Fantasy Baseball Tonight 6/25

Joey Votto was just a triple short of the cycle, as he looks like he is back from his injury issues and should absolutely be back in your lineups. Votto has the ability to hit for some power, and will also give you a great batting average. He should hit .310-.320 and will give you 20-23 homers even with the games that he missed.

John Smoltz completed his comeback from offseason surgery, but the Washingotn Nationals hit him up pretty good. Smoltz pitched five innings and allowed five runs. On a positive note, he only walked one and struck out five. He is coming back from a bad injury, and he is over 40 years old. He will likely improve the more he pitches, but at his age and coming back from an injury is troublesome. Hold him for another start or two. Don't give a knee jerk reaction on one start.

Jordan Zimmerman continues to impress me more each time he takes the mound, and had his way with the Boston Red Sox over seven innings. It was only the second time he has pitched that deep into a game, and he struck out six while only walking one. Zimmerman has now allowed just one earned run in three straight starts, and should be on a roster in every league right now. In keeper leagues, he is becoming more valuable by the day.

Alex Rodriguez has been frustrating both Yankee fans and fantasy players. Perhaps Thursday was the first step of him breaking out of that funk. A-Rod had two singles and a homer, and he drove in four runs. He is so much better than the .223 average he has, so really try to stay patient. He might not be 100% still, as he rushed back from the hip surgery. I believe he will improve as the season goes on, and will likely hit .280 or better.

Jake Fox was able to DH today so his glove wasn't an issue, and he connected on his first major league home run. He also singled and doubled, and is proving that he will have no problem hitting in this league. Now, if he could either get traded to the American League so he could DH, Fox would be a major player. He has been starting most days now, and the more starts he gets, the more value he holds. See what happens when they leave the American League parks. If Fox keeps playing, you will want to have him.

Sean West bounced back after a couple of tough outings to restore some confidence with his fantasy owners. He is one of the better pitching prospects in Florida, but I don't see him being dominant this year by any stretch. He will likely win close to ten games, but he is walking a few too many, and not striking enough out. I still like West as a guy at the end of your roster.

As we talked about it on the Tuesday edition of the Fantasy Baseball Tonight podcast, but now it is official. The Reds will recall Homer Bailey to start on Saturday. He has only allowed two runs in his last five starts, and is on total fire. However, Bailey has been in the majors a handful of times, and I have ABSOLUTELY no faith that he will succeed in this start, or in any other that he makes. Unless you are in an NL-only league, or are desperate for a spark, I wouldn't touch the guy.

OK, it's Thursday and it didn't rain which means I had a softball game tonight. It was a bit of a laugher as we took over the lead in our division with a 4-3 record after an 11-4 victory. Before the game was over, I had my parents there, a co-worker, and my wife with both girls at the field (which is rare). I played third base tonight, and it was UGLY. Now, mind you it was just my fourth game ever there, and my first in over a month. A hot shot got past me that I might have been able to get to. The only other play I got was a slow roller with a fast guy running. I got to the ball and should never have thrown it, but of course I rushed it and threw it away. At the plate (which is the only part I really care about, I don't like defense) I was 3/4 with two RBI. I had a solid single past the shortstop that drove in a run in the first. Popped up to center in my second at bat after I almost got a cue shot to drop down the first base line, but it was JUST foul. That would have been another double. But all in all a great game, and we will play two games next week because of the neverending rain here in New York.

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I'm not going to stop bringing up the mailing list until I get a day where I don't get a request to join it. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, when I find news earlier in the day I will send an email to you about whatever it might be. If you were on the mailing list you would have found out about the callups of Matt Wieters, Fernando Martinez, Nolan Reimold and others. The trade of Nate McLouth, and injuries to Jose Reyes, etc. This mailing list is your way to get a step up on your competition. Anyone who is on the list, please leave a comment below on whether you think that you have benefitted from the list. Send an email to either fantasybaseballtonight@gmail.com or fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com and put Mailing List in the subject line.

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 the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.