In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down each of the playoff teams from a scouting perspective.
When you are faced with a team like the Twins, much of what makes them so difficult to match up against is that they leave you wondering just exactly why they are so good at winning ballgames. Their pitching does not match up with the league's elite clubs and their offense is not explosive, especially after losing Justin Morneau. But, somehow a combination of the little things adds up to one very tough team.
The Twins are an offense built on little ball, moving runners and using their home turf to their advantage, so an important factor to slowing them down will be attacking them aggressively and forcing them to beat you.
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.
Before we get our heaping of box score browsing, let's look at a related subject: The fantasy baseball stretch run. With the annual ushering in of September baseball, we see roster changes galore. Not only are there call-ups with the legal expansion of rosters, but players with seemingly minor injuries are shut down on teams who have fallen out of the race. You also have younger players being given an audition for 2010, or being shut down so the team doesn't overwork them in their first season of increased workload. If you are in the thick of things in your fantasy baseball race, now is not the time to use a laissez-faire approach.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... Jamie Moyer can still win games.
Moyer bristled when the Phillies demoted him to the bullpen in favor of Pedro Martinez, and when a rain delay Tuesday forced Martinez from his start against the Diamondbacks, Moyer took over when play resumed in the fourth inning for his first outing since the decision.
He went the rest of the way, allowing two hits and striking out five in six scoreless innings and earning his first relief win since May 15, 1996, for the Red Sox. (That day he worked two innings in relief of Tom Gordon.)
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
By the looks of his season stats, you wouldn't know that Jordan Zimmermann has actually been one of the most dominant pitchers in the majors over the past month. We're talking a 1.90 ERA and a .198 batting average against. On that same note, Minnesota's Scott Baker is holding opposing hitters to a .205 average over his last five starts. The turnaround of these pitchers teach fantasy owners an important lesson about staying patient and swooping in when the time is right.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Dare we say it? He's back. The man who won the 2005 Cy Young and finished third the following season is officially back in the Cardinals rotation. He made the Brewers -- one of the best hitting teams in the league -- look stupid for eight innings Monday, which means he's now thrown 23 innings of shutout ball this season. His staggering numbers thus far: 23 innings, 0 earned runs, 23 strikeouts, 10 hits, 4 walks.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Ricky Nolasco, the Marlins' Opening Day starter, has looked nothing like the 15-game winner he was last year. After Nolasco was pounded for eight runs in two innings by the Rays on Friday night, Nolasco was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans.
''That's not the Ricky Nolasco we saw last season. Before it gets any worse let's try to get him better. Obviously, he is not the same,'' Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Nolasco is 2-5 with a 9.07 ERA. The Marlins, strapped for pitching, asked Nolasco to make this start on three days' rest. They probably won't do that again.
Categorically Speaking is designed specifically for Rotisserie GM's. The information is great for all fantasy baseball formats, but for those of you who could use some help bolstering a specific roto category, this is for you. We're going to pay close attention to players who might be readily available on your waiver wire or who you might target in non-blockbuster trade talks.
Over the past few weeks nobody has been driving in runners like Evan Longoria. His 28 RBI over the last 14 days is tops in Major League Baseball, and head and shoulders better then anyone else. But, he's not available in any fantasy leagues and you're not prying him away from the owner who drafted him for anywhere close to fair value.
Let's look elsewhere for some help if your rotisserie team needs some more RBI.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over. Meet the...
Absolute best team in baseball that you've never heard of. The Twins don't spend a lot of money nor do they make a lot of headlines. What they are good at, however, is winning. The Twins won the American League Central Division every year from 2002 to 2004 and again in 2006. In 2007 they finished third in the division and in 2008 they lost a one-game playoff to just miss the post season. This team wins with a small-ball, almost National League feel or approach.
On this past Monday night, ABC's "The Bachelor" dwarfed the competition in ratings. I'll admit that I watched the last four episodes once I found out Molly Malaney -- the eventual "winner," even though she was dumped on the final episode -- attended my alma mater. See, I'll root for Indiana University even in reality TV.
Anyway, apparently the entire Twins team helped boost those monster ratings as well. In fact, the players were so heavily debating the content of the show that a beat writer is flat-out amazed.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down each of the playoff teams from a scouting perspective.
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Starting Five
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Starting Five
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
On this past Monday night, ABC's "
