FanHouse Jacoby Ellsbury

In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down each of the playoff teams from a scouting perspective.

There are enough intangibles that this Red Sox team has, aside from the obvious talent their roster possesses, to give any opponent fits, which is why it's going to be all the more important to exploit any holes they may have. With the style and fire they take the field with, it is more crucial to jump on them early than any other club in the postseason.

Power pitchers like Josh Beckett and Jon Lester need to be touched up early, in most cases, if you are going to get to them at all. And, in a playoff atmosphere, an over-amped power pitcher can be prone to command issues in the early going.

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.

What a fantasy season it has been for Prince Fielder. Of course, we must thrown the "fantasy" before season, as I'm sure Fielder pictured himself squarely in the middle of a playoff race when looking ahead to September 21st earlier in the season, but his owners must be pleased by their second-round pick's production. Fielder launched his 40th homer of the season Sunday, making this year the second (2007) in which he's reached the 40-HR mark. His average is still trucking along near .300 (currently at .299), which is a pleasant surprise, and his 128 RBIs tie with Albert Pujols' total as the best mark in baseball.

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 majority of the American workforce got a day off on Labor Day, some major league hitters were getting their power stroke on in a big way. With only 11 games on the docket, four players left the yard twice in one game: Derrek Lee, Billy Butler, Mark Teixeira and Juan Uribe. The fantasy fallout isn't huge, save for one; Lee's having a resurgence, Butler a breakout campaign and Teixeira an MVP-caliber season. Uribe, though ... that's news.

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.

On Sunday, Ichiro Suzuki became the second fastest player to ever reach the 2,000 hit milestone as he doubled in the first inning and later scored.

It took Suzuki 1,402 games to reach 2,000 hits. The fastest was Al Simmons who did it in 1,390 games. Suzuki needs five more hits to reach 200 for the season, which would break the record he shares with Willie Keeler at nine consecutive seasons with 200.

As milestone talk goes, Ichiro is playing second fiddle to what's about to happen in New York.

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.

On Thursday in Philadelphia, one of the game's best pitchers from years past squared off against arguably the game's best pitcher of today. Who would win the battle of old versus new? It turns out fantasy owners were the big winners.

Tim Lincecum struck out 11 batters, which isn't even close to a season high for the kid, and walked one over seven innings while allowing two runs, but all that got him was a loss.

Pedro Martinez, making his fifth start with the Phillies, moved to 3-0 on the strength of a nine-strikeout, no-walk performance. He threw 62 of his 87 pitches for strikes and looked completely dominant after a first-inning homer by Eugenio Velez.

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.

John Lackey threw eight innings on Sunday, striking out six and not surrendering an earned run. It was his 100th career victory. He should have been the man of the hour, right?

That would have been the case had Kendry Morales not jacked his 30th home run of the season and stolen the show. At least among fantasy circles, anyway.

Morales had twelve career home runs entering the 2009 season and big shoes to fill as the Angels handed him the keys to the kingdom at first base as Mark Teixeira left for the Yankees. He's handled the task admirably batting .311 and is fast approaching the 100-RBI mark. He's also leading the league in RBI since the all-star break with 45.

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday -- it's running Friday this week.

Earlier this week, Brad Lidge's nightmare 2009 season continued, when he allowed a walk-off homer to Andrew McCutchen. Ed Price covered the outing the following morning. The abysmal performance by the Phillies' closer underlines the only weakness of the defending World Series Champions.

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

It's rare that I lead Roto Rush with news not from the field, but this saga is too good to pass up.

Jake Peavy, newly acquired by the Chicago White Sox, on Thursday declared himself ready to start. He said that pitching Saturday in New York would be fine by him.

The Sox, on the other hand, feel Peavy needs one more Triple-A rehab start before he's ready for major league action. That final rehab start will happen for the Charlotte Knights on Saturday. If all goes well...

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

When you select Carlos Pena in fantasy baseball, you know you aren't getting batting average help. Still, his career-low .223 mark this year was well below expectations, and up until August 5, the power numbers weren't nearly high enough to console disappointed Pena owners.

Well, that has all changed. Since that date, Pena has slugged 11 home runs and driven home 22. His average has been respectable (.286) and his OPS is ridiculous (1.307). On the season, Pena now has a six home run lead on the rest of the AL with 37. He's also third in RBI (91).

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

Vladimir Guerrero's had a rough 2009, with injury issues and his dwindling power (his .466 slugging percentage would easily be his career low if the season ended today) causing concern the 34-year-old was full-on in the middle of a career decline.

With two cracks of the bat Monday night, "Vlad the Impaler" reminded us that he's been swinging a hot stick of late. In fact, he's been the old Vlad for quite some time. He just needed to shake the Earth a little bit to ensure everyone took notice.