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.
There was reason for concern with Cliff Lee. After storming out of the proverbial gates upon his entrance to the so-called Senior Circuit, he stumbled. Lee's first five outings yielded a 5-0 record with a 0.68 ERA and a 39:6 K:BB in 40 innings. His next three? Ugly. He got a win (going 1-2), but his ERA in 15 innings was 9.60, after allowing 29 hits, 16 earned runs and 4 home runs.
Tuesday night, Lee re-announced his presence with authority.
As Tim Hudson continues to build up toward his pre-injury strength, the Braves can look to the offseason with a dilemma: Which of their six starting pitchers should be playing elsewhere in 2010. Hudson has a $12 million option, and in order for the Braves to afford to pay that, they'd likely have to trade one of the other starters. Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens aren't going anywhere, and it's doubtful the Braves could convince someone to take on Derek Lowe's massive contract.
Thus, the likely candidates -- should the Braves decide they need to shed salary and keep Hudson -- would be Kenshin Kawakami and Javier Vazquez.
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's weekly, extended look at some aspect of America's pastime.
As I look ahead to the MLB playoffs, I'm faced with the fact that my beloved Cubbies aren't going to be competing. Being a devout baseball fan, though, there's no way I'm not watching the postseason. Without a horse in the race, I'm forced to focus instead on individuals, and there are always plenty of reasons to watch certain players. Thus, I'm going to list 10 players I'm looking forward to watching and five players I wish I could come October.
New Studs on the Block takes a look at players ready to make the leap from "possibly productive fantasy player" to "must-have fantasy stud." This is not a "you've never heard of this dude, but ... " series -- these should be names you already know.
Back in April, fantasy baseball fanatics and Atlanta Braves fans alike pined over the eventual promotion of uber-prospect Tommy Hanson. On June 7, the 22-year-old phenom from Tulsa, Oklahoma finally got his shot and was knocked around. After that first bad outing, though, Hanson rattled off five consecutive dominant starts. The question on the minds of every educated baseball fan, though, was whether or not he could continue the success once teams had ample chances to scout him and make adjustments.
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.
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 Tigers got a couple of badly needed victories Friday against the team that had been chasing them. Lost amid the excitement of Mark Buehrle's perfect game on Thursday was the fact that it helped the White Sox pull into a virtual tie with the Tigers for the AL Central lead. The Tigers had been alone at the top since May 16.
The Tigers had lost five of their previous six. But just when it seemed the Sox were ready to reel them in, the Tigers swept a doubleheader from Chicago, winning 5-1 and 4-3. They won the second game thanks to an eighth-inning bases loaded walk, issued by Matt Thornton to Clete Thomas. Carlos Guillen also homered in his first day off the disabled list.
"It was a big day," manager Jim Leyland said. "A good day for us."
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Many times when fantasy owners wait patiently on a potential star to be promoted to the majors, they have to deal with disappointment initially before the payoff finally comes. Take Adam Lind and Felix Hernandez as a few guys who didn't start to fulfill their potential until this year. Sometimes, though, you get a Ryan Braun, Evan Longoria or Tim Lincecum, who immediately start paying dividends. The latest? Braves' 22-year-old phenom hurler Tommy Hanson.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That reigning NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum is actually better this year, which makes it seem like a long time ago that we wondered how he'd top his 2008 season. Lincecum has erased all memory of that slow start by stringing together 23 consecutive scoreless innings, including seven against the Astros on Saturday.
Lincecum is now 9-2 with a 2.23 ERA, lower than last year's 2.64 ERA. He's looking like a strong candidate to start the All-Star Game in St. Louis, which would be a nice way of making up for last year. Lincecum was picked to go to the game in New York, but he was too sick to attend.
"It would mean a lot -- the hard work paid off," said Lincecum. "If I do happen to start, it will make up for the fact I didn't even make it to the field last year."
As a team, the Giants have now pitched two shutouts in a row for the second time in a week. Previously, they hadn't done it since 2002.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Sunday was a good day to steal home in the major leagues. With an assist from Carlos Zambrano, who airmailed a pitch to the backstop as Dewayne Wise attempted to suicide squeeze, Chris Getz was credited with a steal of home in the White Sox's 6-0 victory over the crosstown rival Cubs. Zambrano followed by plunking Wise, pushing the oft-heated interleague rivalry close to fisticuffs.
"I got a good jump and pulled it off," Matthews said. "The key was getting a big lead. They're definitely not expecting it with two strikes. If there was a right-handed hitter up there, I wouldn't have even tried."
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.
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.
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Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Starting Five
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Starting Five
Starting Five
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
