Fantasy Baseball Tonight 4/29; Young Pitchers, Old Pitcher, Colorado Rockies

Yovani Gallardo continued his ascension to fantasy "stud" status both on the mound and at the plate. Gallardo was MASTERFUL over eight innings, allowing just two hits, walking one and striking out ELEVEN! His ERA now sits at 2.86, and that is mostly because he allowed seven runs in one of his starts. The other four? He has allowed two runs or less in all of them. He also hit his second home run of the season, accounting for the game's only run. Look out Babe Ruth!

Ian Snell was the hard luck loser today against the Brewers, as he allowed just the Gallardo homer. The great pitching from the Pirates continues, as Snell struck out five, but he did walk four. Since his Opening Day bomb, Snell hasn't allowed more than three runs. I don't know exactly what it will take for me to change my mind on the Pirates and their pitching staff, but I'm not buying in on any of them still.

Chris Iannetta, a guy that I promised people would put up big numbers as a catcher, hopefully got on that track tonight. Iannetta had two hits, including his third homer, and drove in four runs. The bad news? He's still only hitting .174. He does have five hits in his last four games, so there is a glimmer of hope for him.

Troy Tulowitzki was back in the lineup tonight after being benched for one game for, well...sucking. Tulowitzki had two hits and even stole a base, so feel free to get him back into your lineup. The kid has a lot of talent and should be able to turn it around from this AWFUL start he's gotten off to.

I continue to question whether Ryan Dempster can repeat his 2008 stats. He didn't do anything to install anymore confidence, as he gave up five runs in just six innings, walked three, and struck out four. His ERA for the season is now 5.40. It was his worst start of the season, but was also the first time he had given up more than four earned runs in a game.

Adrian Gonzalez continues to mash. After stealing his first base of the year (probably his last) yesterday, Gonzalez connected on dingers numbers eight and nine on the year. He is also hitting .329. I don't understand how he is doing it. He is on a bad team, in a pitcher's ball park, with no protection whatsoever. Somehow, opposing pitchers can't figure him out. I'm also not sure why he doesn't get more love in fantasy circles. Despite his constant increase in stats, it seems like more and more people question his abilities.

Julian Tavarez came in tonight and got the save for the Nationals on their first day of "closer by committee." This is a situation that I would stay away from for two reasons. One, Tavarez isn't very good. Two, the Nationals are worse. Unreliable reliever closing games for a bad team? Not the kind of situation I want to worry about.

Joba Chamberlain pitched great today, further stirring up the debate of where on the pitching staff he belongs. Is he a starter, is he a reliever? Who knows? Well, against the Tigers he looked fantastic, as he allowed only one run over seven innings, and struck out six. Joba has had control troubles, but tonight he walked only three. He has been disappointing so far, but there is still a ton of talent here.

Now this is what we expected from Edinson Volquez! He was spotless over eight innings, allowing no runs and striking out six. The most encouraging part of the start for Volquez is that he only walked one guy. His control has haunted him this season, as he had walked 20 guys in his first 20 innings. Too soon to say he's back, but this was a good sign.

Huston Street came in and got a save for the Rockies tonight, but I don't want you to go make a move on him. Manny Corpas had pitched in four of the last five games, so he wasn't available tonight. I can't say it is out of the realm of possibility for Street to get the job back, but I don't think this was a sign.

Quick Hitters

Ryan Franklin recorded his seventh consecutive save for the Cardinals, and still has not allowed a run. At this point, I think he is hot enough that you have to make a move on him and think this could be for real.

Billy Butler had a huge game, going 4-5 with two homers, a double, and four RBI. Let's just say he more than doubled his season RBI total in one game. Too soon to get excited.

Alexei Ramirez stole his fifth base of the season on Wednesday, and all have come since April 22nd. Congratulations those of you who were patient, it appears you should be ready for Alexei to start hitting.

Rick Porcello had a tough outing, allowing six runs over 3.2 innings, walking three, and whiffing just one. He is just 20 years old folks, remember that. He is going to have growing pains. If you have him in a seasonal league, you might think about letting him go. In a keeper league, GET OVER IT!

Justin Upton had two hits, drove in three runs, and even stole his first base. He is on a nice hot streak, let's see how long it lasts.

Finally, I would like to take this time to post a link to one of the newest baseball blogs, The Fantasy Windup. Steve Gardner, who has been with USA Today for over 15 years, has recently started his own blog about everything baseball that is updated multiple times a day. I especially liked the post from early yesterday in which he was good enough to mention my site and link to my article from 4/26. Thanks Steve! I invite all of you to check out the Fantasy Windup and to get involved in the comments and forums with some of his great readers.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss “The Fantasy Baseball Gurus Show” every Wednesday night at 10pm EST on Blog Talk Radio. The show is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. The Fantasy Baseball Scouting Report is also back! Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the news, free agent pickups, minor leaguers, and injuries. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league. I also just met the people over at Baseball Trade Rumors and I invite you to visit their site. They have a page for rumors for every major league team, constant updates on the latest rumors, interactive polls, and overall some great content.