Fantasy Baseball Tonight 5/22

David Price is being called up by the Tampa Bay Rays when they placed Scott Kazmir on the 15-day DL due to a strained quad (read: sucking) according to cbs sports, and would be starting on Monday. I doubt this is a short-term thing, and I also doubt that Price is available in your league. If for some unbelievable reason he is, please do me a favor and grab him right away.

Jimmy Rollins continues on the road to recovery with two more hits, including his third home run and stole his sixth base of the season. After a horrendous start, Rollins appears to be back among the living. In the last ten days, Rollins has raised his average 42 points, hit two home runs, and drove in seven runs. I'm not sure he will return to the kind of stats he has had in the past, but it appears he won't completely go in the tank.

Rick Porcello won his fourth straight start, and actually hasn't had a no decision yet in 2009 which is fairly impressive. He was only able to last six innings, but only gave up one run, walked two, and struck out three. What can I say that I haven't already? He's still seven months away from turning 21 and he is already an effective major league pitcher. In keeper leagues he should be one of the hottest commodities, as it appears he will continue to pitch extremely well. You want him on your team, 'nuff said.

Nolan Reimold is starting to creep up the Orioles lineup, and he is making a little bit of an impact every day. Reimold has collected a hit in every game since being called up but one, and connected on his second homer of the season on Friday. Like I said from the start, I really like his chances of being a good major leaguer, and although he isn't lighting the world on fire, he is more than holding his own. If you are in a keeper league, think about grabbing Reimold, and if you are in a deeper or AL-only league, you definitely want him.

Rich Hill was pretty effective again in his second start for the Orioles as he continues on the road back to being an effective major league pitcher. Hill lasted just 5.2 innings, but only allowed two runs, and struck out six. Control continues to be an issue, as he walked four, but considering where he was just last year, he is making major strides. I still don't think I would advise picking him up at this time.

A.J. Burnett lost again after allowing five runs over six innings, walking just two, and striking out seven. Burnett has not collected a win since April 14th, and Yankee fans must be going crazy. Now while I wasn't a huge fan of the signing, you have to figure there is a big hot streak in Burnett's future. He has been around a .500 pitcher in non-contract years, but he has been quite disappointing. I wouldn't be selling low on Burnett, there has to be some great starts in his very near future.

Joel Zumaya picked up a save tonight for the Detroit Tigers, but according to manager Jim Leyland it was because he wanted to rest closer Fernando Rodney. He has been doing well with strikeouts (12 in 13 IP), but his ERA is 3.38 which isn't great for a relief pitcher. In deep leagues he still has some value, but in regular 12 team leagues, I would leave him in free agency unless something happens to Rodney.

Daisuke Matsuzaka returned from the disabled list to mixed results, but in fairness to him, he did face Johan Santana. Dice allowed four runs over five innings, walked two, and struck out four. I know Matuzaka frustrates a lot of his owners due to the amount of guys he walks, but you can't ignore the fact that he was won 33 games in his two years in America, and his ERA was under three last season. I seem to have more faith in him than others.

Another Japanese import, the Braves' Kenshin Kawakami had his best start in the States, and it was good timing for the Braves. He pitched eight shutout innings, didn't walk anyone and struck out seven. It isn't that he has been terrible, he just has been unable to pitch past the sixth inning, and has given up between two and four runs a start. He raised his record to 3-5, but his ERA is still 4.73. He is striking out nearly a batter an inning, so he does have value there, but he needs to pitch deeper into games like he did on Friday, and his ownership percentage will increase. I'm not saying go grab him now, but he is at least worth monitoring at this point. However, being on the Braves will limit his win potential.

Texas rookie Derek Holland had the first start of his career, and while it wasn't spectacular, he was more than effective. Holland pitched 5.2 innings and allowed three runs, all in the sixth inning. He didn't walk a batter and struck out four. Those of you in keeper leagues definitely want to consider grabbing this guy. He wasn't a high draft pick, but Holland was ranked as the second best prospect in the Rangers' organization by Baseball America coming into this season. In his three seasons in the minors, Holland was 17-7 with a 2.69 ERA and struck out 245 batters in 221 innings.

