Fantasy Baseball Happy Recap - 4/21/08

Bat Of The Night: Miguel Tejada – 4/5, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB

Miggy did everything short of hitting for the cycle Monday night piling up 4 hits, scoring and driving in 3 runs and even stealing a bag. Regardless of his age, this guy is going to hit when healthy and has the added benefit of playing in Minute Maid Park.

Arm Of The Night: Clay Buchholz – 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (W)

Coming off an awful outing at Yankee Stadium, Buchholz bounced back nicely on Patriot Day in Boston, pitching 6 scoreless innings and striking out 6. The kid has a ton of talent (evidenced by his no-hitter last season) and given his excellent strikeout potential and the fact he pitches for arguably the best team in baseball, Buchholz could quickly move up the fantasy pitching ranks this season. Pitching out of the 5 spot in the rotation also helps his value.

Bottom Line: Justin Germano – 3.1 IP, 10 H, 10 ER, 3 BB, 1 K (L)

Usually, Justin Germano and the word “serviceable” go hand in hand. On this night however, those unfortunate souls who started the young righty probably have some other choice words in mind to describe his horrendous performance.

Honorable Mentions

Top Five

David Ortiz’s early season slump is quickly becoming a distant memory while Pat Burrell continues to rake in his contract year. Nice outing by Carlos Zambrano shutting down a potent Mets lineup and that’s 4 wins a piece now for Micah Owings and Marlins’ defacto ace Mark Hendrickson

Bats

Pat Burrell – 3/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Dan Uggla - 3/5, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Yorvit Torrealba – 2/4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI
David Ortiz – 2/4, 2 2B, 3 RBI
Julio Lugo – 4/4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Arms

Carlos Zambrano – 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (W)
Mark Hendrickson – 8 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (W)
Tim Hudson – 6.2 IP, 10 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (W)
Brad Penny – 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (W)
Micah Owings – 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (W)

Bottom Five

Matt Morris is about two more appearances in the Bottom Five away from getting his own parking spot while Troy Tulowitzki’s struggles continue.

Bats

Jason Botts – 0/4, 3 K
Troy Tulowitzki – 0/5, 2 K
Matt Holliday – 0/4, 2 K
JJ Hardy – 0/5, 2 K
Geovany Soto – 0/4, 2 K

Arms

Matt Morris – 4 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (L)
Dustin Nippert – 2.1 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 4 BB, 2 K (L)
Matt Chico – 4 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 0 K (L)
Matt Belisle – 4 IP, 12 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (L)
Taylor Buchholz – 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (L)

Making A Case...

Nomar Garciaparra – 2/5, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Just because a guy is making a case to be added doesn’t mean you have to bring him on board. Nomar will continue to see time at third with Andy Laroche out but think of him strictly as a short-term stop gap option at best.

Armando Galarraga – 5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K (W)

The righty has now won both of his starts since replacing an injured Dontrelle Willis. He pitched well in his two starts allowing only 2 runs in 12 innings of work and is a decent play in his next start against the Angels at home. Willis is slated to return in 2 weeks or so and when he does, Galarraga may be out of a starting job.

Fantasy Observations & Thoughts

- Time for everyone to recognize that this Marlins’ lineup is legitimately dangerous and will only improve once Cameron Maybin is called up from the minors where he has been flat out dominating. Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla you already know, but the guy you should be focused on right now is Josh Willingham. He moved into the clean up spot when Cabrera was dealt to Detroit and is currently batting over .300 with 5 homers already on the young season. .280-25 HR-100 RBI is a definite possibility for the under the radar slugger.

- That’s 4 homeruns in the past 7 days for Reds’s young stud Joey Votto who is red hot and proving to bet he 20-20 threat we envisioned.

- Speaking of red hot, Chase Utley homered again last night and currently leads the majors with 9. He has clearly established himself as the top second basemen in fantasy once again.

- Another good outing for Roy Oswalt Monday night earning him his second win. Like Ortiz, his early season struggles are becoming a memory…

- Remember when Brandon Lyon was on the verge of losing his closer job in Arizona? One managerial vote of confidence and 4 saves later, Lyon appears locked in to his role and will see plenty of save opportunities on a good D’Backs squad.

- Jason Isrinhausen recorded his 7th save of the season, tying him for the Major League lead. Izzy has been dominant thus far but the questions remain - Are the Cardinals playing over their heads right now? And if so, how many save opportunities will he get later in the season?


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