Fantasy Baseball Happy Recap - 4/10/08

Bat Of The Night: Geovany Soto – 4/5, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI,

Breakout game for arguably the top sleeper catcher entering the 2008 season. Soto had a hot September last season after a late call up and already has 2 homers and 8 RBI on the young season. He should thrive as the Cubs’ unquestioned starting catcher and benefit from hitting in a potent lineup.

Arm Of The Night: Edwin Jackson – 8 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (W)

Another sparkling outing for Edwin Jackson as he continues to show the baseball world why he was once one of the top pitching prospects in the game. Jackson has allowed only a single run over his first two outings (both wins) spanning 14 innings of work. The 24 year old should continue to get favorable matchups pitching at the back-end of the Tampa rotation and has great strikeout potential.

Bottom Line: Frank Thomas - 0/4, 4 K, 2 BB

Despite reaching base twice on walks which is commendable, we simply could not ignore the golden sombrero posted by the Big Hurt.

Honorable Mentions

Top Five

So much for Jorge Posada missing time! The Yankee catcher had a fine night homering and driving in 2 while Michael Young went to work in Texas’ doubleheader sweep of the Orioles. Some unlikely top arms tonight with Kevin Correia and Mark Hendrickson posting dominant outings and Shaun Marcum continuing to establish himself as a strong SP option. CJ Wilson was perfect in locking down 2 saves in the Rangers’ doubleheader, always a great feat.

Bats

Edwin Encarnacion - 2/3, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Michael Young – 3/7, 3 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB
Jorge Posada – 2/4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Melky Cabrera – 2/5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Travis Buck – 3/6, 3 2B, 3 RBI

Arms

Kevin Correia – 7.2 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (W)
Aaron Harang – 8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (W)
Mark Hendrickson – 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (W)
Shaun Marcum – 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (ND)
CJ Wilson – 2 IP, 8 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K (2 Saves)

Bottom Five

We have seen worse bottom fives over the past week. This is especially true on the pitching side where Nate Robertson and Matt Morris weren’t incredibly bad, but rather fell victim to a strong night of pitching around the majors. Tough night for the middle relievers however, as Brandon League, Aarron Heilman and Chad Bradford all couldn’t hold leads for their respective clubs. Also, congratulations to Daric Barton and Kevin Millar, the first batters with a hit or RBI to be put on this list. A golden sombrero and 0-fer in a double header will have that effect…

Bats

Erik Bruntlett – 0/6, 2 K
Jack Cust – 0/4, 2 K
Luke Scott – 0/4, 3 K
Daric Barton – 1/5, 4 K
Kevin Millar – 0/7, 1 RBI

Arms

Nate Robertson – 5.1 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (L)
Matt Morris – 7 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (L)
Brandon League – 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (L)
Aaron Heilman – 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Chad Bradford – .2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (L)

Making A Case...

Dana Eveland – 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K (ND)

Billy Beane’s latest find, Eveland had a hot Spring Training and has carried that success over to the regular season allowing 1 earned run over his first 13.1 innings this season. In addition, he has struck out 13 while only walking 4 over that span. Eveland should come back down to Earth some, but he is currently a solid starting pitching option given the right matchup.

Jorge Cantu – 3/4, 1 2B, 2 RBI

Cantu was a top sleeper of ours at third base after winning the position late in Spring Training and he hasn’t disappointed. The former Ray has hit safely in his last 5 games with an average of .428 over that span. Cantu is only owned in 13% of leagues as of now and is an excellent guy to take a flier on. He will get every opportunity to succeed as the unquestioned starter at 3B in Florida.

Angel Pagan – 3/5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI

With Luis Castillo out Pagan hit in the 2 hole last night and all he did was go 3/5 and drive in the game winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning! Over his last 7 games, Pagan is hitting .375 with 7 runs scored and 8 RBI. He will continue to be the Mets starting LF until Moises Alou returns in late April-early May and is on excellent short-term stop gap option.

Fantasy Observations & Thoughts

- Despite Aaron Heilman’s struggles, it looks like the Mets will continue to stick with him as the primary set up man. Keep an eye on Joe Smith and Jorge Sosa as emerging holds options in Queens.

- Pedro Feliz hit his first homer of the season and could be a nice option for cheap pop hitting in that extremely hitter-friendly ballpark in Philly.

-A-Rod homered and Jose Reyes notched his first stolen base of the season last night. Both might be on the verge of breaking out of early slumps.

- The game between the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies was PPD due to snow in Colorado and rescheduled for June 16. As a result, Ubaldo Jimenez owners will lose the phenom’s start in week 2 as it is pushed back to Tuesday. He is now a 2-start pitcher in week 3. Jeff Francis will start tonight followed by Franklin Morales on Saturday.

- The Minnesota Twins-Chicago White Sox game was postponed due to rain and rescheduled for June 9. This means Livan Hernandez will start tonight against KC.