MLB Fantasy Baseball: Wednesday News and Notes

Regardless of the uniform a guy put on, when one of the greats of the game is admitted to a hospital, you take notice and hope they are ok. That's certainly the case here in Boston, where Carl Yastrzemski underwent triple-bypass surgery last night. Best wishes to Yaz for a speedy recovery.

On to the notes.

• When a pitcher describes any injury using words like "numbness in the pitching hand," you take notice. Josh Beckett has had his start pushed back to at least Tuesday and will undergo tests today to determine the severity of the injury he first dealt with on Sunday. Unless you hear otherwise, expect him to be pitching against New York on Tuesday.
• Let's take care of the rest of the injuries here, as most of them occur in the bullpen. Billy Wagner is out indefinitely, making Aaron Heilman the de-facto closer going forward. George Sherrill has landed on the DL with tightness in his pitching shoulder, and Jason Isringhausen is likely done for the season. As far as fantasy impact, look to add Chris Perez if he's still available, as he should get the ball in St. Louis. If you're trolling waivers for other potential closers, Tyler Yates and John Grabow in Pittsburgh will still get chances as will Dan Wheeler in Tampa until Percival returns. Plenty of household names there.
• I don't know who this team is or what they've done with the Angels' bullpen, but someone needs to figure this out. Anaheim has looked out-and-out awful in their two games in Tampa. Last night, the bullpen blew up in the eighth inning, spoiling a solid start by Ervin Santana. Santana continues to pitch well on the road, regardless of the environment.
• A.J. Burnett continued his domination of the Yankees. Burnett seems to simply have success against them, and this time recorded the win in a normal fashion, without giving up four or six runs in the process. He pitched eight innings, struck out 13, gave up just five hits, and one earned run—not a bad outing against anyone. He improved to 3-0 against New York and lowered his ERA against them to 1.61 in three outings. When it comes to wins, Burnett is now 4-0 in August.
• Let's not go and say that Jason Varitek is turning a corner. The catcher is still hitting just .250 in his last six games, so he isn't exactly lighting the world on fire. Yes, he's swinging the bat well against Baltimore, but he has all season (.290 AVG). Tek is now going through a very public divorce and maybe finally getting that ball rolling will help. But a hot streak is much more than a .250 stretch...even for a .218 hitter.
• While on the Red Sox, I have to agree with Peter King that watching Matsuzaka pitch is "excruciatingly rewarding." Matsuzaka got his 15th win of the season last night, but only managed to get through five innings because of his pitch count. It's his sixth win of the year that has only seen him record five innings of work. He walked five last night and gave up six hits for a WHIP north of 2.00. If you can handle the WHIP, the ERA, strikeouts, and wins always make him worth the start. It's just irritating to watch.
• Talk about an unexpected pitcher's duel last night between Ian Snell and Braden Looper. Looper took the loss, giving up just one run over seven innings, while Snell finally pitched well on the road and shut out the Cardinals through seven innings of his own. Looper has given people reason to expect outings like this about every third start. Snell, on the other hand, caught lightning in a bottle.
• Barring any setbacks, Alexi Casilla will return to the Twins' lineup on Wednesday. When talking about the loss of Ian Kinsler, he's one guy that I didn't mention and it was a good point by RedSox Fanatic on BleacherReport to mention that. Casilla is on waivers in most leagues and deserves some attention. He certainly will help in average, as he's hitting .313. Another guy available in about 35 percent of leagues is Alexei Ramirez in Chicago. Ramirez has two or three position eligibility, one of those being second base in standard Yahoo! leagues.
• Doug Davis continued his domination against San Diego. Davis surrendered just two runs over six innings last night and improved to 2-1 against the Padres on the season. Davis controlled every bat in the lineup, again, and is a must start against this division opponent going forward.

