Fantasy Baseball Tonight Apr. 13

Since driving in three runs on Opening Day, Aubrey Huff had been frustrating his fantasy owners.  But Huff broke his mini-slump in a big way on Monday. Huff was 4-for-5 with three RBI singles, and  a double. Hopefully, he doesn’t continue this all or nothing type play, as that will send his owners to the medicine cabinet.

They were playing home run derby today in Detroit as Paul Konerko was 4-for-5 with his second home run, while Carlos Quentin connected on No. 3 and No. 4 today. Konerko looks like he might be the guy from a few years ago, as he is batting near .350 and displaying some pop. 

Quentin is showing similar pop to last year when he was in consideration for the AL MVP, until an injury ended his season early.  I have much more faith that Quentin will continue this production than I do in Konerko, but for right now if you need some short-term help, Konerko might be available in free agency.

Elijah Dukes is trying to take advantage of the playing time he has been getting, and he did that again on Monday. Dukes doubled, homered, and drove in two runs to give him five RBI in the past two days. 

He still isn’t getting regular playing time, and until that time comes, I would not keep him on the team.  If some news comes out that Dukes will be back in the everyday lineup, he is worth a look.

Andre Ethier connected on his first two home runs of the season, but don’t go thinking that he is all of a sudden going to turn into a power hitter. Ethier is a good player who should hit for a good average and drive in 80+ runs, but he is not going to hit 30 home runs. 

If you look at last year’s numbers in which he hit .305 with 20 homers and 77 RBI, that is what you should expect from him. He has the potential to improve some, but probably not more than a 10 percent increase.

Ethier was able to one up his teammate Orlando Hudson who actually hit for the cycle tonight. It was Hudson’s second double, second triple, and second home run of the season as he drove in two runs. 

O-Dog is one of those guys who is better in real baseball rather than fantasy baseball, but in leagues that require a middle infielder, he is a great option there.  He could hit 15-17 home runs and drive in 60 or so runs.

It was not a good night to be a pitcher for New York. Is it time to worry about Chien-Ming Wang?  Why, because his ERA after two starts is 28.93? Wang got tattooed by the Rays on Monday as he only lasted one inning and gave up EIGHT earned runs. 

With his low strikeout total, you need a good ERA from Wang to make him worth owning, but I wouldn’t jettison him to free agency just yet, but one more bad start could be enough.

In fact, the only Yankee pitcher not to allow a run was NICK SWISHER!  The guy is doing it all, batting .450, drove in another run tonight, and even struck out a batter. Look out Babe Ruth!

Mike Pelfrey put the big dumper on the opening of Citi/Taxpayer Field in New York as he allowed five runs in five innings and struck out only three.  And just like the closing of Shea Stadium, the Mets were unable to give their fans something to go home feeling good about.

Although as a New Yorker who has been to Shea plenty of times, I am very excited to go down to the new ballpark to see my Cardinals whup up on the Mets.

Perhaps if the Mets can’t get consistency out of Oliver Perez, perhaps they can get Tom Seaver back on the mound. Tom Terrific threw out the first pitch in Citi Field, and for a guy who is 65 years old he got the ball over the plate.

Considering the way you see most ceremonial first pitches barely reach the catcher I have to give a big attaboy to Mr. Seaver.

For what it is worth, Ryan Franklin closed the game for the Cardinals tonight. As much as I am a fan, I still think that I would just stay away from this situation. He is the third different person to save a game for St. Louis and the season is all of eight days old.

I would imagine that Franklin might be in line for the next couple of saves, but with Tony La Russa, who knows what is coming next.

After a strong first outing, Ubaldo Jimenez struggled his second time out. I think that this is what you can expect from the young flamethrower.  Because of control issues (six walks), Jimenez was only able to last 3.2 innings and allowed five runs.

He still did strikeout five over that span, so he still has value when he struggles. I still think he will have more good outings than bad, but there will be a fair share of stinkers.

Randy Johnson was a popular late round selection on a lot of websites, but so far he is looking all of his 40+ years. The Big Unit surrendered seven runs in just 3.2 innings, walked three and struck out five.

His ERA is over 11, and I like to believe that he will get into the groove. Perhaps it is just taking him longer to feel right since he is on the senior citizen’s list. Stay away from the Unit at this point.

Ted Lilly took a no hitter into the seventh inning and struck out eight. Lilly is a perfect number three or four starter on your staff. He gets a good number of strikeouts, plays on a good team (as a Cardinals’ fan, it hurts me to say that), and is very reliable.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at [e-mail]. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss “The Fantasy Baseball Gurus Show” every Wednesday night at 10pm EST on Blog Talk Radio.

The show 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. 

The Fantasy Baseball Scouting Report is also back!  Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the news, free agent pickups, minor leaguers, and injuries. 

A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.  I also just met the people over at Baseball Trade Rumors and I invite you to visit their site.   They have a page for rumors for every major league team, constant updates on the latest rumors, interactive polls, and overall some great content.