NEW YORK -- Yeah, he was nervous, he admitted with a shy smile. Ricky Romero was pitching against the Yankees, in front of more than 46,000 people on a perfect summer day in the Bronx. The Blue Jays' 24-year-old rookie left-hander was fired up and throwing way too hard, which is why he darn near Yahtzeed* the scorecard in the first inning.
"I was excited, I'm not going to lie," Romero said when the Jays' 7-6 victory was over and he'd improved to 5-1 with a 2.22 ERA in his last seven starts. "Packed house, pitching against the Yankees -- I was overthrowing. And that is something that has just not been me. Not this year, at least."
Not for the past month, for sure. In that time, Romero has been one of the best pitchers in baseball.
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.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That there have only been two complete-game shutouts pitched in the American League this year, and Zack Greinke owns both of them. Remarkably, Greinke did it again on Monday night, blanking the White Sox on six hits, striking out 10 and walking none.
In six starts this season, Greinke is 6-0 with an 0.40 earned-run average. In 45 innings, he's allowed 30 hits, with eight walks and 54 strikeouts.
Greinke has pitched well every time out, but he called this one "my favorite game of the year, if not ever."
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Cole Hamels, Brandon Webb, Tim Lincecum and CC Sabathia owners eat your heart out. Relative unknowns -- and likely undrafted in nearly all mixed fantasy leagues -- Ricky Romero and Glen Perkins are straight dealing right now. And after three outings each, it's time to start wondering if the quick starts are not flukey.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
After a terrible first week, Texas first baseman Chris Davis was one of the hot topics of concern in fantasy baseball circles. My colleague Matt Snyder recently tried to put those fears to rest in Slump or Suck, and right on cue, Davis went ahead and smashed them with his bat.
Week two (April 13th - April 19th) of the fantasy baseball season features 38 pitchers who are making two starts. There isn't a clear cut lock for easiest schedule amongst them, but Jon Lester looks like a very good start this week against Braden in Oakland and Uehara and the Orioles at home.
Daniel Cabrera doesn't look to have a fun week in store as he has to face Jamie Moyer and the Phillies and then Josh Johnson and the Marlins. At least he gets to pitch at home both times.
The first few days of the season are a great time for fantasy owners. We can enjoy a hot start for our team -- which obviously means a championship is on the way -- or we're stuck scouring the waiver wire for guys who have already shown they are going to be a stud all season long. Then, we remember Chris Shelton. In 2006, Shelton had 9 home runs and 17 RBI with a .471 average through 13 games. Thus, he is our namesake for Stud or Shelton.
Today, we'll check out a bevy of unheralded and/or maligned starting pitchers who have shown their true studly colors in their first start. Or have they? The lightning round of judgment follows the jump (because we heart lightning rounds).
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 were a bunch of eye-opening performances scattered throughout Thursday's games, but none bigger than the seven one-hit innings hurled by Chris Carpenter. The 33-year-old hadn't won a game for the Cardinals since the 2006 World Series, yet there he was, striking out seven Pirates and needing just 92 pitches to get through his day of work. Is Carpenter already back to fantasy ace status, or was this just the stinkin' Bucs making him look good?
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Braves manager Bobby Cox did not get ejected at any point during the seventh-inning fiasco his pitchers created on Wednesday. If ever there were a time that the all-time leader in early managerial exits would want to get the boot, this was it. The Braves blew a 10-3 lead to the Phillies in the seventh inning, on the way to a 12-11 loss. Worse, three of the eight runs the Phillies scored came on consecutive bases-loaded walks. Blaine Boyer was responsible for two of them.
"It's the worst inning I've seen," said Boyer. "Talk about your ultimate. I mean, we were [rolling] there for a while, 10-3, and it just blows up like that. I take the brunt of the blame for that one."
NEW YORK -- Yeah, he was nervous, he admitted with a shy smile. Ricky Romero was pitching against the Yankees, in front of more than 46,000 people on a perfect summer day in the Bronx. The Blue Jays' 24-year-old rookie left-hander was fired up and throwing way too hard, which is why he darn near Yahtzeed* the scorecard in the first inning.
Poppin' out 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 
Week two (April 13th - April 19th) of the fantasy baseball season features 38 pitchers who are making two starts. There isn't a clear cut lock for easiest schedule amongst them, but Jon Lester looks like a very good start this week against Braden in Oakland and Uehara and the Orioles at home.
The first few days of the season are a great time for fantasy owners. We can enjoy a hot start for our team -- which obviously means a championship is on the way -- or we're stuck scouring the waiver wire for guys who have already shown they are going to be a stud all season long. Then, we remember 
Starting Five
