With the recent additions to major league ball teams due to the expansion of rosters there aren't that many two-start pitchers next week. And there are still a few situations up in the air. The landscape could change rather quickly as teams decide if they want to run with a six-man rotation or keep things normal with five starters.
Not only has Pedro Martinez looked great in his early starts but he gets to face the Nationals and the Mets next week. He would be a great two-start add, and he's only owned in 33% of fantasy leagues.
There are 35 total two-start pitchers for week 23. Make sure you get your rosters set by 12:35 PM ET as the Cubs and Pirates play first on Monday.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Mired in the middle of a quite reprehensible offense, Adrian Gonzalez had been struggling at the plate for quite a while. Sure, he was still hitting home runs and drawing walks, but his batting average from May 1 to August 9 was an atrocious .228 in 298 at-bats. He hadn't had a multiple hit game since July 29 and hadn't had more than two hits in a game since June 18.
Tuesday night, Gonzalez went 6-6, giving him more hits in one night than the rest of August combined.
If you are a Diamondback fan this morning, you could be wondering how Max Scherzer struggled so much against the Pirates Thursday night, a team that he dominated scarcely a week ago back in Arizona. How in the world, for example, did he give up a two-run single to Ronny Cedeno in the sixth inning? That hit knocked him out of the game and gave the Pirates a 4-3 lead (the D'backs would go on to win in 12 anyways).
In 2009, it's easy enough to find a Web site like Brooks Baseball, look up Scherzer's start from last night, see the PitchFX data, and understand that Cedeno's hit actually came on a first-pitch slider that was low and away in the strike zone and took a nice piece of hitting by Cedeno to line it up the middle for the hit. This is something that baseball nerds like me have been doing for two years now. What's interesting is the story from Nick Piecoro in yesterday's Arizona Republic that reports that Scherzer is doing the same thing.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Sure, he gave up a home run to Joey Votto on Sunday, but that's about all the Cincinnati Reds got facing the Cubs' Rich Harden.
For Harden this was his third consecutive start where he showed the potential of being a front-line ace. He struck out eight in only six innings and that home run was the only hit and only run he allowed the Reds in route to earning his seventh win.
Over his last three starts Harden has struck out 21 while walking only two batters in 19 innings. His ERA over this time is 0.47 and he has two wins to show for great pitching.
This is the first time in 2009 Harden has put together this kind of run. He's been able, on a number of occasions, to put two good starts together, but never three as he seems to get shelled every time he's about to take that next step towards becoming the solid number one guy the Cubs desperately need him to be.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
With Chris Davis safely tucked away in Triple-A Oklahoma City, Andruw Jones feels that he deserves more at-bats for the Texas Rangers. The way he's been hitting over the last month proves his point.
Jones belted three home runs on Wednesday and has 11 RBI and five home runs over his last four games.
Over the course of the past month, Jones has hit nine homers and driven in 19 runs. If his batting average were higher than .224 over that time period Jones would really be forcing the hand of Rangers' management. As it sits right now, Jones will see more playing time at DH, but may not see every-day at-bats, yet.
"He swung the bat well against Tampa Bay," manager Ron Washington said. "He's swinging the bat very well right now. It doesn't mean he'll be in there [Friday]. He may or may not be. But he's productive right now and I'm going to play him as much as I possibly can."
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Adam LaRoche, he of the longest swing in the majors, is starting to heat up. In the last 9 games, he's hit .387 with 3 home runs, 5 RBI, 4 runs, 2 doubles, a .444 on-base percentage and 1.186 OPS. If his career history is any indicator, we can expect things to continue along this pace.
It's just that he's starting things up a bit early. In LaRoche's career, he's been two different players per season. Just look at his splits. He's a decent hitter with good power in through June. From July on, though, he's a good hitter with great power.
I feel like I'm being a bit hard on these two-start pitchers for week 12, but I feel that 64% of them are pretty risky to be in your lineups. You'll see what I am talking about after the jump. There are a total of 33 guys throwing twice between Monday, June 22nd and Sunday, June 28th.
On the flip side, the Cubs have two very good options with Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Demptser going twice this week. That could mean good things for the Cubs this week.
Finally, the world may be coming to an end this week as both Livian Hernandez and Brad Penny are solid starts for the week. Seriously?
Lineups for the week are due to be set at 7:10 PM ET. So relax and make some good decisions.
Unless you've been hiding under a rock or are just too far away from San Diego to hear their collective screams of agony, you probably already know that Jake Peavy has been placed on the disabled list.
When the story broke we were thinking that Peavy would be out for about a month, but the news has gotten worse. It could be longer.
Peavy is going on the disabled list with a partially torn tendon in the right ankle that has bothered the ace right-hander since May 22.
Optimistically, the Padres are hoping Peavy – the subject of trade rumors and attempts since the end of last season – will be ready to pitch shortly after next month's All-Star break.
But Padres trainer Todd Hutcheson said Friday night that it could be eight to 12 weeks before Peavy is fit to pitch again.
From a fantasy perspective there isn't too much you can do about this situation. Whether it's a month or three months you need to stash him on your disabled list and go find another pitching option.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
I learned how to play fantasy sports 10 years ago from my stepdad, who's been playing it since the days when rotisserie baseball didn't even exist. Back when he was a teenager, it was called Strat-O-Matic, a simulation board game that seemed more laborious than fun to me. Then again, they also had fun flipping baseball cards instead of preserving them.
One of the first things he ever taught me about veteran players was the basic tenet of: "Look on the back of the baseball card." Sure, there are outliers, but seeing career statistics is comforting, and can often tell you a lot about a batter's peak performance.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Max Scherzer, the 24-year-old fireballer for the Diamondbacks, has worlds of talent. He also takes a step back every time you think he's finally hitting his groove. This past week, he was a two-start pitcher in the fantasy baseball world. His first start was pure gold (that's gold, Jerry!). He threw 7 shutout innings and struck out 10 before getting chased in the eighth inning -- after allowing a few earned runs. He followed that up with an absolute catastrophe on Sunday. The light-hitting Braves touched him up for 10 hits and 8 earned runs in only 3 2/3 innings.
With the recent additions to major league ball teams due to the expansion of rosters there aren't that many two-start pitchers next week. And there are still a few situations up in the air. The landscape could change rather quickly as teams decide if they want to run with a six-man rotation or keep things normal with five starters.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
If you are a Diamondback fan this morning, you could be wondering how 
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 
I feel like I'm being a bit hard on these two-start pitchers for week 12, but I feel that 64% of them are pretty risky to be in your lineups. You'll see what I am talking about after the jump. There are a total of 33 guys throwing twice between Monday, June 22nd and Sunday, June 28th.
Unless you've been hiding under a rock or are just too far away from San Diego to hear their collective screams of agony, you probably already know that 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
