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.
Don't blame yourself if you didn't see a big line coming from Trevor Cahill. Coming off a three-inning, three-run game in Chicago, Cahill had to travel to Texas to take on a pretty good offense. On Wednesday, this offense was without Michael Young and Josh Hamilton, but that still left the hot Julio Borbon (.323 BA coming into the game) and Elvis Andrus (coming off a 16-game hitting streak), starsIan Kinsler and Nelson Cruz, and other players that have been hot over the course of September.
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.
The ugly pitching line from Monday night shouldn't have been a huge shock to Jarrod Washburn fantasy owners. He went 5 2/3 innings, giving up 9 hits, 8 earned runs, 3 walks and 2 home runs. He struck out just 2. While it was his worst outing for the Tigers, he's been flat-out awful in Motown since he was acquired at the trade deadline. Sure, there was an 8-inning gem where he didn't allow a run. He also mixed in a quality start last time out for his first win in Detroit. Other than that, it's been horrifying.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
While it was just one game, Cole Hamels sure looked like he was back in vintage form.
The Phillies ace, who is rocking a 4.52 ERA and 1.34 WHIP this season, threw eight shutout innings in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, striking out seven batters in all. Hamels actually has been better than his ERA and WHIP indicate, as he now has 126 Ks versus just 33 BBs this season. I'll take that K/BB ratio from my pitcher any day, as nine times out of ten, the ERA and WHIP will be sparkling.
Unfortunately for Hamels, the ninth inning ended up being the most dramatic frame of the game.
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 Nationals of all teams are the hottest club in baseball. They've won five straight games, scoring no fewer than five runs in each of their six games in August. Mike MacDougal recorded saves in four of those five wins, but the real hero in Washington is Ryan Zimmerman.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Nearly a month ago, we ran out a roundtable on Jimmy Rollins, advising you to trade for the underperforming shortstop. Well, his struggles seem like a distant memory now. Rollins is not only back, he's one of the hottest middle infielders in fantasy baseball. Oh, and he's also one funny dude (great Dick's commercial if you've never seen it).
Just how hot is J-Roll? Let's go to the statistical tape ...
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 Phillies are going to have a tough decision on their hands. J.A. Happ and Pedro Martinez, headed for a course to occupy the same spot in the Philadelphia rotation, both made strong statements on Wednesday night.
Happ pitched a four-hit shutout against the Rockies, while Martinez struck out 11 in six innings for the Phillies' Double-A team. The Phillies signed Martinez a few weeks ago and have had him working his way into big-league shape in the minors. Since the Phillies got Martinez, they also acquired Cliff Lee, leaving six pitchers -- including Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer -- fighting for five spots.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel wasn't ready to address a problem that's not a problem until Martinez is deemed ready for the bigs.
"Let me answer that later on," Manuel said. "I don't feel like getting into that."
ST. LOUIS -- The last time the National League won an All-Star Game, Justin Upton was 8 years old, Barack Obama had never been elected to a public office and the Internet was barely more than the private toy of a few scientists.
Now Upton is an All-Star, Obama is the President and the Internet touches just about every part of daily life.
But the National League? Nothing has changed for it. The senior circuit is still looking for its first win since 1996.
ST. LOUIS – With organizations re-realizing the value of defense, it was appropriate that the MVP of Tuesday's All-Star Game was picked because of his play in the field.
Carl Crawford was awarded the Arch Ward Trophy for his leaping grab in the seventh inning, robbing Brad Hawpe of what would have been a tie-breaking homer to left.
"I don't think I've ever robbed a home run before," Crawford said, "so I picked a good time to do it tonight. It's definitely probably my best catch I've ever made."
Ah, the All-Star break. A time for fantasy owners to take three days off from the grind of a six-month baseball season. To most, it's a welcome reprieve. To myself and other baseball-obsessed individuals, it's the three most excruciating days of a season. By the time Thursday rolls around, I'd even be willing to watch the Mets play.
Since we have to find some way of passing the time till then, let's name some illustrious fantasy squads -- one comprised of the best players at each position, another comprised of players that scarred their teams' chances of postseason glory, the third comprised of the draft picks that brought us the most bang for our buck, and the last comprised of the best young talent around. The voting for these three teams opened on July 4th at 8:00 PM and closed promptly on July 4th at 8:01. Since I was the only one to submit a vote, these teams might be a little skewed to my point of view.
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 of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Starting Five
ST. LOUIS – With organizations re-realizing the value of defense, it was appropriate that the MVP of Tuesday's 
Ah, the All-Star break. A time for fantasy owners to take three days off from the grind of a six-month baseball season. To most, it's a welcome reprieve. To myself and other baseball-obsessed individuals, it's the three most excruciating days of a season. By the time Thursday rolls around, I'd even be willing to watch the Mets play.
