Fantasy Baseball Tonight; Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Birthday America! While we all celebrated today with parades, barbeques, and fireworks, let's not forget what this day is about. This is the day that we declared our independence from England, and the greatest country in the world was formed. We live in a place where anything is possible if you have a dream and work hard. Be thankful for the freedoms and the opportunities that are afforded us here in America, there is truly no other place like it. And of course, be thankful for the men and women who protect our country and keep us safe. Our Armed Forces are a special group and perform an important job. I have the utmost respect for each and every one of them and a special thank you goes out to them on this day. So again, Happy Birthday to the United States of America, the greatest nation in the world! Now, what's more American than baseball? Let's find out what happened today.

Josh Hamilton will not return to the Rangers on Sunday. His rehab game on Saturday was rained out, delaying his return to the majors at least one more day. There is still a chance that Hamilton might return on Monday, but nothing definite has been announced. I will give the news on this again tomorrow, because I am a Hamilton owner as well and I am very curious to see if I will be able to play him in my one league with weekly transactions. Hopefully he will be back on Monday.

Despite pitching less than great in a rehab assignment, Oliver Perez will be back in the Mets' rotation on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Perez allowed three runs over five innings, walking four and striking out four. I understand that given the Mets' situation that they need to get their starters back from injury as soon as possible, but this start doesn't instill any confidence in me that Perez will be any better than he was before he went on the DL. I wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole before this start unless you are really desperate for help in pitching.

Kevin Slowey was placed on the 15 day DL, right after he had his worst outing of the season. Slowey allowed six earned runs over just three innings, but he got off the hook for the loss. Slowey has been diagnosed with a strained wrist. I have been unable to come up with a timetable for his return as of now, hopefully it will just be the required 15 days.

Howie Kendrick has been recalled by the Angels, and they optioned Sean Rodriguez. Kendrick hit .346 with two homers, 11 RBI, and four steals while he was in the minors. I would likely give Kendrick a try if he is available in your league. He has always supposed to be a great talent but has struggled in his time in the majors. He should hit for a good average with 10-12 homer power and a dozen steals. Not great, but if you need help at middle infield he could be worth a shot.

Erik Bedard is set to start on Tuesday against the Orioles. Bedard has been great when he has been able to stay on the mound, however he has had trouble staying healthy throughout his career. If you own him, definitely have him ready to start on Tuesday, Bedard is the kind of pitcher that you start against anyone.

Chien-Ming Wang allowed four runs over 5.1 innings, and after the game it was announced that he was diagnosed with a strained shoulder and bursitis. He will be re-evaluated on Sunday, but it seems likely he will miss his next start. I doubt he is owned in too many leagues, but if he is, it might be time to let him go.

Rich Harden had his worst start in who knows how long, and I am struggling to come up with an explanation for why he is pitching so poorly. I have speculated that he could have some sort of injury, but there is absolutely no sign of a report of anything wrong with him. Harden gave up seven earned runs in just two innings and struck out only one. All you can do is keep pitching him every time out. Harden is better than this, and it has to be just a matter of time before he starts to pitch like it.

Although the bullpen couldn't hold the lead for him, Tommy Hanson was great again. It might have only been against the Nationals, but Hanson allowed just one run over seven innings, striking out five. In five of his six starts, Hanson has allowed two runs or less, including three in which he allowed no earned runs. The walks are higher and the strike outs are lower than I expected, but Hanson has been everything else that he was supposed to be, and has to be the early front runner for the NL Rookie of the Year. Continue to start him every time out with extreme confidence.

Francisco Liriano might not have gotten the decision, but he had his third straight start that his owners had to be happy with. He allowed just three runs over seven innings and struck out eight. He has been much better over the last six weeks or so, and hopefully he will continue to improve and he can get back to the form that once made him one of fantasy baseball's most coveted pitchers. I have said before that I don't see his rookie year statistics coming back, and that hasn't changed, but it would be nice to see him pitch like this more often.

David Price was terrible again, and I don't know where the guy who pitched in the playoffs last year went. Price lasted just 1.1 innings, allowed six runs and walked five. Coming into the year I thought that Price was that rare young pitcher that wouldn't be susceptible to the growing pains that most rookies go through. Obviously that won't be the case. Keeper league players, I'm sorry to tell you that you just have to live through these tough times. Price has all the skills, and he will be awesome, who knows when that will be. Honestly, this might be a good opportunity for those who don't own him in keeper leagues to buy low on Price. Seasonal leagues I still wouldn't drop him, but I might see if there was someone in the league who might give you a good deal for him.

Jimmy Rollins is starting to show some signs of life, with five hits in the last three days. He also has three doubles and has driven in four runs over those games, and PERHAPS this is the start of something good. He's still hitting .213, so don't get too excited, but for those of us who have owned him all season long this is about as exciting as it has been all year long.

Is Emilio Bonifacio working his way back to fantasy relevance? He was 4/4 on Saturday and stole his 17th base of the year. He now has a hit in ten of his last eleven games, and six bases over that stretch. I would say if you need stolen bases that he is worth adding to your roster, but just be ready to cut ties with him if another cold streak starts to show.

ESPN.com has relaunched the ESPN Arcade with hundreds of games for you to play. Regardless of your interests there is sure to be something to get you addicted. Sports games, driving games, cards, puzzles, and even action sports. So far I have played Carniball (skeeball), a basketball shooting game, a baseball game in which you try to make a comeback in the bottom of the Ninth, and of course, some video poker. However, my favorite game so far is the Hair & Staches Concentration. This is a timed memory game in which you try to match up cards with some of the more interesting looks in baseball history. Not only fun but funny as well.

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.