Justin Upton seems like he is finally heating up as he had his second straight three hit night on Saturday including his sixth home run of the season. J-Up has endless potential as he has the chance to be a 30/30 or even a 40/40 guy at some point in his career. He has really gotten off to a slow start and is the absolutely PERFECT buy low guy after seven weeks to the season. If you own him you want to stay patient with him and if you don’t this is a guy that you want to target in a trade as he absolutely will turn it around and when he gets hot he gets really, really hot. Someday soon Upton will be one of the top ten players in all of the major leagues.
Francisco Liriano took his second straight loss on Saturday, although this one was not nearly as bad as the first one and you really can’t complain about this one if you own him. Liriano allowed just three runs over six innings and struck out seven. There is nothing wrong with this line that should make you concerned with Liriano’s future production, not to mention that they Yankees absolutely OWN the Twins. I still like Liriano and think he will be just fine and one of those dominating performances are right around the corner.
Andy Pettitte came back on Saturday and moved his record to 5-0 with another pretty impressive performance. Pettitte threw 6.1 shutout innings, walked three and struck out two. His ERA on the season is still under 2.00, although his strikeout totals aren’t where you would want them to be. I would absolutely try to trade Pettitte for someone who isn’t nearly 40 and near the end of his career. There is absolutely no way that this can continue and you need to capitalize on this hot start.
Ricky Romero had the latest in a long string of dominating pitching performances lately as he threw a shutout against the high powered Rangers with 12 strikeouts. Romero had a couple of tough outings, but this is a great sign that things should be ok. I would continue to throw him out against any opponent and figure that he will be a nice third or fourth starter on your fantasy team.
Jose Bautista hit his eighth and ninth home runs of the season on Saturday, and while he is off to an impressive start, I just don’t see this continuing. Bautista has been a fringe fantasy player his entire career, and really has never been given a full time gig. I really don’t see this kind of production continuing and unless there is really no other good option for you I would definitely not look to have him in my starting lineup.
Miguel Olivo hit his eighth home run of the season on Saturday he looks like he has become a viable fantasy option at the catcher position, especially in NL-only leagues or leagues with more than 12 teams. I don’t really see Chris Iannetta coming back from the minors any time soon, so Olivo should have every day playing time for quite a while. He has never proven to be a solid, consistent producer so I wonder how long this will last, but at a position like catcher I might be tempted to play the hot streak as long as it lasts unless you have a good option there already.
We all drafted Alcides Escobar for what he could bring as far as stolen bases are concerned, but on Saturday he hit his second home run of the year, and is still yet to steal his first base. Escobar is also only hitting .224 and isn’t even playing every single day, but I continue to have faith in him and play him in the two leagues that I have him in. I know I have said this before, but the steals should start coming any day and if he can hit a little bit more Escobar should be a viable fantasy player.
Brian Matusz had an impressive start ruined by an absolute implosion by the Baltimore bullpen, but it is just a small stain on a good day. Matusz threw seven shutout innings and struck out six Indians. I would have loved to see him get a win after three straight losses and allowing six runs his last time out, but it is at least very encouraging to see him have a dominating performance like he did on Saturday. I still have a huge man crush on Matusz and think you should start him no matter what.
I have absolutely no confidence in Dontrelle Willis as a fantasy starting pitcher any more. For most of the season he hasn’t been a bad fantasy option, but he is lacking the consistency that I crave. He was absolutely awful on Saturday though as he gave up four runs in just 3.1 innings, but the worst part was he walked seven guys. During the past couple of seasons when he was in and out of the majors, his control was a major factor and to see him walking that many guys is what concerns me. Even before this performance I wouldn’t want Willis on my team, but even now more than ever he has me scared away.
Matt Thornton collected his first save of the season for the Chicago White Sox, which leaves no doubt that Bobby Jenks hold on this job is sketchy at best. This isn’t a case of Jenks pitching a couple of days in a row and needing a rest. The White Sox had Thursday off and he didn’t pitch on Friday so there is no doubt that Jenks was available to pitch. There is no doubt at this point that the closer’s job in Chicago is in flux and right now I still think Thornton is the guy to own. If you have Jenks I would likely hold on to him for another week or so to see how this plays out, but I don’t like your guy’s chances of this working in his favor.
Andre Ethier has a small break in his pinkie and will be out an undetermined amount of time, which is a huge blow to his fantasy owners. Ethier suffered the damage swinging the bat before Saturday night’s game and will be evaluated by team doctors on Sunday to see what his prognosis is. He was having another huge season, batting .392 with 11 homers and 38 RBI to start the year and it will be hard for both the Dodgers and for you to replace his production. Hopefully this is just a hairline fracture or something small that he won’t have to miss much time for.
The MRI on Brad Lidge’s shoulder showed no damage, but the Phillies placed him on the DL anyway, hoping that rest will help their closer get back to his form. The decision was made after Lidge threw on Saturday, and this is hoped to be a preventative rest for the Phillies closer. Philadelphia will turn to Jose Contreras to close games now that both Lidge and Ryan Madson are hurt, and Contreras is a must add on your team if you are in short term need of saves.
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