FanHouse EdgarGonzalez

There is no joy in watching a player get drilled in the head with a fastball. Other than the Indians, it is maybe the worst thing that can happen on a baseball diamond. Crashes are a selling point of NASCAR, fights are a loyalty-building exercise in the NHL, and limp-wristed sissy fights are top shelf NBA news. In baseball, everyone needs to be OK. They need to be on drugs, and totally OK.

Thank goodness that the Padres' Edgar Gonzalez is doing well after catching a heater to the ear flap during San Diego's Saturday night 3-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. At least, I think he's doing OK. I can't really remember.

Tonight's Dugout is after the jump. Somebody told you to read it, because it is good!

From now until the regular season begins, Fantasy Flings is where you'll find interesting story lines about your favorite teams from Spring Training. If there is a position battle, a nagging injury, a comeback story or a youngster making a surge for the "big club" we'll let you know the fantasy implications.

Los Angeles Angels
It turns out the Angels only rented Mark Teixeira for a few months. Now it's time to find a replacement. Kendry Morales tore up the Dominican Winter League to the tune of a .404 batting average with eight home runs and 29 RBI in only 26 games. He's also 6-17 through six Spring Training games. Nobody expects, or even asks, Morales to fill Teixeira's shoes, but the Cuban defector could blast 18 to 20 home runs and bat upwards of .280 if given full-time at-bats. He's a great late round fantasy draft flier in mixed-leagues and should be grabbed in AL-only leagues of any depth.

I've already mentioned Max Scherzer twice within the past two weeks. And I have already been ridiculed by another owner in one of many fantasy leagues because I have "never seen someone yet to throw a pitch in the majors that I didn't love." Fair enough. I mancrush on high strikeout prospects. But this list has included Johan Santana, Francisco Liriano, Cole Hamels and Yovani Gallardo. And now it includes Max Scherzer.

The freaky-eyed (seriously, one is like black and one is blue) Arizona number one draft pick made his major league debut Tuesday night ... and pardon my French, but damn. Edgar Gonzalez, possibly fearing for the life of his rotation spot, lasted only 2.2 innings before he gave up six earned runs on eight hits and two walks.

Scherzer was brought up for extended relief and that's exactly what he did, pitching 4.1 perfect innings, striking out seven of the 13 batters that he faced on an insanely scant 46 pitches.

Look, Scherzer might not do that every time. In fact, he probably (definitely?) won't. But he has a good shot at getting a rotation spot with the Diamondbacks for the duration of the season.

In the realm of real baseball, he is a tremendous young addition to an already tremendous young team. In the realm of fantasy, if he is available, you want to grab him immediately. If you already have him, you probably want to think about shopping him. I know, I know. It contradicts what I just said, but the hype machine is going to be out of freaking control, and if you can pull a stud pitcher or hitter for him with a proven major league track record, then you end up winning that deal 90% of the time.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Chicago White Sox (11-9) vs. New York Yankees (12-10) - 8:11PM Est.

Any minute now, Hank Steinbrenner is going to be on a New York radio station demanding that Brian Cashman trade Alex Rodriguez as soon as possible, because "that overpaid bastard has been holding us back! Anybody that would keep him on their team is an idiot! Joba Chamberlain should be playing third! Now bow down before me and kiss the rings, bitches."

Then when Brian Cashman says that Alex is a great player, and that there's no way the Yankees will trade him, Hank will have him shot in Times Square while hundreds of teenagers who were just there hoping to catch a glimpse of Miley Cyrus in the TRL studios or something will scream in horror. It's going to be pretty awesome.

The reason for all this? Well, the Yankees are looking to complete their first three-game sweep of the season, and they've won the first two games of their series against the White Sox without Alex Rodriguez in the lineup. He won't be back today either.

That's what I'm wondering now that I've heard the report that the Big Unit will miss a start with a forearm injury. Forearm injury. Don't say you're not thinking what I'm thinking. OK, putting tomfoolery aside, this actually does not sound good for Randy. Current reports suggest he's only going to miss one start after receiving a cortisone injection in his wrist on Tuesday. But I know this much -- receiving a cortisone injection is no joke.

