Fantasy Baseball Tonight 7/25

Sometimes when you write about fantasy sports, it is important to admit when you are wrong. Well, I think it is about that time for me and Aaron Hill. He hit home runs number 23 and 24 today, and it is painfully obvious that he is having a far better season than I could have dreamed about if I wanted to dream about a good season for Aaron Hill. He is also hitting near .290 and has driven in 67 runs. It looks like Hill has a heck of a shot at 35 homers and 95 RBI. I still think there is a decent chance he struggles down the stretch, but I have to give the man credit when it is due.

I almost included in the article last night to count on the fact that Gio Gonzalez was going to get absolutely tattooed today by the Yankees. In his last start he had allowed 11 earned runs, and his ERA is over 9.00. The Yankees are rolling, winners of eight in a row. Makes sense right? And that is why, as they say, you play the game. Gonzalez was great today as he allowed just one run over 6.2 innings and struck out six. More times than not, you can figure that Gonzalez will struggle. He has been starting some and coming out of the bullpen some as well. His strikeouts are good, with 35 in 33 innings, but he is too unreliable to start each time he takes the ball.

Ted Lilly was placed on the 15 day Disabled List due to inflammation in his shoulder. Worse news than that is Lilly will be having arthroscopic knee surgery that will force him to miss four or five starts at the minimum. The Cubs are hoping that he will be able to return sometime in mid-August. This is not good news for fantasy teams, but hopefully Lilly will be back in time for your fantasy playoffs. Stash him on your injury spot if you can.

David Price is another guy that it appears that I won't be right about, but this is in the opposite direction. Considering the way that this guy pitched in the playoffs last season for the Rays, I don't think I was alone in predicting great things for the young phenom this season. He has had some short stints of greatness this year, but he has had more short outings than good outings. You really have no choice to keep Price on your roster. I can't blame you if you decide not to start him in certain matchups, but there is no way that you can cut him. Personally, I didn't draft him in any league I am in, but that was because he went before I took him, not because I didn't want him. But if I did have him, I would keep throwing him out there.

Are the Indians actually going to start to get something out of some of their young pitching prospects? In consecutive nights both Jeremy Sowers and Aaron Laffey have both collected wins. Last night Laffey threw seven shutout innings and struck out seven to improve to 4-2, however most of those wins are from his time as a reliever. In 2007, Laffey was ranked the #5 prospect for the Indians, but he has struggled mightily in the majors and the minors. Even with his impressive outing last night, you can't add Laffey. Tonight, Jeremy Sowers returned from a stint in the minors and also threw seven shutout innings, but struck out only two. While Sowers has also struggled badly in the majors, he was always good in the minors. In six starts this year, he was 2-2 with a 2.89 ERA with 27 Ks in 37 innings. Even though the Indians are sure to be terrible for the rest of the season, Sowers might be worth a look. Unless you are really desperate, let him make another start before you pick him up, but definitely see how he does the next time out. Sowers was once one of the top 50 prospects in all of baseball, and in 2006 was ranked as the second best in the Cleveland organization.

Chone Figgins is hitting and running like it's 2005. Figgy his his third home run of the season (second this week), and stole three bases, giving him an impressive 31 on the season. He is also hitting over .310, and this isn't anything that you should be too surprised about. The last couple years he had only played 115 games a season because of injury, but when he has been healthy in his career, Figgins has been an elite basestealer who generally hits around .300. With third base becoming such a shallow position, Figgins value is at its highest point in years.

Bobby Jenks blew his second consecutive save opportunity and has now allowed at least one earned run in five of his last six appearances. I still don't think that Jenks will be replaced based on this outing, but I do think the leash that he is on is getting a little shorter. For those of you who are in the market of grabbing middle relievers in the hopes that they become closers, Matt Thornton got a save the other day when Jenks needed a day of rest.

Rodrigo Lopez continues to pitch pretty well, but you still have to wonder about how secure his rotation spot is. Pedro Martinez continues to get closer to the majors, and the Phillies are still the lead team in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes according to rumors. But Lopez improved to 3-0 after beating the Cardinals, allowing three earned runs over six innings and struck out two. This was actually his worst of his four starts for Philly. I'm not a huge fan of Lopez, but the Phillies are rolling and he is hot. For a short term fix, I think he is valuable. If you think he will fix your staff's problems, you are likely to be disappointed.

After being a colossal disappointment Rick Ankiel has all of a sudden decided he wants to contribute. In the last three days, Ankiel has seven hits which includes two home runs and two doubles. With Matt Holliday now in St. Louis, either Colby Rasmus or Ankiel have to lose at bats. If he can keep it up, you have to figure Ankiel will be in centerfield, as he is also a great centerfielder.

Johnathon Niese got another start in the majors for the Mets tonight, and this time he made the most of his opportunity. In his previous two starts for New York, Niese lasted just two innings and had an ERA near 6.00. But he was so hot down at AAA and the Mets needed him after the injury to Fernando Nieve. Niese allowed just one run over seven innings and struck out three. In the minors he struck out more batters than he showed tonight, so IF he can keep pitching this way and IF the Mets can get healthy, Niese could be fantasy worthy. For those of you who are out of it and looking for a potential keeper, I would grab him on speculation now. If you are competing, I wouldn't grab him unless you are desperate for pitching. Niese is out a while, so unless he really stinks, Niese should be up for a while if not the rest of the season.

Can Luke Hochevar please decide if he is going to be good or if he is going to suck, because he is confusing me. He has actually now won four consecutive decisions, but in two of them he gave up a combined nine runs. Now, in the last two he gave up a combined three runs. On Saturday he allowed two runs over seven innings and struck out 13. Although he is likely to still be inconsistent and struggle to get a ton of wins because he is on the Royals, I think he is worth adding in 12 team leagues. He was a top ten overall pick and has a ton of talent. This could be his time when he finally figures it all out.

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.