MLB Fantasy Baseball: Tuesday News and Notes

• Evan Longoria has been activated by Tampa from the DL. The Rays' third baseman isn't expected to start this series, but that could change based on what happens tonight. Joe Maddon said that Longoria is available to pinch hit but wouldn't likely start until the series against the Yankees.
• Don't blame Dave Bush for that disaster in the ninth inning last night. Bush was solid throughout his eight innings. He gave up just two earned runs on seven hits while walking two and recording three strikeouts. Bush has been good at home, that's about all there is to it. He should be owned in all deeper leagues and is still a decent play away from home as well, based on matchups.
• Coco Crisp has been red hot in his last 10 games. In that time, he's hitting .571 and has raised his average nearly 30 points from .263 to .291. The question remains as to if he will continue to get playing time with J.D. Drew being activated from the DL last night. The bet here is that he will still see enough playing time to be a viable option over the next week or so. You don't bench someone playing this well. And Francona doesn't like to rock the boat.
• Joey Votto continues his streak as well, knocking his fourth home run in his last 10 games. Votto has been a pleasant surprise since the middle of August. He has hit tonight's starter, Jeff Suppan, very well. Votto is 5-for-12 against Suppan with a home run. Continue to keep him active and look for him if you need a quick burst of power at the corner spots.
• Got a couple interesting questions yesterday. One involved comparing Shin-Soo Choo to Prince Fielder and which to start in a weekly league. On the surface, this seems cut and dry. Dig a little deeper, and you can see why this is a debate. Choo has been red hot and gets Baltimore and Kansas City this week. Fielder gets the Reds and Phillies. He's been killed by Reds pitching this year (.171 AVG) and gets at least two lefties (.222 AVG). Fielder has been bad on the road (60 point difference vs. at home). In the short week, we recommended Choo. Why? He's the hot hand. These type of decisions are the ones managers need to make, and they end up making the difference in some weeks.
• Alright, time to get off the Zach Miner train. It was nice initially, but his last two starts have just been bad. Last night, he was hammered at the expense of a bad offense. Not an easy one to take as an owner (especially being one of the guys that started him). Let's call a spade a spade and leave this one alone unless we see more favorable matchups.
• Jon Lester has never lost to the Rays and is now 3-0 this season with an ERA under 1.00. Lester's control and velocity have been better than anyone could have expected this season. His dominance at home is one thing, but Lester has been good throughout the season, regardless of where he has pitched.
• Everyone panicked on J.J. Hardy early this season. Hardy was struggling in every sense of the word, but we cautioned that he gets much better as the weather gets warmer. Hardy is now hitting .287 with 23 home runs, becoming one of the better producing shortstops out there. Sometimes, it just takes a LOT of patience with a guy.

Notes for Tuesday

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?