"Just had some inflammation in there," Johnson said. "I don't know how I got it. I've never had it in my career in this area. It was swollen after my Pittsburgh start and the next day it was swollen again. I just had [hand specialist] Don Sheridan see my wrist and he evaluated it and said it was nothing to be alarmed about -- he'd seen it before. But he thought it would be in my best interest to let it rest for at least one start. It's already better today. It's not as sore, so I'm shooting for next Wednesday."

Come on Randy, you're not sure how you got it? What have you been doing in your off-days? But back to the injury, it seems like the exact sort of issue that could linger for quite some time. They say he's only going to miss one start, but I wouldn't be surprised if he misses more. And I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up hitting the DL at some point in the near future. In the meantime, Edgar Gonzalez will most likely take his spot in the rotation.

Alas, the moment will finally arrive. On Tuesday, the Diamondbacks' biggest off-season acquisition, Randy Johnson, will make his season debut, starting against the Padres at Chase Field. The date will be April 24th, which isn't too far off from the Unit's original projected date of return -- April 18th. This is a huge deal for Arizona, and a much-needed shot in the arm. The pitching staff has been banged up recently, with both Juan Cruz and Micah Owings getting placed on the 15-day DL.

Yusmeiro Petit, the prospect obtained from the Marlins in the Jorge Julio trade, will start Sunday for Arizona. The D-Backs also have recalled Dustin Nippert and Dana Eveland, and brought up Mike Schultz. Allow me to briefly say congrats to my old friend Mike Schultz on his Major League promotion. Mike missed two full seasons in the minors recovering from two shoulder surgeries. The guy used to be able to throw gas -- splitting a batting helmet in half and bloodying a batter's face back in high school.

As for Johnson, his most recent rehab start was on Thursday when he threw six innings for Triple-A Tucson. He most likely won't be able to work deep into the game in his first start, but his presence is more than welcomed. The Diamondbacks will now have the 1-2 punch they dreamed about heading into the season, with Brandon Webb and Johnson atop the rotation. Livan Hernandez, Doug Davis, and Edgar Gonzalez round out the formidable Diamondbacks' rotation.

Previously at FanHouse:
Randy Johnson's Not Quite Done With Rehab
Randy Johnson Could Be Less Than 10 Days Away
Randy Johnson's Happy He Didn't Kill Anybody
Randy Johnson Projected to Return Mid-to-Late April
Randy Johnson Will Start the Season on the DL
Randy Johnson Might Not Appear in a Cactus League Game
Like the Playoffs Against Detroit, Randy Johnson Throws BP
Randy Johnson Is Working His Way Back
Marlins Trade for Closer Jorge Julio

The Diamondbacks came into the season as many people's sleeper team to not only win the division, but to possibly make a run at the World Series. Those sentiments were hastily squelched after Arizona dropped two of three to the NL West bottom-feeding Rockies to open up the year. But man oh man, there's nothing to rekindle your optimism like seeing seeing a four game series on your schedule with the Nationals this year -- a team projected to be "historically bad."

The Diamondbacks have taken the first three of their four games series with the Nats, outscoring their Triple A NL East opponent by an 18-5 margin. And yes, it's way cheesy when someone uses the line "their hitters made ___ look like Cy Young," but seriously, the Nats Punch and Judy lineup made EDGAR GONZALEZ (who's he?) and MICAH OWINGS (come again?) look like aces, and defending Cy Young winner Brandon Webb (pictured) look like, well, Brandon Webb. Matter of fact, the Nats have trailed at least 4-0 in all of their games this year, the first club since 1900 to do so -- which is certainly something to be proud of.

For Diamondback fans, don't get too excited yet -- even if you complete the sweep today. ALL teams should head into a series with the Nats looking to win two of three, or three of four at the least, and anything worse should be considered an embarrassment. As for Nats fans, it's going to be a long season. Just hope Bowden gets some good prospects in return when he starts dismantling the team. Remember, there's always 2010.

Previously at FanHouse:
Can the Washington Nationals Be Historically Bad?
Jim Bowden Has Already Given Up