Fantasy Baseball Tonight 8/6

OK, I'm back. I'm sure you were all going through withdrawal as the posts are starting to slow down for the 2009 season. Plenty went on in the last few days, so let's get right to it!

Elijah Dukes is back in the majors, and his manager has said that he is going to see plenty of playing time in the outfield. You all know that I am not the biggest Dukes fan, but if you have an injury or a player who is really disappointing he might be able to help you in the short term. Dukes had three hits, including a home run, and drove in four runs. He could give you a little speed and a little pop in a Washington lineup that could badly use a shot in the arm.

Rick Porcello threw his second straight good start and won his tenth game of the year. Even though he picked up the win, his numbers weren't incredibly impressive. Porcello allowed two runs over 5.2 innings, but he walked three and only struck out one. I know a lot of you have considered letting him go, but I just don't think you should do that. In keeper leagues you should have your head checked for letting him go, but seasonal leagues I still think he has plenty of value. Just don't expect a thousand strikeouts.

Fausto Carmona had his second consecutive positive start, but I am not buying into him being a reasonable starting pitcher in the majors again. Three reasons. First he walks way too many and doesn't strike nearly enough out. Second, the Indians got rid of a lot of their talent at the deadline. Third, their closer, Kerry Wood is terrible, meaning sometimes even if he pitches well the lead might be blown for him. I would stay away from Carmona.

Cliff Lee was awesome again for the Phillies and is further proving how much the American League and the Cleveland Indians were holding him back. Lee allowed only one run for the second consecutive start and struck out nine over seven innings. If any of you had any concerns over Lee's transition (and I'm not sure who would) they have been answered resoundingly in his first two outings.

Brad Lidge had a fairly uneventful save for once tonight against Colorado as he allowed only one hit and struck out two in his appearance on Thursday. Perhaps this is the start of a solid finish to the season for Lidge. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!

Tommy Hunter bounced back from his worst start since coming to the majors by beating the A's and improved his record to 4-2. His ERA is well under 3.00, but Hunter isn't a big strikeout guy at all. He only allowed more than three earned runs in one of his eight starts, and his WHIP is just 1.19. Hunter had been impressive in previous years in the minors, but had struggled this season at both AA and AAA. The Rangers know how to hit though, so he should always get run support. I wouldn't put a ton of stock in Hunter, but picking him up while he is hot isn't the worst idea.

Justin Upton landed on the DL with a strained oblique and is likely out for around a month. Oblique injuries take time to heal, so you are probably looking at early September before he is eligible to return. Hopefully you have some sort of reasonable option on your bench to plug in his place. If you need to pick up a free agent and need some advice, don't hesitate to email me.

Trent Oeltjen was called up to the majors when Justin Upton went on the Disabled List. He is not one of the Diamondbacks best prospects, but he could bring you some speed if you are in need, and perhaps even a little bit of power. This year was his best in the minors as he was hitting .300 in 106 games at AAA with 10 homers, 61 RBI with 19 steals. With Upton out he could earn good playing time in the outfield for the D'Backs. They have nothing going for them this year, so it makes sense for them to give a young guy a shot. Oeltjen got off to a good start with two hits (including a homer) and two steals. If he keeps this up you can bet he will see plenty of at-bats.

Geovany Soto is due to return from the Disabled List from his own oblique injury. He hasn't played since July 7th, so that gives you some indication on how long to expect Upton to be out. Soto was doing horrible even when he was healthy, so it is hard to know what to expect. However, if you have been stashing him, chances are you haven't found a better option while he ws hurt.

Jason Bay could miss the entire Yankee series this weekend according to his manager Terry Francona. He almost definitely will miss Friday's game and they will re-evaluate him from there. Bay reaggravated a hamstring injury on Wednesday against the Rays. Francona also said that Bay would avoid the DL, so hopefully he will be back before the weekend is over. Kevin Youkilis takes over in left field, so if you are in a league that only requires a game or two to gain eligibility Youk could gain even more value.

Chad Gaudin was traded from the San Diego Padres to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later. This is the equivalent of one of those third world children you see on the commercials that can be helped for just 25 cents a day being adopted by Angelina Jolie. He hadn't been pitching well, but he is pretty good at getting strikeouts. He will get a ton more run support in New York, but the change in ballparks won't be good for him though. His value obviously goes up in New York, but don't all of a sudden think that he is going to be some incredible pitcher.

