Fantasy Baseball Tonight 7/28

Billy Butler hit his 11th homer of the year on Tuesday, one day after a five hit effort and now has four RBI in the last two games. He still isn't hitting for the power that I assumed he would when he came to the majors, but he is hitting near .300 and soon these doubles (31 through today) have got to start leaving the yard. Butler should continue to be a very solid hitter for the rest of the season, and hopefully the recent increase in power (three dingers in the last eight games) will keep going and he will get to 17 or 18 homers.

Matt Wieters looks like he is showing little signs of life, as he had a four hit game on Tuesday. The bad news is they were all singles, but seeing the way that he is disappointing those of you who spent early draft picks on him and waited all year for him to come to the majors. He has now hit safely in seven straight games and has driven in a run in three straight. I think it is safe to assume he won't be the difference maker we thought he might be when he came to the big leagues this season, but if he can hit .280 with a little power, his owners would likely sign up for that at this point.

Scott Kazmir is another guy that you absolutely have no idea what to expect when he takes the mound. Kazmir either gives up five to seven runs per game or else he throws a game like he did on Tuesday. He gave up just one run over seven innings and struck out four. It was the first time all season that he got through seven innings and Kazmir has been all over the map this season. He is still too talented to let go of, but you might not want to start him every time out. Of course with that strategy you likely would have benched him against New York. I guess what I am saying is good luck trying to figure out what you are going to get from Kazmir.

Clay Buchholz had his win blown by the bullpen, but he had a nice bounceback after a rough outing against the A's. Of course most pitchers will fare better against Oakland than they will against Texas, but it is good to see Clay pitching pretty well and keeping the strikeouts up. Buchholz allowed two runs over 5.2 innings and struck out five. It is still very likely that he is only in the majors until Tim Wakefield is ready to return from a back injury, but enjoy the production from Clay while it lasts.

Kevin Kouzmanoff not only has a five game hit streak, but also has a five game RBI streak. He will always have some value in deeper leagues because of his power potential, but his horrible batting average will always keep him from being a guy who is owned in most 12 team leagues except for a time like now that he is hot. Someday I still think that Kouzmanoff will be a consistent threat who will hit .265 with 25-30 home runs. 2009 will obviously not be it, but it could be a couple more years before he truly realizes his potential.

Mike Pelfrey is all over the map. Sometimes he is great, sometimes he is horrible, most of the time he is average. Pelfrey won his eighth game of the season as he shut out the Rockies over 6.1 innings and struck out five. He has some value as an end of the rotation guy in 12 team leagues, but his ERA near 5.00 and his WHIP of 1.50 makes it likely that he could be a free agent in your league. He is better as a guy you pick up against some of the weaker hitting teams in the National League. His performance tonight against the Rockies has to be classified as a surprise.

Gordon Beckham has been hitting and looking more comfortable by the day for the White Sox. Beckham drove in two runs, giving him at least one RBI in four straight games, and he now has seven hits in the last five games. In keeper leagues, Beckham is a must have as he should have an incredibly bright future in the majors and he could be a 20/20 guy as soon as 2010.

Jhonny Peralta homered for the third straight day, and even though it might have taken a long time, you should consider this him finally breaking out of his slump. Peralta now has nine dingers with 52 RBI and he has gotten his average up to .271. If you have any need for help at middle infield and he is still available, don't hesitate to get him on your team.

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.