FanHouse Derek Lowe

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), stars Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz, and other players that have been hot over the course of September.

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.

The Atlanta Braves have too many good starting pitchers.

It's a problem that every major league team wishes they had. The Washington Nationals just signed the most hyped college baseball player in decades because their rotation is a laughingstock. Heck, the Los Angeles Dodgers have the best team ERA in baseball and they don't even have a clue who their fifth starter should be.

Tim Hudson, surgically repaired right elbow and all, has returned to the Braves rotation. On Tuesday he made his first appearance in over a year, and his five-strikeout performance was good enough to earn him the win and force serious questions on Bobby Cox about his starting rotation. Everyone wants to know what the Braves will do now that they have six quality starting pitchers.

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

Every Hot Stove season, each team reshapes its roster in an attempt to better themselves. After each transaction, whether a free agent acquisition, trade or something else, writers and bloggers everywhere provide knee-jerk reactions on each particular move. Though the majority of the analysis is educated, it's still just conjecture. Today, we'll take the long view and look back at some of the maneuvering this past offseason and see how it played out on the field.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

Heading into the season, the signs were there that the Rockies' 25-year-old right-handed starter Ubaldo Jimenez was ready for a breakout campaign. The only question was his occasional lack of command, which reared its ugly head in April (he started the season 1-3 with a 7.58 ERA and 2.11 WHIP). Since then, though, Jimenez has actually been one of the best hurlers in baseball and he's been even hotter for the past month.

ATLANTA -- Nobody has ever argued the fact that Bobby Cox is a smart baseball guy. But how could he have known that the Braves bats would come alive like this?

Sitting in his office after Thursday night's game, a game which marked the return of baseball from the All-Star break and the return of Jeff Francoeur to Atlanta, in a Mets uniform, Cox said, "I think the hitting you're going to see in the second half is a lot better than the first half."

If you include Thursday's game, the Braves have scored 24 runs in their four games since the break, all against the Mets. They've also averaged 10.25 hits per game and hit six home runs in their three victories (and one loss) against New York.

"I looked at the schedule and I think we have 35 games in the second half between the Mets, Phillies and the Marlins." said Derek Lowe who pitched in Thursday's 5-3 win.

It's not a pretty week to be trolling the waiver wire for two-start pitchers. Forty-four in all throw twice in fantasy week 16 and 66% of those are risky picks. All 29 of the risky picks won't turn out bad. Guys like John Smoltz and Andy Pettitte could turns things around and excel. But, all in all, stick with the safer one-start pitchers this week and hedge your bets for next week.

First pitch tonight is at 7:05 PM ET. Make sure to get your rosters set prior to that.

Must Start
Tommy Hanson, Braves - Monday vs SF (J. Sanchez) and Saturday at MLW (Y. Gallardo)
Derek Lowe, Braves - Tuesday vs SF (R. Sadowski) and Sunday at MLW (M. Burns)
Ted Lilly, Cubs - Monday at PHI (R. Lopez) and Sunday vs CIN (M. Owings)
Cliff Lee, Indians - Tuesday at TOR (B. Cecil) and Sunday at SEA (G. Olson)
Nick Blackburn, Twins - Monday at OAK (G. Gonzalez) and Saturday at LAA (S. O'Sullivan)
Kevin Millwood, Rangers - Monday vs BOS (J. Smoltz) and Sunday at KC (S. Ponson)

MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.

Well, I'll tell you one thing: baseball ain't boring, folks. At least if you're in the middle class anyway; the upper crust is (somewhat) starting to establish itself across MLB's ranks and the bottom portion of the league is certainly holding steady. But in the middle, well, goodness. We have a lot of would-be title contenders. How's your semi-crappy team faring in the all-important MLB FanHouse Power Rankings this week? Find out after the jump.

"Taterjack" is a term I like to employ for a "home run." I find it to be awesome. Nearly as awesome as I found Chris Davis, the power-swinging, Texas Rangers first basemen ... before the season. But news hit the proverbial fan yesterday that Davis had been demoted and that he would no longer be on the Rangers' big league team.

This is highly problematic for fantasy owners who wasted used a high pick (and, invariably, it was high) on Davis: because he doesn't seem likely to get a lot more opportunity in the Rangers lineup. This is true for a number of reasons. First, he stinks. Second, Justin Smoak is the minors and probably ahead of Davis on the "track to the bigs" now. Additionally, Hank Blalock is playing first base. And, finally, the Rangers need pitching.

There are a total of 46 two-start pitchers this week. None have it tougher than poor J.A. Happ who faces the Mets and Johan Santana, and then Boston and Josh Beckett. I'm afraid Happ's perfect record might become blemished this week.

There are two afternoon games on Monday so your weekly lineups need to set by 2:05 PM ET.

Must Start
Derek Lowe, Braves - Tuesday vs PIT (R. Ohlendorf) and Sunday at BAL (D. Hernandez)
Josh Beckett, Red Sox - Tuesday vs NYY (A. Burnett) and Sunday at PHI (J. Happ)
Ted Lilly, Cubs - Tuesday at HOU (B. Moehler) and Sunday vs MIN (S. Baker)
Mark Buehrle, White Sox - Tuesday vs DET (D. Willis) and Sunday at MLW (B. Looper)
Johnny Cueto, Reds - Tuesday at WAS (J. Zimmermann) and Sunday at KC (B. Bannister)
Cliff Lee, Indians - Tuesday vs KC (B. Bannister) and Sunday vs STL (C. Carpenter)