Bat Of The Night: Albert Pujols – 3/4, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI,
Following a pre-game altercation resulting from what Astros deemed a dirty slide into home plate in Tuesday’s game, Pujols got his revenge on the field. Pujols blasted 2 homers and drove in 3 in leading the Cards to victory. Thus far, Pujols’ elbow injury hasn’t been an issue. However, it will be a cause for concern among Pujols owners throughout the season.
Arm Of The Night: Zack Greinke – 8 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (W)
Greinke went out and dominated a slumping Yankees lineup in poor conditions, throwing an impressive 8 innings of shutout ball. People forget that Greinke was the top pitching prospect in baseball at the time of his call up at the tender age of 19 – a move the Royals have certainly regretted. Now 24, wiser and more mature, Greinke appears to really be coming into his own and has gotten off to a hot start. He is quickly establishing himself as a fine starting pitching option with excellent strikeout potential.
Bottom Line: Jeremy Accardo – 0.1 IP, 0.1 IP, 1 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (BS, L)
Rough night for Accardo whose days as the Jays closer might be numbered. BJ Ryan is making good progress in his rehab assignment and expected back before the end of April. In the meantime, don’t read too much into this outing as Accardo has been very effective closing in Toronto for nearly a year now in Ryan’s absence.
Honorable Mentions
Top Five
Not the usual suspects having big nights Wednesday at the plate or on the mound as Adam Dunn is easily the most recognizable name on this list. Mike Jacobs has hit 4 homeruns now and could be headed towards a 25-30 homerun season in Florida while Jason Kubel is making the most of Michael Cuddyer’s absence. On the pitching side Micah Owings continues to shine and youngsters Jonathon Sanchez and Zach Duke had promising outings as they try to put poor 2007 seasons behind them.
Bats
Mike Jacobs - 2/5, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI
Adam Dunn – 1/2, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB
Ryan Spilbourghs – 3/5, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI
Yorvit Torrealba – 3/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Jason Kubel – 2/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI
Arms
Jarrod Washburn – 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (W)
Micah Owings – 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (W)
Josh Fogg – 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (W)
Jonathon Sanchez – 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K (ND)
Zach Duke – 7 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (ND)
Bottom Five
0/4 with 2 strikeouts was the popular line amongst the bottom feeding bats last night while John Danks has Jeremy Accardo’s implosion to thank for not receiving Bottom Line honors.
Bats
Ryan Doumit – 0/6, 2 K
Carlos Pena – 0/4, 2 K
Jim Thome – 0/4, 2 K
Travis Hafner – 0/4, 2 K
Adrian Gonzalez – 0/4, 2 K
Arms
John Danks – 2.1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (L)
Chuck James – 3 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (L)
Paul Byrd – 3 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (L)
Jason Bergman – 5 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (L)
Phil Dumatrait – 3 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K (L)
Making A Case...
Ryan Dempster – 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (ND)
Justin Germano – 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (ND)
In Dempster and Germano you have a pair of starters off to hot starts looking to cement roles in the respective rotations. Germano has opened the season tossing 13 scoreless innings while Dempster has had 2 strong starts and put up solid strikeout totals. I wouldn’t full trust either pitcher just yet, but they are viable options given the right matchup.
Mark Ellis – 4/5, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 2 SB
Mark Ellis quietly put together a good 2007 and is off to a nice start in 2008. Ellis has 20 homerun potential and is still available in nearly half of all fantasy leagues. He is developing into a dependable option at second base.
- With Rafael Soriano on the DL Peter Moylan looks to be the logical choice to work the ninth. However, rumor has it Cox likes Moylan as the setup man and may give some save chances to Manny Acosta.
-Joe Crede homered for the third time this season Wednesday and looks 100%. The White Sox may still opt to deal Crede but in the meantime he will be the Sox everyday starter at third giving Josh Fields no current fantasy value.
- Mike Pelfrey pitched 5 strong innings for the win and looked as comfortable as I have seen him on a Major League mound. With Duque and Pedro out until May, the Mets will be counting heavily on Pelfrey and he will be given every opportunity to succeed.
- The Rangers and Orioles will play a doubleheader today in Arlington after their game last night was cancelled due to rain.
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