From the Windup is Matt Snyder's weekly look at some aspect of America's pastime.
Zack Greinke has been the best pitcher in the majors this season.
That statement wouldn't be disputed by anyone other than people who look only at won-loss record and nothing more. I'm not suggesting you throw that stat out the window, but you can take Greinke's 15-8 record, combine it with everything else, and still come to the conclusion that the best pitcher in 2009 plays for the Kansas City Royals.
With that in mind, I wanted to create a starting rotation from the past decade of pitchers who were similarly plagued by a less-than-stellar record, while also sporting filthy numbers elsewhere. It's the Zack Greinke Tribute Team.
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.
"It just ain't going away," Oswalt said. "I've pitched with it for (four) starts, and it's just not getting any better. It's just kind of lingering more and more. If we were in contention fighting for the playoffs I would probably get up and just try to block it and ride it as long as I could. But I don't want it to linger on for next year."
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 Phillies weren't expecting much when they signed Pedro Martinez right around mid-season. Well, let me rephrase and say the Phillies weren't expecting this much.
On Sunday, Martinez pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out seven while walking two. But those aren't his most amazing numbers. When Martinez pitches the Phillies are a perfect 7-0. Think about that. Every time Pedro runs out there to take the mound the Phillies win.
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.
While the main drama happened on Heinz Field last night, there was plenty of drama to be found in Washington D.C. No, President Obama didn't sign a health plan into law. But the Phillies entered the ninth inning down six and ended up losing by one after having the tying run on third base with only one out. Let's see how we got there.
Joe Blanton has been fantastic this year, and he entered the game with a 3.80 ERA and a 136/43 K/BB ratio in 166 innings. That's why it was surprising to see him perform so terribly in Thursday's game, where he gave up eight runs in less than five innings of work. The big blow came in the fifth inning, when Blanton gave up two homers to hitters at very different points in their careers.
Colorado downed Cincinnati 5-1 with a five-run third inning and six scoreless innings from its bullpen after starter Jose Contreras suffered a strained quadriceps running to first base.
For a number of major league teams Mondays and Thursdays are travel days. Every Wednesday and Sunday, Fantasy Fill-Ins finds guys who should be widely available on the waiver wire and can step in for the day, helping you gain ground or hold off the pack.
There are only seven games on Thursday, meaning over half of the major-league teams are off. Finding five fill-in players wasn't easy, but if it was everyone would do it.
Chris Coghlan, Marlins - Whispers around baseball have Coghlan as a dark-horse candidate for the National League Rookie of the Year award. I'm not sure there's enough name recognition for him to take home the hardware, but there's no reason why he shouldn't be helping your fantasy baseball team. He's batting .359 over the last month and .379 during the last week. He's only owned in 41% of leagues so grab him to fill in on Thursday and keep him around afterward. He's just that good.
The Astros' Roy Oswalt is frustrated by the lack of fire in his team's clubhouse, and who can blame him? Obviously, they're not going to be able to overcome a team OPS+ of 93, a team ERA+ of 94, and a 9.5-game deficit in the wild card standings, but you know what? With a little get-up-and go, they could conceive of, design, and build a rocket ship so that they could search the universe and join an alien baseball league full of teams that aren't as good.
Let's start with his 7.2 innings of work on the mound. Wolf gave up three earned runs and five hits. But he struck out an amazing ten batters while walking none. And this isn't the first good outing for Wolf in a while. In fact, quite the opposite.
If you take out the four earned run game on August 6th against Atlanta, you have to go all the way back to June 24th to find another day where Wolf didn't provide the Dodgers with a quality start. Nine of his last ten outings have been quality starts and he's sporting a 3.13 ERA over that time. He only has four wins to show for it, but that sounds like a run support issue and not a dig on Wolf.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Colorado has cycled back to the top of the NL wild-card standings.
Troy Tulowitzki hit for the cycle Tuesday as the Rockies bashed the Cubs, 11-5. By taking three of four in the series, Colorado moved a game ahead of San Francisco.
According to STATS LLC, Tulowitzki joined John Valentin as the only players ever to hit for the cycle and turn an unassisted triple play.
Tulowitzki ended up 5-for-5 with a career-best seven RBI, and he nearly had a two-homer cycle but replay upheld a foul ball ruling.
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Starting Five
For a number of major league teams Mondays and Thursdays are travel days. Every Wednesday and Sunday, 