Don't forget to send me an email about the football email list. Much like in baseball if I find breaking news I will shoot out a quick email to you so you can hopefully make a move before your competition. Put football mailing list in the subject line to fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com.

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.

Fantasy Baseball Tonight 7/16; The Second Half Begins

Ervin Santana had his best outing since June 5th. On Thursday, Santana threw eight great innings, allowed just one run and struck out four. His ERA for the season is still at 6.70, but I know many of you still have hope given the stats that he put up in 2008. He should improve on his first half, but I don't expect him to pitch in the second half like he did last year. With two wins on July 16th, he could get up to eight wins.

Cliff Lee teased his owners again tonight. Lee went the distance, allowed just one run, didn't walk a batter and struck out six. He really has been pitching better than his 5-9 record would indicate. His ERA is a more than respectable 3.31, even if his WHIP is a little higher than you would like at 1.36. His strikeouts are right about where they usually are (99 in 136 innings), so it is the fact that his team stinks that explains his record. If he gets hot, he could win 12 or 13 games, so if you have Lee, keep throwing him out there every five days.

Rich Harden had the kind of outing that we had become accustomed to him having in his career on Thursday. Harden threw six shutout innings, allowed just three hits and struck out seven. His record is now back to .500, but his other stats are just pedestrian. I don't think that I would seek out a trade for Harden because I just don't know what to expect going forward. My head tells me he has to improve, but my eyes tell me he has been little more than average this season.

Derrek Lee is really starting to make me nuts now. I always like to write about how over rated he is, but lately he has been on an incredible hot streak that apparently took no break during the All-Star festivities. Lee came out of the break with three hits and his 18th homer of the year. Barring injury he has a shot at 30 home runs, a total he hasn't hit since 2005. I would still look to sell high on Lee for a guy like Joey Votto, but if you want to hold on to him he looks fairly strong.

Homer Bailey was more like the Bailey that I expected. I felt like a prostitute having to say that he might be worth a roster spot a couple weeks ago, but now he is back to normal. Bailey gave up seven runs over 5.1 innings, walked four and struck out three. He isn't going to be consistent, I had a quick brain fart there. Stay away from Bailey, he just won't pan out. I know he was a top prospect, but they just all don't pan out.

Edwin Encarnacion has done better than I anticipated coming back from the DL, but I am still not a big fan. He has had one hit or more in every game but two since July 3rd, and tonight he had three hits including his second home run this month. He has driven in seven runs this month, but they all came in two games. As a bench guy to have in case of injury I like Edwin, but I would not want him in my everyday lineup.

Chad Gaudin continues to get great strikeout numbers, but being on the Padres, that limits his fantasy value. Against the Rockies on Thursday, Gaudin allowed just one earned run, and struck out eight over five innings. He is strictly a one category pitcher. His ERA is nearly 5.00, his WHIP is over 1.40 and he only has four wins, but he has 93 strikeouts in 87 innings. If you need Ks, grab Gaudin, but beware he will hurt your other pitching categories.

Jaime Moyer was awesome tonight, but don't fall into that trap. Sure, his record looks good at 9-6, but his ERA is over 5.50 and his WHIP is over 1.40. Add that together with very few strikeouts and the fact that he plays in a hitters' park, and I would not own Jaime Moyer. Unless you are in a 16-20 team league or an NL-only league, there MUST be better options.

The neverending rain here in New York threatened another softball game on Thursday, but we were able to get an official game in between the rain, thunder, and lightning. We led off the game with five runs in the first inning, which I had an RBI double right down the third base line. A nice liner that got past the third baseman. I walked the second time up, before popping out to fairly deep right as I continue to experiment with hitting to the opposite field. All in all, 1-2 with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored. I also tagged up on a pop fly to the first baseman. It was a lazy fly that kind of had him spun around and I was pretty sure he wouldn't expect me to run. It would have been a very close play if the throw was good and the 3B was able to field the ball. Luckily he tried to catch me more than the ball and I was able to get my foot on the bag before he could corral the ball. We had a rain out game on Sunday which I will recap on Friday.

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.