Notes for today's games:

• Khalil Greene is 0-14 against Dan Haren, but Adrian Gonzalez, Brian Giles, and Kevin Kouzmanoff all hit enough against Haren to be in your lineups today. While Haren has struggled in August—going 2-1 with a 5.59 ERA—he's got a 2.14 ERA against the Padres to go with a .241 BAA. He's also 4-1 in his last five starts against the NL West.
• Jake Peavy is still taking a 4-4 record and 4.14 ERA on the road with him to Arizona. The D-Backs only hit .197 against him as a team, and there is no everyday player hitting over .300 against Peavy. Adam Dunn and Chris Young are the worst offenders, and if you have other options for them, you should go that route.
• Michael Young is just a .231 hitter (6-26) against Nate Robertson. Given Robertson's struggles this year, it's not enough to consider any alternatives for Young, though. Robertson hasn't found a scenario where he can hold opponents to an average under .300. Given his 7.59 road ERA, that's enough to make you get every Rangers' hitter in your lineup.
• Vernon Wells is a .414 hitter against Andy Pettitte, but Lyle Overbay is just 2-21. Kevin Mench, Alex Rios, and John McDonald all have solid numbers against the Yankees starter and should be considered good plays.
• Brett Myers hasn't had many home starts since being recalled, but he pitched well there, even when he was struggling early this season. Myers is 4-3 at home with a 3.48 ERA and pitched very well against Washington his last time out. He's a solid play today and should be in line for a win if nothing else. He also has a 2.61 ERA for August to go with a .189 BAA.
• Jhonny Peralta is 11-23 against Gil Meche, and Ryan Garko checks in at 7-16. Keep both active. While Meche has been good on the road, he has struggled against Cleveland, posting a 1-1 record in three starts and a 6.46 ERA to go with a .311 BAA. Keep him reserved here.
• What's great about writing this is we reserve the right to change our minds. Despite how weak the Giants' offense looks on paper, Scott Olsen has had a lot of trouble on the road. He's just 2-3 with a 5.67 ERA in 10 starts. He's already 0-2 in August with a 4.00 ERA. Take him off the spot-start list. Still, bench all lefties, as they hit just .177 against him for the season.
• Jeff Francis hasn't had much success against the Dodgers. Keep Juan Pierre and Jeff Kent active, as both are hitting well over .400 against Francis. Matt Kemp is only 4-18 and Andre Ethier just 4-17. Francis checks in at just 1-3 on the road with an ERA approaching seven.
• Brandon Phillips is just 1-15 against Ted Lilly, and Jerry Hairston is just 5-22. Lilly was roughed up in his last outing against the Reds, but that was back at the beginning of July, making it a very different Reds team now. Given his recent success in August, keep him active. Jeff Keppinger and Jay Bruce still make decent plays for Cincy.
• Spot-start calls? Go with Todd Wellemeyer, Ted Lilly, Manny Parra, and Brett Myers.

Notes for Thursday:

• Zack Greinke hasn't pitched against the Indians yet this season, but the Tribe has hit him pretty well. Make sure all regulars are in the lineup against Greinke, as no one has any history or trouble against him. He's also just 5-6 on the road with a 4.30 ERA. And he's only facing Cliff Lee.
• There is never a reason to bench Roy Halladay, and his stats against the Yankees back that up. He's 2-1 with a .197 BAA and an ERA hovering around 2.00. Johnny Damon (.329) and Ivan Rodriguez (.385) have put up the best numbers against him. If you have better options for Bobby Abreu (4-21) or Hideki Matsui (9-40), then use them.
• Surprisingly, most of the regular Padres have averages over .300 against Brandon Webb. The one player to leave behind would be Brian Giles, as he's hitting just .241 in 58 at-bats against the Diamondbacks' starter. Webb has dominated in August, going 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA and is 8-1 at home overall.
• While the Nationals have recorded hits against Jamie Moyer, he still comes away smelling like roses. Moyer has posted a 2-0 record and 3.45 ERA against them this season. Add to that, Moyer has allowed three runs or less in all of his last 10 starts. Given the way Washington has been hitting, he's a good spot start option.
• Derek Lowe's August numbers are skewed by one bad outing on the road against St. Louis. At home, he's allowed three runs or less in his last five starts and has posted a 2.72 ERA to go with a .218 BAA at Chavez Ravine. Lowe is a good option against the Rockies. Keep Brad Hawpe around, as he's 11-28 against Lowe and has belted three home runs.
• Early spot start calls? Go with Greg Smith, Lowe, Moyer, and Josh Johnson.

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