FanHouse CcSabathia

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.

After scaring the bejeebers out of the Yankees and all of their fans by leaving his start Sunday in the second inning with left-biceps tightness, CC Sabathia seems to be suffering from no ill effects Monday, telling the New York Daily News that his arm "feels good" and that he expects to make his next start on Friday.

In fact, the Yankees aren't even sending him out for an MRI and if all goes well during a bullpen session later this week, their front office seem to think that his prediction of a Friday start isn't out of the question. As it stands now, he's being treated at the park, but that's just about the only thing they're doing differently.

CC Sabathia is a tremendous reason for the Yankees' recent surge in the standings, the return of Alex Rodriguez aside. So it's obviously a tremendous concern for the Yanks that their ace left Sunday's game after only the second inning with left-bicep "tightness."

Of course, it's not that shocking, I suppose -- based on Sabathia's recent run of heavy innings pitched leading back to last year, but it's still a nightmare nonetheless to see the big man exit early.

MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.

So, quick apology on my part: the Power Rankings were supposed to go live Wednesday, but things happened, I'm a jerkstore, excuses, etc., and here we are. It's not Wednesday! So please note that the records reflect Wednesday -- not Thursday, not Friday, not Saturday. Don't freak out in the comments and call me names. Please. I can't take that in my fragile emotional state right now. I might turn into Raul Ibanez, at which point I would yell at you and then strain my groin. And that wouldn't be good for anyone.

MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.

Well, that took freaking forever ... but the Blue Jays finally started to stink the joint up. I swear to you, you can't stay long atop the MLB Power Rankings -- our failure by osmosis jinxing ability is just too strong, son. At any rate, it was a weird week for ranking baseball: the Cubs continued to skid, the Padres went on a tear and Toronto fell off the face of the planet. So, yeah, spiciness ensued, and you may take the jump to see how badly your team fared. Unless you're a Rangers or a Braves fan, in which case they couldn't have done that poorly.

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

With the recent news that Mark DeRosa is on the trade block and the White Sox have possibly landed Jake Peavy, junkies of major league baseball trade rumors got an early glimpse at what promises to be a very interesting July. It's far to0 early to know exactly who will be in the market for what -- or who can afford to take on temporary payroll in this economy -- but it's certainly fun to speculate. Let's do it.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

There's an awful, awful fantasy baseball stigma that's attached to players who struggle in April and May. See: Papi, Big. Although his is much worse because he's a bulky DH declining swiftly; additionally, he's not a pitcher with the potential to be labeled "inconsistent" or "a slow starter."

Like, say, you know, CC Sabathia. Or Cole Hamels. Or Dontrelle Willis. Okay, scratch that last one -- he's just kind of insane kooky. But the point is this: Tuesday night was a suddenly wonderful bit of relief, because we got to see some big pitching names come through with nice outings.

MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.

While it's entirely possible the Blue Jays do hit a snag, isn't it about time columnists across the internet stopped doing Can the Blue Jays Really Keep This Up? pieces by now? I've seen at least 10 in the past three weeks. There are almost as many The Rangers Are For Real posts. The discrepancy in the media's faith in those two is likely due to the divisions in which the teams reside, but seven weeks isn't a small sample. At some point, you have to start giving credit where it's due.

There are some pretty good two-start pitchers going in week seven of the fantasy baseball season. Chad Billingsley and Dan Haren lead the list of "Must Start" pitchers, while I'm not sure which option would be riskier between Dontrelle Willis and Tim Redding this week.

There are 47 two-start pitchers in all and you'll need to lock your lineup by 1:07 PM ET on Monday as that's first pitch between the White Sox and Blue Jays.

Must Start
Dan Haren , Diamondbacks - Monday at FLA (R. Nolasco) and Saturday at OAK (J. Outman)
Derek Lowe , Braves - Monday vs COL (J. Marquis) and Saturday vs TOR (S. Richmond)
Jair Jurrjens , Braves - Tuesday vs COL (J. Hammel) and Sunday vs TOR (B. Tallet)

Ken Macha is doing it again.

The manager who has never had a losing season -- not as a minor league manager, major league coach or major league manager -- has the Brewers playing some of the best baseball in the big leagues.

As they head into this weekend's series with the Cardinals, who are tied with the Brewers for first in the NL Central, the Brewers have won 18 of their last 24.

While Macha would be the first to tell you that the players are more responsible for winning than the manager, this team has Macha's fingerprints all over it.