Michael Cuddyer is white hot, and I'm sure you are all wondering how long he can keep this up. His best season was 2006 when he hit 24 homers and drove in 109 runs, and he really hasn't been close to that since. He had his second consecutive four hit game on Friday, and hit for the cycle. Cuddyer now has seven homers, three triples, and has driven in 30 runs. If you are in a 12 team league he might be worth picking up, but I think that would only be if you need four our five outfielders. I think his max would be twenty homers, which only leaves him thirteen for the last four months of the year. I would only be grabbing Cuddyer if I was in a very deep league, or if I only needed him for a short period of time for an injury fill in. I don't see him keeping this pace up.

Gavin Floyd may have saved himself from many people's waiver wire with his performance today, although it might have been too late. He pitched eight shutout innings, allowed just two walks, and struck out eight. Even with this performance he is 3-4 with an ERA over 6.50, and it was his first win since April 13th. I'll say this. I don't expect him to reach his stats from 2008, but I also don't think that he will be a totally ineffective pitcher. I think he will win between 12-14 games and have an ERA around 4.50. He is an average strikeout pitcher, so he isn't anyone to go nuts about, but I wouldn't send him packing just yet.

Alexei Ramirez had two hits, including his second home run, and even threw in his seventh stolen base for good measure. One of my favorite readers, Martha, declared Alexei her most frustrating player to own, and I have to say I can't disagree with her. I keep hoping that this is the day that he starts to turn it around and hit like he did last year, but he continues to send you to the medicine cabinet for the Tums. I still say not to give up on him, he was an incredibly valuable fantasy player last year, and has shown flashes in 2009, just hasn't been consistent enough.

Marlins' pitcher Ricky Nolasco has been optioned back to AAA after his latest horrible start. He allowed eight runs to the Rays over just two innings, and his season ERA is over 9.00. The Marlins say he will only be down for a couple of starts to get him straightened out and he will be brought back up. If you have been this patient, I would suggest a little more patience and I think he will be back in the bigs before too long.

Brett Cecil was sent to the minors along with Travis Snider for the Blue Jays, and Ricky Romero was called back up. Adjust your lineup if you have those guys.

Injury News

Rich Harden was placed on the 15 day DL with a mild back strain which supposedly happened during a side session. Rich Harden on the DL??? You're kidding me! Never heard of such a thing! Two words. Uh-oh!

J.J. Hardy left the game with back spasms. No information available yet if he will miss any more than a day or two. I would think he won't play tomorrow though.

Vladimir Guerrero played a rehab game and doubled in a run. The Angels paln to activate him in time for Monday's game as a DH. Plan on getting him back in to your lineup then.

Chien-Ming Wang was activated, but to be put in the bullpen due to the fact that the Yanks had to go to their pen in the 1st inning yesterday when Joba Chamberlain was hit with a batted ball. He pitched three innings and allowed two runs, lowering his ERA to 25.00. No, seriously.

Troy Percival was put on the DL, which leaves a committee approach to closing games for the Rays. Isringhausen, Wheeler, Nelson, and Balfour all could get chances. Tough situation to call.

Also, the family and I will be taking a long weekend to Mystic, Connecticut to visit the aquarium and probably the children’s museum. Now, I plan on bringing the laptop with me, but I can’t guarantee how much I will use it. So if I am not as quick on the emails or posts, that is the reason. I will have access, but it will be more limited from Saturday morning until Monday night. Please feel free to continue to send your emails though, I will get to every one.

New Feature

For those of you who are regular readers, I would like to offer a new service. I am starting a mailing list. Sometimes I see news during the day, but I wait until this nightly article to pass it along to you guys. Prospects coming up, injury news, closer movement, etc. Just send me an email to fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com with “Mailing List” in the subject line and I will add you to the list. Then, whenever I find news that I feel is breaking and important, I will send it to you as soon as I find out about it. Hopefully this is something that you all will find valuable to make a possible move before your competition.

Also, you can now follow me on Twitter for more updates. Go to www.twitter.com/fightingchance.

Attention League Commissioners! If you are looking to spice up your league some, go and visit Fantasy Sports Trophies. Tom Harkins has put together a great site with all kinds of different trophies to give the winner of your league something besides just bragging rights. There are trophies for fantasy baseball, football (check out the Beer League Fantasy Football Trophy), basketball, hockey, and auto racing. I invite you to take a look at the site and try them out.

I’m also going to start mentioning the Fantasy Windup with Steve Gardner over at the USA Today again. His blog is updated many times each day, and is always covering the stories you are talking about when it comes to fantasy baseball. Yesterday he had a great post about the five most frustrating players to own in fantasy baseball. Go vent your frustrations on the message board.

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 Tonight” podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday 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. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. 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.