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Last Night Rewind

• Kevin Youkilis will have season-ending surgery to repair a torn muscle in his thumb suffered on Monday night. The injury is not expected to hinder his ability to be ready for Spring Training, but it does finish up what could have been an impressive 2010. Mike Lowell will get the bulk of the time at first base as his replacement in the meantime.
• Carlos Santana will have surgery on his knee that could sideline him for four to six months. The team does not feel that it will jeopardize his 2011 season at this point. The operation is considered rare in baseball circles, but it certainly could have been much worse by all indications on the replays. Do not write him off for next year. Lou Marson will be the primary starter behind the plate for Cleveland now.
• Another player is likely done for the rest of the year as well. Russell Martin has not made that statement, but manager Joe Torre is operating under that assumption. There is a strong possibility that the hip injury he suffered will require surgery and if it does it will certainly end his season. Martin made the point that he is looking more long-term than short with this injury.
• Felix Hernandez is now 0-3 this season in four starts against the Rangers. As solid as he is, the Rangers simply seem to have his number this year. Hernandez gave up three runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings yesterday while striking out only three hitters.
• The Nationals got good news yesterday after Stephen Strasburg threw 43 pitches in a simulated game yesterday. Strasburg felt no discomfort in the shoulder following the outing. He will throw a bullpen session over the weekend as well. Should things go well, Strasburg will take the mound on Tuesday to throw for Washington.

Friday Notes

• Adrian Beltre has raked against Javier Vazquez, hitting .441 in 34 at-bats against him. David Ortiz and J.D. Drew are both well over .300 as well. Drew has hit four home runs in 28 at-bats against Vazquez. Look to avoid the 5-for-29 of Victor Martinez if you have better options available to you on your bench.
• The Cubs have some ugly numbers against Bronson Arroyo. Alfonso Soriano is hitting only .190 in 42 at-bats while Aramis Ramirez is hitting only .205 in 39 at-bats. Derrek Lee struggles to a .235 mark and Kosuke Fukudome is 0-for-13. Marlon Byrd and Blake DeWitt at 4-for-10 are the best options available against Arroyo.
• Time for me to stop recommending Dave Bush as a spot start option. While the numbers have been good, he is strictly out to make me a liar. Bush draws the Astros again, a team he is now 0-2 against this year. He has allowed eight earned runs in 16 innings against them overall with 19 hits and nine walks. Not too good there.
• Wandy Rodriguez is the opposite of Bush this season. He has gone 2-0 against the Brewers so far and yielded just one run on 12 hits and two walks in 15 innings this year. Even with this, only Prince Fielder struggles against Rodriguez. He has hit just .233 against him. Look to start Corey Hart as he is at .400 in 35 at-bats.
• Only Aaron Hill and Vernon Wells have been able to garner averages better than .300 against Matt Garza lifetime. Garza is 6-2 at home so far this season with batters hitting only .220 against him inside Tropicana Field. He can certainly be erratic, but the numbers bear out in this one. Start him with confidence.
• Francisco Liriano is 3-0 this season against Cleveland, posting a 1.23 ERA in 22 innings against them. Even better, Liriano has not allowed a run in his last three starts overall, a total of 21 innings. Two good numbers worth starting against the lefty though. Asdrubal Cabrera is 8-for-15 against him and Shin Soo Choo is 3-for-10.
• Albert Pujols is 6-for-12 against Ricky Nolasco and Matt Holliday is 7-for-11 against Florida starter Ricky Nolasco. Nolasco has won seven of his last eight starts and continues to generate plenty of strikeouts. Even with the numbers of these two hitters, Nolasco is still worth the start against the Cardinals in this one.
• Justin Verlander has pitched well at home, posting a 7-2 record with a 2.65 ERA and .222 BAA. Verlander has been as solid against the Angels as well, going 2-0 when facing them this season. Mike Napoli, Howie Kendrick, and Juan Rivera should be avoided, as not one can crack .200 against the righty. Otherwise, any Angels you would start should still be good to go in this one.
• How about Luis Castillo tonight against Joe Blanton? Castillo is 9-for-17 against the pitcher. Jeff Francoeur has good numbers as well. Jose Reyes and David Wright could do better. Reyes is only 1-for-12 while Wright checks in at 3-for-13. Blanton’s home ERA is ugly, coming in at 5.07 on the season.
• Spot Starts: Niese, Hammel, Arroyo

Weekend Notes

• As hot as Adrian Beltre is, he has just one hit in 19 at-bats against C.C. Sabathia. Jacoby Ellsbury has not been good since coming back and he is only 1-for-13 while Bill Hall is just 1-for-11. Victor Martinez and J.D. Drew struggle as well. Only Marco Scutaro at .333 is worth the start in this one.
• James Shields is on a roll, winning his last three starts. The Blue Jays, though, have solid individual numbers against him. Adam Lind is 9-for-27 with three home runs against Shields and Lyle Overbay is 11-for-36 with three home runs as well. Vernon Wells checks in with a .290 mark and Jose Bautista is 4-for-9.
• Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth have gone a combined 6-for-16 against Johan Santana. Raul Ibanez is 15-for-42 while Placido Polanco is 12-for-29. Santana, after a dominant run, has given up 11 runs in his last 12.2 innings of work. He was roughed up by the Phillies in his only other start against them this season.
• Randy Wolf has allowed only one run in 13 innings this season against the Astros. Jeff Keppinger is only 4-for-19 and Hunter Pence checks in at only 3-for-14 against Wolf lifetime. Pedro Feliz has 19 at-bats against Wolf and has managed three home runs and a .316 average against him. Carlos Lee is 5-for-20.
• Mike Lowell is only 4-for-20 against A.J. Burnett, and Jed Lowrie checks in at only 2-for-12. Jacoby Ellbury, Marco Scutaro, and Adrian Beltre are all hitting better than .300 against Burnett and Victor Martinez is at .273. David Ortiz has three home runs in 39 at- bats.
• Mark Teixeira is only 4-for-28 and Lance Berkman is just 3-for-18 against Josh Beckett lifetime. Curtis Granderson has struggled as well. Posada, Cano, Jeter, and Rodriguez are your best and only decent options against Beckett for this one. Cano has hit three home runs off Beckett in 52 at-bats.
• Avoid Freddy Sanchez against Derek Lowe. Sanchez is only 2-for-15 against Lowe. Aaron Rowand is worth the start in this one as he is 11-for-23 against him. Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff are worth keeping in your fantasy lineups here as well. Lowe is 7-3 at home this season with a 3.92 ERA in his own park and is already 1-0 against the Giants this year.
• Michael Young is 5-for-13 against Trevor Cahill and Josh Hamilton is 3-for-11. Those are the best numbers you will get from the Rangers in this one. Look to avoid the 1-for-10 of Nelson Cruz and the 2-for-11 of Vladimir Guerrero. Elvis Andrus is no better at only 3-for-17.
• Mat Latos continues to win ball games and he draws a struggling Arizona team that should be able to provide him with some strikeouts to pad his numbers. Latos is 7-3 on the road this season with a 2.66 road ERA. Batters are hitting just .191 against him away from home, proving that he is pitching just as well outside Petco Park as he is inside.
• Spot Starts: Gonzalez, Richard, Wells, Lowe, Duensing

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