't sure if Sabathia was OK, keeping his fingers crossed his $161 million ace would make it through the pregame session.
Jeff Bennett is notable for two reasons. First off, he's the unfortunate subject of the most unflattering photograph ever taken (see image right). Second, on Wednesday, he sucker-punched a dugout wall, broke his left fifth metacarpal, and returned to the mound to pitch another full inning.
The fracture didn't seem to adversely affect Bennett's performance. Which begs the question: how many times have you thought, "wow, I sure am glad I have a fifth metacarpal behind the pinky finger of my non-dominant hand! What a wonderful skeletal feature!" I never have. What a worthless bone.
Manny Ramirez is in Albuquerque, Jimmy Rollins isn't stealing bases, and Alex Rodriguez's batting average resembles 2008 Craig Counsell. Top picks have disappointed and the fantasy baseball world has been turned upside down by injuries (Thanks, Dice-K!). Knox Bardeen and I try to sort through the madness in this week's cram session. Check out the podcast after the jump.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Adam LaRoche, he of the longest swing in the majors, is starting to heat up. In the last 9 games, he's hit .387 with 3 home runs, 5 RBI, 4 runs, 2 doubles, a .444 on-base percentage and 1.186 OPS. If his career history is any indicator, we can expect things to continue along this pace.
It's just that he's starting things up a bit early. In LaRoche's career, he's been two different players per season. Just look at his splits. He's a decent hitter with good power in through June. From July on, though, he's a good hitter with great power.
In a kinder, gentler world, one without cell phone cameras and the insatiable desire to know everything about everyone, here's what would be relevant: Alex Rodriguez is in a brutal slump, the Yankees are in a bit of trouble and most of the pertinent details can be found in the latest box scores.
In a Jon and Kate world, here's the, ahem, rest of the story: Behind closed doors, Yankee executives argue about and stress over what they call "the A-Rod situation." They wonder if his awkward flails with the bat, his slowly swiveling hips, are merely expected by-products of the surgery he underwent during the spring, or a harbinger of much worse? They wonder how he can be caught shamelessly canoodling with actress Kate Hudson at nightclubs in the wee morning hours, while his employers who pay him $30 million a year decide he needs days off, to rest his weary body.
A few weeks ago there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez, steroids and a blog. More specifically, a media firestorm started when a blogger named JRod wrote a post on MidwestSportsFans.com that looked at the possibility of Ibanez using steroids because of the way he'd been playing in the 2009 season.
The Philadelphia Inquirer then picked up on the story, brought it to Ibanez, Raul responded and then the next thing we knew Jerod Morris, JRod, was showing up on ESPN's Outside the Lines and was berated by Ken Rosenthal and John Gonzalez. Morris was shown off as the latest example of all things wrong with blogging and had to be reprimanded for his seemingly innocuous deed.
When it comes to surprises, last week's revelation was like finding out Iran's elections were juiced for the incumbent. If you want shocking news, however, you've come to the right place.
We are ready to reveal all the players who failed baseball's 2003 drug test. The results were supposed to be kept confidential, but Alex Rodriguez's name was leaked to Sports Illustrated and Sosa was outed last week in the New York Times.
There are 102 names to go. This drip-drip-drip could go on for years, but we're not going to let it.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
When the St. Louis Cardinals traded for 
NEW YORK – 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
In a kinder, gentler world, one without cell phone cameras and the insatiable desire to know everything about everyone, here's what would be relevant: 
A few weeks ago there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding Phillies outfielder 
So it turns out 
