Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
After Tim Lincecum missed a start, fantasy owners still in the championship race had to have been holding their collective breath. Now is not the time to lose your staff ace. His next start would be a test of his health. Last year's NL Cy Young winner took the hill Monday night against the wild card-leading Rockies, and he passed the test with flying colors. While the 4 free passes were a bit disappointing, Lincecum more than made up for that with a win, 11 strikeouts and just 1 earned run in 7 innings of work. He's back, and he'll be a force the rest of the way (now if only someone could convince him to get a freaking haircut).
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
When you select Carlos Pena in fantasy baseball, you know you aren't getting batting average help. Still, his career-low .223 mark this year was well below expectations, and up until August 5, the power numbers weren't nearly high enough to console disappointed Pena owners.
Well, that has all changed. Since that date, Pena has slugged 11 home runs and driven home 22. His average has been respectable (.286) and his OPS is ridiculous (1.307). On the season, Pena now has a six home run lead on the rest of the AL with 37. He's also third in RBI (91).
Two good things happened to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday. They beat the Pittsburgh Pirates and emerged from their one-day stay in last place in the NL Central. That coincided with Scott Rolen's return from the disabled list. Unfortunately with the Reds, their two pieces of good news were balanced with two more players hitting the disabled list. Aaron Harang will miss the rest of 2009 after an appendectomy on Saturday night and Chris Dickerson badly sprained his ankle during a pick-off attempt during Sunday's game.
The list of Reds' injuries this year is staggering. John Fay at the Cincy Enquirer has a good run down of all of them; every opening day starter except Brandon Phillips has spent time on the DL while Harang joins Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto there, making up 3/5ths of their opening day starting rotation. It's an incredible run of bad luck that's certainly part of the reason the Reds are battling the Pirates for last place. I also think it's creating an easy excuse for a team that has deeper running problems.
The Yankees are in serious discussions with the Reds about acquiring Bronson Arroyo, although right now the deal may be hinging on how much of Arroyo's remaining contract the Reds are willing to eat, major league sources told FanHouse on Monday.
Arroyo, 32, is due nearly $4 million for the rest of this season, plus $11 million in 2010 and a $2 million buyout or a $11 million option in 2012. Arroyo is 10-9 with a 5.21 ERA, but he has a 2.08 ERA in his past three starts.
Reds top officials met via conference call this morning, an indication to one big-league source that they were "close to a deal." Arroyo remains the scheduled starter for Tuesday night's game against the Padres, according to Cincinnati's official Twitter account, however the Yankees have two scouts in Cincinnati.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That talk about maple bats has died down since last year, but the problem is still there. For proof, look at what nearly happened to Red Sox shortstop Nick Green during Wednesday night's game. The Nationals' Elijah Dukes shattered his bat on a swing, with the pieces of the bat and the ball heading simultaneously toward Green.
Green managed to avoid both. The ball got into the outfield for a hit, but the threat to Green was apparent when the shattered barrel of Dukes bat stuck in the ground like a stake near Green.
"It's scary to see a bat go flying that far," pitcher Jon Lester said. "I thought they did some research this offseason to try to figure that stuff out, but obviously we've still got a long ways to go. You've got to take cover. It's a tough play to make when you've got a bat head flying at you looking to take your head off."
It's not a terribly glorious week for two-start pitchers in week six (Monday, May 11th - Sunday May 17th) of the fantasy baseball season. With the light day of action on Monday there are only 34 total this week, and most of this week's pitchers are risky picks.
You won't need to set you lineups until 7:05 PM ET on Monday as the only four games are night starts
Must Start Johan Santana, Mets - Monday vs ATL (D. Lowe) and Saturday at SF (R. Johnson) Matt Cain , Giants - Tuesday vs WAS (J. Zimmermann) and Sunday vs NYM (M. Pelfrey) Jered Weaver , Angels - Tuesday vs BOS (J. Masterson) and Sunday at TEX (S. Feldman) Roy Halladay, Blue Jays - Tuesday vs NYY (A. Burnett) and Sunday vs CWS (G. Floyd)
MLB Power Rankings:Where we care what you've done for us lately when we break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world each week.
HAVE YOU HEARD? YANKEE STADIUM HAS A WIND TUNNEL!!! Does it matter/is it real? Probably not. In fact, it might actually be on the other end of the spectrum of importance when compared to MLB Power Rankings. This week, we welcome another brand new No. 1 at the top of our rankings, although, all spoiler alerts aside, it's from the same division as last week! Debate the quality of your team, 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.
Cole Hamels, Brandon Webb, Tim Lincecum and CC Sabathia owners eat your heart out. Relative unknowns -- and likely undrafted in nearly all mixed fantasy leagues -- Ricky Romero and Glen Perkins are straight dealing right now. And after three outings each, it's time to start wondering if the quick starts are not flukey.
As we head into the third week of the fantasy baseball season we have 34 starting pitchers throwing twice. When setting your lineups, remember that tomorrow is Patriot's Day in Boston, so first pitch is at 11:05 AM Eastern Time.
Must Start Roy Halladay, Blue Jays - Tuesday vs TEX (B. McCarthy) and Sunday at CWS (J. Contreras) Derek Lowe, Braves - Monday at WAS (J. Zimmermann)and Saturday at CIN (B. Arroyo) C.C. Sabathia, Yankees - Tuesday vs OAK (B. Anderson) and Sunday at BOS (J. Beckett) Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers - Tuesday at HOU (R. Ortiz) and Sunday at COL (J. Marquis)
How times change. Fifty years ago, the Cold War was escalating, and the Soviets were adding to their nuclear stockpile. In 2009, the Reds may start dismantling their arms. Manager Dusty Baker, of course, has a reputation of working pitchers into the ground. It's possible that our perception of him is overblown, and that he does not literally shove pitchers' arms into wood chippers, but given the impressive young pitching talent on the Reds' roster and in their farm system, there's at least anecdotal reason to worry.
Cincinnatians, finish your subway and then read this morning's Dugout, after the jump.
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Two good things happened to the 
The Yankees are in serious discussions with the Reds about acquiring 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
As we head into the third week of the fantasy baseball season we have 34 starting pitchers throwing twice. When setting your lineups, remember that tomorrow is Patriot's Day in Boston, so first pitch is at 11:05 AM Eastern Time.
How times change. Fifty years ago, the Cold War was escalating, and the Soviets were adding to their nuclear stockpile. In 2009, the 
