Fantasy Baseball Tonight 7/22

Ryan Doumit had two home runs on Wednesday, which were his first two of the year. He has been doing respectable since coming off the DL, but hadn't been hitting for any extra bases. He had 15 homers in just over 110 games last season, so he has good pop for a catcher and there should be more where this is coming from. He could pop out ten more before the season is over, or at least get to ten, so if you have an underperforming catcher and Doumit is available, I wouldn't hestitate to make the move.

OK, that's enough. I've been fighting it. I don't want to advise starting Garrett Jones of the Pirates, but at this point how can you sit him? He homered AGAIN this afternoon and now has nine in just 17 games. Now with trade of Adam LaRoche, Jones will likely be playing first base most days for Pittsburgh. Obviously, he can't keep this pace up, but you have ride the hot hand while it lasts. I would suggest waiting until he takes an Ofer for two or three days before removing him from your starting lineup

Ryan Theriot seems to be a popular fantasy middle infielder, but I'm not really sure why. OK, he is hitting .300, but he offers little else. I guess his 36 RBI from a middle infielder isn't bad, he should approach 60, but he doesn't hit for enough power or steal enough bases. Sure, he stole three today, bringing his season total to 13. But he also had five in the first month of the season. So that means in May, June, and most of July, he recorded five steals. That isn't enough for me. Unless you are in a deep league or have injuries in your middle, I wouldn't keep Theriot on the roster.

Jaime Moyer was pretty poor again today, and continued his good start/bad start kind of pattern. When they are bad, they are pretty bad. On Wednesday, Moyer allowed four earned runs over five innings, walked three and struck out three. His ERA now sits at 5.65 for the year, and somehow he has nine wins. He had won five straight starts before today, but in two of those he had allowed six and four runs. I wouldn't trust Moyer to start for me unless he was facing maybe the Mets (right now), Nats, or Pads. Even then I would have my reservations.

Armando Galarraga might not have gotten the win tonight, but he at least seems like he has turned a corner and might go back to being the guy we thought he would be when the season started. Galarraga allowed just one run over 7. 1 innings and struck out eight. Three of the last four times he has taken the mound he has allowed just one run, and he has 23 Ks over 26 innings. If he is still out there, I would certainly give Galarraga a look. He is pitching better and the Tigers are actually competing this season.

Trevor Cahill had one of the best starts of his young career, but it is pretty easy to pitch (so they say, not that I have) when your team scores 12 runs in the first two innings. Cahill allowed just one run over seven innings and struck out four. In his previous four starts he had only pitched through the fifth inning once and walked 12 guys. Someday this guy will be an absolute stud, but it isn't going to be 2009. He is going to give you his fair share of good starts, but there will be plenty of inconsistency sprinkled in along the way.

Ricky Nolasco pitched beautifully again and is now 5-1 since returning from a demotion to the minor leagues. Nolasco allowed only two hits over 6.1 innings and struck out ten. He is on a major hot streak, and should be a reliable pitcher for the remainder of the season. He has also struck out at least five in eight straight starts. If you were lucky enough to pick him up when he was sent down, congratulations. If not, I'm sure his value is too high to try to trade for him now.

Orioles rookie Jason Berken stunk out loud again today versus the Yankees, and dominoes are starting to fall into place for a possible call up for prospect Chris Tillman. Berken is now 1-8 with an ERA north of 6.50 and hasn't won since his first start. Tillman, on the other hand, is rocking in AAA and was apparently scratched from his start in the minors tonight. Right now he is on tap to pitch tomorrow, but there doesn't seem to be any reason why he didn't make that start. Is a promotion to Baltimore coming soon? Perhaps. If you are out of it in a keeper league, grab Tillman on speculation. If you are in it still, you have to wait. In 17 starts this season he is 8-5 with a 2.42 ERA with 95 Ks in 93 innings.

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.