Tuesday Fantasy News and Notes

• Clayton Kershaw showed tremendous potential in his first start. His fastball will hover between 90 and 95 and his curveball is knee-buckling. He struggled some initially, but settled down to go 6 strong innings. He looks to me to be in the rotation at least until they find out what will happen with Jason Schmidt (remember him?). That's enough starts to make him very useful, especially for owners dealing with some DL problems or borderline starters. If you jumped on Max Scherzer, Kershaw is more than worth the gamble.
• Jorge Posada caught 5 innings in extended spring training yesterday. He did no throwing to bases. Catching, contrary to what I believe, is not the problem. Sure, they need to get his timing back there, but if he can't throw or if they're afraid to let him make the throws, that's a bigger issue. They don't expect that until later this week.
• Bartolo Colon looked good in his second straight outing, going 7 solid innings and only allowing one run against Seattle. Sure, maybe a little league team could shut the Mariners out at this point, but we only can judge what we see. His fastball was popping at around 94-96 and his offspeed stuff looked good as well. He seems in decent condition arm strength wise. If you owned Clay Buchholz, I'd drop him to grab Colon. Colon is also better than owning players in deep leagues such as Braden Looper or Brian Bannister.
• What a difference a stadium makes. Garrett Olson shut down the Yankees at home a week after looking awful against them on the road. The Yankees struggles with lefties continue, which is only getting more pronounced. Olson, meanwhile, shut down a good team and bettered his record at home. He's a spot start play in shallow leagues, but I'd rather own him than Jeff Francis or most other borderline pitchers in deeper leagues. He's certainly worth a play nearly every time out at home.
• I'm waiting for Carlos Quentin to slow down. I don't see it happening for a while though. This is beyond riding a hot streak. This is a young player getting playing time and showing that he's worth it. That sound you hear is two things: fantasy owners passing on him and kicking themselves for it and the Diamondbacks wondering why they didn't give this kid more playing time.
• FYI, Ryan Howard's last 7 games have him hitting at .333 with 4 HR and 12 RBI. Sure, it only puts his average at .207, but he's starting to come around and he's still hitting with power. Serious buy-low candidate now. You can likely get him cheap and he's on the upswing.
• The Clint Barnes bandwagon has tipped over. Barnes was placed on the DL over the weekend with a sprained knee. Tough injury for anyone, let alone a middle infielder. Need a fill in for your fill in? Look to Kaz Matsui or Yuniesky Betancourt as even Erick Aybar is on the DL.
• Chad Billingsley continues to pitch well. He was a hard luck loser yesterday, throwing 6 good innings and allowing only 2 runs. He's won 4 of his last 6 and gone at least 6 innings 5 times, and 7 innings 3 times. Opponents have only hit .200 against him for May and his ERA for the month is 2.32. Not bad numbers for anyone. Those of you waiting for him to come around, the time has come. His peripherals make him the best Dodger starter (outside of Hiroki Kuroda).
• Justin Verlander put together his second good outing in a row. A good sign and probably one that leads most owners to being able to put him back into their lineups. We know he has the stuff, the question has always been this season as to if he can get his control down. Time to plug your ace back in.
• Jay Bruce was called up and will be available for the Reds today. I'm always more hesitant to recommend batters vs. pitchers when it comes to youth. Pitchers are always more advanced and current pitchers have a distinct advantage over younger hitters with regards to the mental aspect of the game. The kid can flat out hit, but I won't waste a waiver claim in shallow leagues. Deep leagues, he's a definite add, especially if you dance with guys like Melky Cabrera or Xavier Nady.

Notes for today's games...The Yankees draw another young lefty today in Brian Burres. Good spot start, as he's been very good at home, with opponents hitting only .230 against him and he held the Yankees down last time out...Hiroki Kuroda would be a solid call against the Cubs. Kuroda has pitched well on the road all season, with a 3.09 ERA and batters against under .240...Keep Justin Morneau in your lineups against Brian Bannister, but bench the rest of your Twins. The team, even with Morneau's .308 average, hit .181 against the lefty and Bannister is especially tough at home...Jeremy Bonderman has struggled all May and faces an Angels team that's .300 against him lifetime. Torii Hunter owns him, at .467 in 30 career at bats...This is not the same AJ Burnett that faced Oakland last time out. Burnett has been very tough away from Toronto and even tougher in May, with batters hitting only .218 against him...Your normal Astros are all good plays against Braden Looper...Randy Wolf at home is always a good matchup...Johnny Cueto is much more comfortable at home and draws the Pirates today...Need spot starts? Burres, Wolf, Mark Buehrle, and Aaron Laffey in that order.

Notes for Wednesday...Jeremy Guthrie has been good in May, but I'd leave him on the sidelines against the Yankees, who will be due to breakout...Keep your Orioles all on the bench against Andy Pettite...Raul Ibanez should be in the lineup against Tim Wakefield...Kevin Youkilis should not be played against Erik Bedard, as he's 1-18 against the lefty. No Red Sox hits Bedard well...Early spot start calls, Matt Garza, Armando Galarraga, and Wandy Rodriguez, slated to come off the DL to start against a team he pitches very well against.

Back as the need arises...