FanHouse JayBruce

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 think of Chicago Cubs starting pitchers, you first think of Carlos Zambrano. Next is probably Rich Harden, especially in terms of sheer talent -- plus, the injury woes probably keep him fresh in your mind. After last season, Ryan Dempster should be hanging out in your baseball-knowledge-filled brain as well. The best Cubs' starter of 2009, though, has been Ted Lilly. After yet another quality start Sunday, the Cubs' left-hander is 7-4 with a 2.94 ERA and 1.06 WHIP.

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 I am. Bottom of the 10th inning. Promenade section of Citi Field.

With my hands swollen from furious applause throughout the night and my legs bobbing to stay warm, Fernando Martinez laced a hit to right field. We came alive once more, while the old man sitting next to me grumbled: "Another friggin single? Pelfrey's the only one who drove somethin'."

Sixteen hits and pitcher Mike Pelfrey was the Met with pop.

Lately, our feedback has been exclusively Matt Wieters-centric. I've gotten e-mails about how we should handle his ascension to the big leagues. We've gotten comments about how we should set up a fake Twitter account for him, and follow his exploits on a minute-by-minute basis as he goes 0-for-4 and occasionally triples. My Dad calls me every couple of days to ask me how good I think Wieters is, because Wieters could go to the bathroom, put it in a McDonald's bag, and show it on television and my Dad would call me to ask me how awesome I thought it was.

This is my humble attempt to transfer the ethereal glory of the hard-swinging, hard-loving Orioles catching prospect who hit .999 in Single-A and redefined Double-A simply by being there.

This morning's Dugout is 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.

Remember 'Five Alive,' the juicy blend with five fruits that's fun for all the family? Well, Rick Porcello is a unique blend of rookie flavor who's reeled off five straight victories. You can hardly find that syrupy drink on the shelves anymore, but you can still find Porcello in about 30 percent of Yahoo! leagues. And that's not all there is to like about Porcello. After the jump, it's fun time for all fantasy owners! (sugar rush optional)

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 Reds can see the top of the NL Central. And they can smell it.

Cincinnati trails St. Louis by 1 1/2 games and Milwaukee by a 1/2 game, and on Friday the Reds begin a trip to .... Milwaukee (three games) and St. Louis (four).

"We go on the road with some momentum," [Jay Bruce] said. "We plan on coming back in first place."

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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.

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

I think we can all agree that it's far too early to start voting upon who the best 2009 players are when it's only the middle of May. That being said, there are certainly some shining stars at this point who deserve some props. Plus, Major League Baseball recently released their All-Star ballots for our voting pleasure -- we vote on who will start the All-Star Game. If that's not important, I don't know what is. Let's take a gander.

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.

Let me put this simply: you want no part of being No. 1 in the FanHouse MLB Power Rankings. It just brings discord, losing and possibly suspensions to your baseball team. Such was the case with the white-hot Dodgers and Manny Ramirez, who now have to deal with a 50 game-ban of their star slugger. Who's doomed this week? Let's just say that no one would be too shocked if they weren't there again next Wednesday.

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday. It appears Saturday because of the A-Rod and Manny Ramirez news.

Heading into Saturday's action, the Cincinnati Reds have played pretty good baseball. They've taken some lumps, but overall it's been a good start for a team that finished 14 games under .500 in 2008. They've gotten good pitching, but their offense leaves something to be desired. Only the Diamondbacks and Giants have scored less runs in the NL.

Boy, they could really use Adam Dunn.