Fantasy Baseball Tonight 6/7; Welcome Tommy Hanson

Like I always say, young players, and especially pitchers, often struggle. Tommy Hanson got a rude welcome to the majors today, as he allowed six runs over six innings. If there is one good thing about the start is was that Hanson didn't walk a slew of guys, in fact only one, and he did strike out five in those six innings. Milwaukee is a decent offensive team, but they aren't exactly Murderer's Row either. Continue to start Hanson, don't let this one start make you lose any confidence.

Roy Halladay is just straight out NASTY! The guy threw another complete game shutout today and is now the majors first ten game winner. His ERA is right around 2.50, he is striking out nearly a batter an inning, and his WHIP is among the best in baseball among starters. What can I say? If Halladay isn't the best, he's definitely in the top five.

Ricky Nolasco was back for the Marlins today, and although he took the loss, the start was pretty encouraging. He allowed just two runs over seven innings, walked three, and struck out four. This obviously wasn't a lights out start, but it is much better than some of the outings he had before being sent to the minors. I like the prospects of a fine season for Nolasco after being recalled, and I think he can win eleven or twelve games.

I continue to read Steve Gardner's blog over at usatoday.com, and I found a new way for us to compete against each other. USA Today's site has two fun games that I have begun to play, and I set up a private league for us to join. The first is called 56 Game Hit Streak in which you try each day to pick a guy who will get a hit. Sounds easy right? I started it a few days ago and haven't picked a guy who got a hit yet. The second is called 3 Play and that is a weekly game in which you pick an infielder, an outfielder, and a pitching staff and you get points based on their performance. Points are accumulated for the season. The midseason game starts on Monday. The information you need follows. Both league names are Fantasy Bball 2night, and the passwords are both fantasy. Please join us and see if you matchup against us.

Antonio Bastardo was called up to the majors to fill in for Brett Myers when he was basically lost for the season. While the Phils have said they would look outside the organization for a long term fix, Bastardo could make them rethink those plans. Besides having a really cool name, he was having a great season in the minors and is a pretty good strikout pitcher. He hasn't been going deep into games, but he has had two quality starts, and has been getting pretty good K numbers. As long as he is in the rotation for the Phillies he is worth a look as a potential guy at the bottom of your rotation.

Randy Wells had his first major league win blown for him by the bullpen, but he has now made six starts, and he is still yet to allow more than three runs. Wells struck out four and allowed two runs in 6.2 innings, and now has a 1.86 ERA. I'm still not on the Wells bandwagon, but he is doing quite well in the majors. I just look at his minor league statistics and he never did this good for any stretch at any level.

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Bronson Arroyo is either all or nothing. This time it was another great start for him. Arroyo allowed just one run over seven innings, but wasn't a factor in the decision. Arroyo isn't an elite strikeout pitcher, and only whiffed two on Sunday. This start comes on the heels of him allowing five runs against the Cardinals five days ago. I don't like to have a guy like Arroyo on my team. I don't want a guy who will likely allow either one run or eight. What's wrong with a line of three earned over six with four Ks? There's room for that on my team.

Livan Hernandez continues his unlikely season with another win for the Mets. Hernandez is now 5-1 after throwing seven shutout innings against the Nationals. He hasn't lost a decision since April 23rd, which could only mean one thing......there has to be a few outings coming in the near future. This isn't 2000 when he won 17 games, Livan is in his mid-30s now and is on the downside of his career. He has been great for the Mets and his fantasy teams, but there has to be a correction coming. Continue to pitch him, but don't be shocked if there are some bad outings in the future.

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Ubaldo Jimenez was great on Sunday against St. Louis, and finally got a win for his efforts. He has now given up eleven runs in his last five starts, but this is the first win he had to show for it. Jimenez allowed two runs over eight innings and struck out nine. Control continues to be his biggest problem, well that and the fact his team stinks. But he is steadily improving the more he pitches, and it is looking possible that he could live up to his hype. If Jimenez is still available, I would consider picking him up, especially in keeper leagues, despite the fact his team is in last place.

Vince Mazzaro has now had two major league starts and is still yet to give up a run. After throwing 6.1 shutout innings in his debut, Mazzaro threw up zeros for 7.1 innings on Sunday. The good news is this time he didn't walk anyone, after issuing four free passes his first time out. Mazzaro was ranked as the number eight prospect for Oakland coming into the year, so this isn't completely unexpected. However, he likely has some less than stellar outings in his future.

Jose Lopez is finally starting to show some signs of life after an atrocious start to the year. Lopez connected on his fifth homer of the year, and three of them have come in the last eight days. He has also raised his batting average nearly 20 points in the last week. It is unlikely he will get to the numbers that he put up in 2008, but he is looking less like he should be in your free agent pool. Another good couple of games and I would think about picking him up, the talent pool at second base isn't the deepest.

Juan Rivera is a decent option for those of you in deeper leagues, or leagues that require five outfielders. The Angels OF/DH has had a career full of injuries, but a world of potential. So far, so good on the injury front for Rivera. He had three more hits on Sunday to get his average back over .300, and he now has six homers on the season. He has also driven in a run in seven of his last eight games, including three today. He isn't going to shift the balance of power in your league, but if you have been rotating free agents waiting to find someone that sticks, Rivera could be that guy.

Paul Phillips had a great game for the Rockies, but his time behind the plate for Colorado is likely short lived. Chris Iannetta is due back from the Disabled List in the next couple of days, perhaps as early as Tuesday. So, even with his four hit game, I would leave Phillips right where he is, likely in your free agent pool.

Mailing List

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.