Fantasy Baseball Tonight 8/13

Billy Butler continues to rake and has certainly become a guy that you can feel comfortable starting on a daily basis. He would be more valuable as a corner infielder or utility guy instead of a starting 1B, but if he is out there, you should try to pick him up. Butler had two hits including his 37th double of the year. In the last ten games, Butler has 17 hits, two home runs and 11 RBI. I think next year will be Butler's breakout party, but he is certainly fantasy relevant for the rest of 2009. He has 13 homers so far, and next year many of these doubles will start going over the fence.

Scott Feldman ran his record to 12-4 today with another impressive win over the Cleveland Indians. He had not been as consistent since the All-Star break as he was in the first half, but good none the less. He allowed just one run over six innings and struck out six. This is more strikeouts than he generally gets, as he has gotten about one per every two innings so far this year. Feldman is a guy that I would pitch and ditch with, and not someone that I would keep on my roster full time, even with the impressive win-loss record.

Clay Buchholz had a better start for Boston after struggling since being called up from the minors. Buchholz only allowed one earned run over seven innings and struck out three. This is his second straight start where he was pretty good, but the walks have really done him in. He was more effective today as he only walked three. He is still a little raw to count on every time he takes the mound, but Buchholz has a ton of talent and should be a major fantasy contributor some time in the future. When that is going to be I'm not sure, but it could be literally any time.

Kevin Kouzmanoff is on a ridiculous hot streak lately. Kouz had five hits on Thursday, and now has 11 hits over the last three games. He also has five RBI over that span. For the season he is batting just .264, but that is up 15 points since the beginning of August. It would be a stretch to think that he can get up to the 23 home runs he hit last season, but he should make a good run at 20. If you are in need of a hitter to try to spark some life into your lineup, Kouzmanoff might be your guy, but just know that he is an inconsistent player and could go cold again soon enough.

Mike Rivera had two home runs tonight as a catcher for Milwaukee, but don't get fooled into thinking that this might be the start of something. He's 32 years old, he's never been given any kind of real chance to play and has never shown any reason to think he will ever start hitting. It was just a good night for a below average player.

Ryan Dempster is not a guy that I trust for the rest of the season. He took his sixth loss of the season as he gave up six runs over seven innings. He is still getting good strike outs, as he had eight more tonight. I would trust him over some of the usual suspects on the waiver wire (Zito, Oliver Perez, Doug Davis) but I would rather take my chances with a young player than throw Dempster out there.

Johnny Gomes is another guy that had a great game that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. He is not an everyday player, and is one of the more streaky players around. He had a two homer game near the end of July, but hasn't done anything much in between these two games. Even if you are desperate, I still wouldn't pick up Gomes.

When you figure out when to start and when to sit Bronson Arroyo, please let me know. Somehow Arroyo threw his second shutout of the season against the Nationals, but his ERA is still near 5.00. Arroyo is not someone that I would keep on my roster, but for those of you streaming pitchers, he is a pretty decent option against bad teams. He does have 11 wins, but he is just so hard to predict. If he got more strikeouts, he would be someone that I would use more often.

Adrian Beltre is back on the DL after being hit by a ground ball. Where you ask? Let's just say that he wasn't wearing a cup. There are three things to say about this. One: OOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Two: He is so tough he finished the game. Three: He likely will need surgery. How much must that have hurt? I've been hit/kicked in the junk plenty of times in my life, and many times I felt like I might pass out. But never has it ever needed surgery. Man, that must have been painful. It is all but certain that he is done for the season with the bleeding testicle. I am also fairly sure that this is the first time that I have written testicle in any of these articles.

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