News From Around the League; Injuries, Prospects, and More

Things are starting to look up for the Yankees' Joba Chamberlain. After a pretty disastrous first start, his last two have been encouraging, although not great. He is still having issues with walking batters, but he has lasted a little deeper into the game each time out. Joba went six innings and allowed only one run this past Friday, but he still walked four batters. Look for improvement each time he takes the mound, and I believe he will be a fairly reliable starter with good strikeout numbers by the end of the year.

How much hotter can Marcus Thames get? I can't remember the last time this happened, but his past seven hits have ALL been home runs. Now that the exciting part is over, let me tell you why you shouldn't go running to pick him up unless you are desperate for home runs. First, his total homers for the season is now up to 12. Do the math real quick, he's hit seven in the past week, and his season total is twelve. That means he hit five the other ten weeks of the season. I don't know about you, but that is not the kind of guy I want on my team. Not to mention he is 31 years old. If anyone can tell me the last time a guy that age, all of a sudden got really, really good, I’d be happy to hear. Thames has been a part time player his whole career, don't buy into this recent power surge.

Willy Taveras has been stealing bases like it is his job. After a career high five thefts on Saturday, Willy took another one on Sunday and is now at 30 for the season. I am not a huge fan of Taveras, and would sell high on him if I had him. He really only helps you in one category. Perhaps you can get a steal needy owner to overpay for Taveras.

After a couple of poor outings and a sprained ankle, it looked as though the impressive rookie season of Jair Jurrjens might have been taking a turn for the worse. But then he went out and threw a gem of 7.2 shutout innings with seven strikeouts and it looks like he is still in the running for the ROY. Keep patient with Jurrjens through some tough times when they come again, he looks to be a very talented pitcher.

Injury News

Following a successful rehab outing in which he allowed two runs and three hits over five innings, Daisuke Matsuzaka will rejoin the Red Sox and start this Saturday. Dice still has the perfect 8-0 record, so be sure you have him active in time for his start then.

Rockies' SS Troy Tulowitzki has been on a rehab assignment and may rejoin the team as soon as Friday. Tulowitzki tore his left quad on April 29^th in an ugly looking play, and after nearly two months he looks to be just days away from returning. He has to improve over his horrendous start, so get him active if you stashed him away. If his previous owner was stupid enough to drop him, snatch up the youngster immediately.

Arizona OF Eric Byrnes will go on a rehab assignment over the weekend and is due to return to the D-Backs lineup on Monday against the Red Sox. Although he struggled mightily this season, Byrnes has been the catalyst for the Arizona offense the last couple years with his bat and his legs. I see him having a big turnaround once he gets back on the field, so be sure to have him back in your lineups upon his return.

It has been a long time coming but Joel Zumaya will rejoin the Tigers on Friday. He will go back to his setup role, so don't go grabbing him expecting a shot at the closers' job. However, he needs just an injury to an ancient Todd Jones to get that chance. Even in middle relief Zumaya can help you in strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP and is a good pickup in most leagues.

David Ortiz had his cast removed from his injured wrist on Monday, a great sign in his recovery from injury. The doctors had said they wouldn't remove the cast until he was pain-free, so it appears that surgery will not be necessary. Ortiz is targeting a return after the All-Star Break, as he still needs some time to rehab and get his strength back.

Brad Penny is headed to the DL after finally admitting to shoulder discomfort. Turns out Penny has been dealing with this pain for most of the season. This is good news in a way, as it starts to explain this horrible start that Brad got off to. Manager Joe Torre is optimistic that he might be able to return in two weeks, but it is possible that he won't be back until after the Mid-Summer Classic. Stash Penny away until he returns, he is a better pitcher than what he has shown this year.

Victor Martinez had surgery on June 13^th to clean out his injured elbow and is expected to miss six to eight weeks. The hope of his fantasy owners is that he will be able to return a little sooner as the DH, but that might be a false hope, it isn’t like you don’t use your elbow when up to bat. A crushing blow to his fantasy teams, as the depth at catcher is horrible.

Prospect News

Mariners top prospect Jeff Clement has been promoted back to the majors, and this time manager John McLaren has said that Clement will catch at least three out of five days. I expect Clement to be more focused and relaxed in his second stint in the majors and start to show that great power that he was flexing in the minors. Unless you have one of the top couple options at catcher, he is worth taking a flier on.

Reds' pitcher Homer Bailey was demoted back to AAA after absolutely laying another egg in his latest trip to the majors. Bailey allowed five runs in two of his three starts, and only got out of the fourth inning once. At this point, I have lost faith that Bailey will live up to the great expectations that have been hoisted on to him, and I wouldn't own him even in a keeper league.

Braves pitcher Charlie Morton made his major league debut the other day in successful fashion for the injury riddled Braves. Morton allowed three runs over six innings and struck out four. After just an average career in the minors, Morton was having a great year at AAA with a 5-2 record and 72 Ks in 79 innings. I need to see more from Morton before I recommend picking him up. Prior to this year he never had a winning record in the minors or an ERA under 4.50, so I find it hard to believe he will be shutting down major league hitters consistently.

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