Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday. Ben Zobrist has transformed from a run-of-the-mill slap hitter into one of the most powerful middle infielders in baseball. Right when you thought he might be cooling off, SMASH! -- a grand slam against Kansas City for his 10th home run of the year. He's slugging .659 with a 1.073 OPS for crying out loud. And he's somehow still available in over 35 percent of mixed leagues. So the question becomes: Is it time for you to believe in the man Joe Maddon nicknamed "Zorilla" or will his power eventually fade just like Marco Scutaro's did?
The Rays' pitching staff took a pair of hits on Friday with the news that both Scott Kazmir and Troy Percival are headed to the disabled list. The Rays called up shortstop Reid Brignac and right-handed pitcher Dale Thayer to take their places on the roster. If reports are accurate, 2008 playoff hero David Price may not be far behind them.
Kazmir has a strained right quadriceps, which may have been contributing to his poor performances of late. Kazmir has allowed 14 earned runs in his last two starts, which lasted less than eight innings combined, and has a 10.89 ERA in May.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That David Ortiz pulled within one homer of Yovanni Gallardo on the MLB leaderboard. Yes, Big Papi finally hit a home run. It took him 149 at-bats to get his first homer of the season, while 318 other players had hit at least one -- including two by Gallardo, a Brewers pitcher -- but Ortiz got on the board with a fifth-inning homer, helping the Sox to a victory over Toronto.
Ortiz had been slumping so badly that manager Terry Francona benched him for the whole series last weekend in Seattle. Ortiz joked after hitting the homer on Wednesday that he was so desperate he was "about to hit right-handed."
No, really. Writing a lineup card is more difficult than you realize. Suppose you have to write a lineup card and you've only been a manager for three years. Should you start one guy at third base? Should you start two guys at third base? How the heck are you supposed to know?
I kid. Joe Maddon is a great manager who made a simple mistake. I'd still like to take this opportunity to make fun of him. Today's Dugout is after the jump.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a nod to what's ahead.
You Oughta Know... That rumors of Jake Peavy's demise have been exaggerated. When the San Diego Padres' ace got out of the chute with a 5.74 ERA in his first five starts, there were certainly a lot of folks wondering if he was going to suffer a second World Baseball Classic Hangover (see 2006).
Since then, though, he's been more like his normal self. Peavy pitched a four-hit complete game, beating the Reds, 3-1, on Sunday. Over his past four starts, Peavy has a 1.80 ERA.
Because Ibañez worries only about the perception of him by his family and peers, he has had no trouble fitting in with the Phillies. And while he says he will never try to justify his new three-year, $31.5 million deal – perhaps the most criticized signing of the offseason – he has thus far done just that.
BALTIMORE -- Everyone loves 'em. The Baltimore Orioles simply want to be like 'em.
Them, in this case, being the reigning American League champion Tampa Bay Rays, who breezed into the Charm City Friday night and provided a glaring reminder of Baltimore's shortcomings over the last decade.
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 Nationals can still go 0-162. Washington lost at Atlanta in a game that ended at 1:25 AM ET, thanks to a two-hour rain delay and 10 innings.
The Nationals came back from deficits of 4-1 and 5-4, tying the game 5-5 with a run in the top of the ninth. But lefty Joe Beimel, their seventh pitcher, had to work a second inning and gave up the winning run in the 10th, when Kelly Johnson hit the winning single.
Washington, 0-4, left 16 runners on base. The good news for the Nationals is they are getting closer to a win; after losing by six runs on Opening Day, they have cut their final deficits to five, two and now one. Also, the Nats are just three games behind the Braves in the wild-card race.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead. You Oughta Know... The Rangers have scored at least eight runs in their first three games of the season, the first team to do that since the 2003 Yankees. Those Yankees won the pennant. The Rangers are 3-0 for the first time since 1996, when they won the division.
"You couldn't be more excited right now coming off this first series, playing with energy and passion," pitcher Brandon McCarthy said. "The team chemistry in here is second to none, and right now it's a special team to be part of."
While that bodes well for the Rangers, it doesn't look so good for the Indians, who have been on the wrong end of these beatings. When your top three starters get hit like that, look out.
The Tampa Bay Rays (neé Devil Rays) are the biggest question mark in the AL East. We know that Boston is going to do well. We know the Orioles are going to be terrible. We know the Yankees are going to seem unstoppable when the season starts, fall into, like, third place sometime in early June and make everybody freak out, the Steinbrenners are going to start threatening people, and they'll be fine and at the top of the division by the end of the year. We know the Blue Jays will exist (?). The Rays, though... who knows what the Rays are going to do.
Tonight's Dugout, which might be about the Blue Jays (I don't know), 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.
The Rays' pitching staff took a pair of hits on Friday with the news that both 
Starting Five
No, really. Writing a lineup card is more difficult than you realize. Suppose you have to write a lineup card and you've only been a manager for three years. Should you start one guy at third base? Should you start two guys at third base? How the heck are you supposed to know?
Starting Five
Starting Five
When did the Rays sign J.J. from Good Times?
