Fantasy Baseball Around The Majors: 4/21: Liriano, Hughes, Rasmus & More

Is Francisco Liriano finally back?  Are Phil Hughes and Wade Davis for real?  Just how good has Matt Kemp been?  Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games.

Pitchers:

• Josh Beckett (7.0 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 5 BB, 4 K) - Expecting a big season from Beckett in 2010?  It certainly hasn’t happened thus far.  His best start came against the Royals (how much does that really say).  The weird thing is, he hasn’t had that much poor luck, with a .311 BABIP.  You can point to the 65.1% strand rate, but that’s about it.  He’s just not striking enough guys out (5.96 K/9).  He’ll come around, we all know that, so just stay patient.
• Wade Davis (6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 6 K, W) - He has been great thus far, posting a 2.65 ERA and 1.29 WHIP.  Before we point to his .205 BABIP as the reason for his success, he’s been walking way too many batters (5.82 BB/9), meaning he should improve there.  Obviously, it’s safe to expect a fall (any chance of maintaining an 88.5% strand rate?), but it may not be as far as you expect.
• Francisco Liriano (8.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K, W) - Can we say he’s back?  After giving up 3 ER in his first start against the White Sox, he’s tossed 15 scoreless innings against the Red Sox and Indians.  He has 17 Ks in 21 innings to open the season, leading to his 2-0, 1.29 ERA and 1.10 WHIP.  There is some luck involved, but so far owners have to be ecstatic with the performance they’ve gotten.
• Phil Hughes (7.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 10 K, W) - So far it’s looked like the Yankees made the right decision, doesn’t it?  Hughes is 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA, while Joba Chamberlain is sporting a 2.16 ERA and 4 holds already.  The strikeouts are likely to fall (an 11.68 K/9) and he’s enjoyed a .138 BABIP.  Even with the regression he should be good, but don’t look for him to be quite this good for long.  Still, he’s a must use in all formats at this point.
• Yovani Gallardo (5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 10 K, W) - We all know how good he is so don’t be deterred by his slow start.  He has the potential to post this type of performance any time he takes the mound.
• Carlos Silva (6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K, W) - A 0.95 ERA?  A 0.63 WHIP?  This is the same Carlos Silva we’re talking about, isn’t it?  There is zero chance that he maintains this type of performance for much longer, so don’t get too caught up in the hot start.  He’s going to come crashing down soon enough.
• Roy Halladay (9.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 7 K, W) - He’s 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA.  He’s good…  Do I really need to say more?

Hitters:

• Julio Borbon (3-5, 1 RBI, 2 R, 2 SB) - He had been struggling tremendously and was demoted to the ninth hole, causing many owners to flee.  Well, he’s shown the past two days the potential he has, making him a solid play in all formats, especially five outfielder formats.  Get him back into your line-ups for Week Five.  We’ll talk about him more this afternoon.
• Adam Dunn (2-4, 2 RBI, 1 R) - He’s hitting just .191 (now there’s a surprise, huh?).  The bigger surprise is that he’s hit just one home run and four RBI in the early going.  We all know it’s coming, sooner or later, so just stay patient and keep running him out there.
• Matt Kemp (1-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R) - What a start for Kemp, who is now hitting .333 with 7 HR, 20 RBI, 19 R and 2 SB.  Of course, half the Dodgers offense could’ve been named as stars of the game from this one.  How about Rafael Furcal (3-5, 4 RBI, 3 R, 1 SB) or Andre Ethier (3-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R)?  The top of the Dodgers line-up is clearly clicking right now.
• Colby Rasmus (3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R) - He’s now on a four-game hitting streak, going 7-16 with 3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R and 1 SB.  Needless to say, he’s producing like owners had hoped for at this point.
• Michael Cuddyer (2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R) - He’s hitting .344 with 3 HR and 13 RBI in the early going.  He has a hit in all but one game this season, including six multi-hit games.  During his current nine game hitting streak, he’s gone 14-36 with 3 HR, 13 RBI and 6 R.

What are your thoughts on these stories?  Is there anything else from yesterday’s games worth mentioning?

To see my thoughts on Hunter Pence, who we discussed yesterday, click here .

THIS ARTICLE IS ALSO FEATURED ON WWW.ROTOPROFESSOR.COM