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.
On Monday, there are 11 games on the schedule in Major League Baseball. There are 22 teams playing -- which means eight teams have the day off to travel or rest. Here are five really good fill-in options for those players on your fantasy baseball roster who will be sleeping late on Monday.
Kazuo Matsui, Astros - Not only is Matsui batting .360 with four stolen bases over the last week, but he's 5-for-11 (.455) lifetime against Bronson Arroyo. Matsui is only owned in 22% of fantasy leagues.
"My dad was a really good athlete (Kenny Ross, who played safety at New Mexico in the late 1960s)," said Ross, the Marlins' right fielder. "My dad was all right[-handed]. My mom's a lefty, so maybe I got that gene from her."
Ross and St. Louis' Ryan Ludwick are the only two active position players who throw left and bat right. Just 14 such players in baseball history have gotten as many as 1,000 at-bats -- and that list now includes a Hall of Famer, Rickey Henderson.
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.
For about five months of the season, Diamondbacks outfielder Chris Young was a draft disaster. Those who picked him in fantasy leagues suffered through the nausea of a sub-.200 batting average and anemic power numbers. Where was the dude who hit 32 homers in 2007 and 22 in 2008? Absolutely nonexistent ... at least until the last four games.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Eugenio Velez (pronounce the first name: ay-ooh-HEY-nee-o) is a relative unknown major league baseball player. He's currently gaining playing time for the San Francisco Giants without having an actual starting job. He fights for playing time at second base (against Freddy Sanchez), left field (against Nate Schierholtz and Fred Lewis) and right field (against Randy Winn). Lately, though, Velez has been playing pretty much everyday, and swinging a hot bat. The question is, can it continue?
- Apparently David Eckstein is not too worried about winning anymore. The 34-year-old middle infielder, who already has two world series rings, had the chance to be traded to the Twins and turned it down. The Twins are hanging in the AL Central race for dear life, so it's not like the postseason was a given. Still, the Padres are far out of anything relevant and are one of the worst teams 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.
Fantasy football season is a sprint. Fantasy baseball is a marathon. You might have heard this before, but it bears repeating when we see such headlines as: "Opening-day starter Ricky Nolasco demoted to minors" and "Magglio Ordonez benched indefinitely."
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 Padres aren't playing like a team ready to have a fire sale. They're just on fire. San Diego won its ninth consecutive game Sunday, a 7-2 defeat of the Cubs in which pitcher Chris Young drove in two runs. The Padres lost 19 of 23 before their current winning streak, which has gotten it all the way back to .500 at 22-22.
San Diego's hot play has it in second place in the NL West, though because of the Dodgers' blistering start it is 7 1/2 games back of the division lead.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Anthony Swarzak had a pretty nice big-league debut. Swarzak pitched seven scoreless innings, becoming the first pitcher in Twins history to pitch at least seven innings in his debut without allowing a run.
Swarzak gave up just five singles and two walks. He struck out three. What's more, he did it all in front of 40,457 -- many of them Brewers fans from neighboring Wisconsin. It was the largest crowd at the Metrodome since opening day.
"That's pretty special to step into the big leagues with that performance in a jam-packed stadium," manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Swarzak, a second-round pick in 2004, is probably going to be rewarded for his performance with a trip to the Twins bullpen (better than the minors). He was filling in for Glen Perkins, who is expected off the disabled list next week.
There are some pretty good two-start pitchers going in week seven of the fantasy baseball season. Chad Billingsley and Dan Haren lead the list of "Must Start" pitchers, while I'm not sure which option would be riskier between Dontrelle Willis and Tim Redding this week.
There are 47 two-start pitchers in all and you'll need to lock your lineup by 1:07 PM ET on Monday as that's first pitch between the White Sox and Blue Jays.
Must Start Dan Haren , Diamondbacks - Monday at FLA (R. Nolasco) and Saturday at OAK (J. Outman) Derek Lowe , Braves - Monday vs COL (J. Marquis) and Saturday vs TOR (S. Richmond) Jair Jurrjens , Braves - Tuesday vs COL (J. Hammel) and Sunday vs TOR (B. Tallet)
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Remember when Rickie Weeks was a hot new prospect whose quick bat drew comparisons to Gary Sheffield? Yeah, turns out that was four years ago.
Following season after season of frustration for hopeful fantasy owners, Weeks is finally coming through. The speed isn't there, but he's homered in three straight games to give him nine total in only 140 at-bats. By comparison, he only hit 14 in 475 at-bats last year. So has our man-crush of yesteryear suddenly transformed into the new Dan Uggla, or is this impressive power display just another tease?
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.
Every Sunday, 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
There are some pretty good two-start pitchers going in week seven of the fantasy baseball season. 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
