Fantasy Baseball Tonight: Apr. 8

Marlins’ second year hurler Chris Volstad made his first appearance of the year, and he did not disappoint. It was against the Nationals, but Volstad struck out seven over five innings, while only giving up one earned run. 

People were wondering if he could repeat his fine performances in the second half of last year when he had a 2.88 ERA in 14 starts. I’d say so far, so good. He MIGHT be available in your league, but chances are he was taken late in the draft.

Florida’s closer, Matt Lindstrom was a big question mark to start the season after he suffered an injury during the World Baseball Classic, but he was able to take the ball on the second day of the year. He made it VERY interesting, but Lindstrom was able to nail down the save.

He did allow a run, and walked two batters, but in the end the Marlins won the game. With two walks and a hit, Lindstrom put a beating on your WHIP for today, but he also struck two guys out. He should be fine going forward and should be a fine closer going forward.

It’s the all Marlins post tonight! Their exciting new third baseman, Emilio Bonifacio was a terror today again on the bases. He had two more hits, scored two times, and stole his fourth base of the season. If you didn’t pick him up and he’s available, go get him. 

If you are like me, you can always use help in the speed department. But if someone beat you to him, I wouldn’t go trading for him. In fact, if you did pick him up, I would try to shop him around to see if you can find an owner who might pay too much for a guy with a hot start.

He obviously can’t keep this pace up.

My man Jordan Schafer did it again today. His lone hit was a two run homer off of J.A. Happ, and he is now hitting .429 on the young season. Now obviously, he can’t keep this pace up, but I wouldn’t go selling off Schafer’s hot start (unless you can get something crazy for him).

He is a nice mix of speed and power, and he should be able to help you in all categories. I can see have him having a really solid first season and could challenge for Rookie of the Year.

Yovani Gallardo had a great first start to 2009, after missing most of last year with a knee injury. Gallardo lasted 6.2 innings, struck out six, and allowed only two runs. To top it off, he connected on a three run home run off of Randy Johnson which was the difference in the game when he left.

Gallardo showed that there are no lingering effects from that injury, and if for some crazy reason he is out there in your league, definitely grab him up right away. I just can’t see that being possible.

Franklin Morales is a hot, young prospect for the Rockies who has been unable to have success in the major leagues so far. Morales has an electric fastball, but to this point has gotten rocked with the big club in Colorado.  Morales pitched well enough this spring to earn a spot in the rotation.

Well, that was until the Rockies traded for Jason Hammel from Tampa. He did get a start today and was very good. Morales allowed just one run over six innings and struck out six hitters.

His reward for this great outing versus the Diamondbacks? Thanks kid, head on back to AAA. Morales is someone to keep your eye on. If he gets the call back to the big leagues, he could be a help later in the year.

Rangers’ rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus had his first of many great games. After hitting just 1-for-4 in the first game, Andrus had two hits, including his first major league home runs. 

He is batting ninth in the order, so his chances at driving in runs will be minimal, but that’s not Andrus’ strength anyway. 

He should get plenty of stolen base chances, and he still should score a bunch of runs given the talent of the hitters behind him in the lineup.

Uh oh Fausto Carmona owners. For those of you hoping for a big comeback for the Indians’ young hurler, he did not get off to a good start. Carmona gave up six runs in five innings, which is the really bad news. Good news, however, was he did strike out four batters which is way out of the ordinary for him.

But unless he is winning games, Carmona isn’t much use for your team. He strikes out very few, and his ERA and WHIP are nothing to write home about. If you drafted him,  I would give him another start or two before I cut bait, but if he is a free agent, I would leave him there.

OK, so he can’t keep it up, but after two games Nick Markakis is hitting .714!!!!  Markakis hit his first home run, his first double, and the Yankees couldn’t retire him today.

An impressive part of this hot beginning is he has done it off of two quality pitchers in CC Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang. Again, he will come back to earth, but perhaps Markakis can hit about .550 or .575 this season. OK, just kidding, but you have to love the start.

There were plenty of question marks attached to Carlos Delgado when this season started, and so far he is silencing his critics. Delgado has two hits in each of his first two games, and connected on his first homer of the season on Wednesday.

I am still not 100 percent convinced that he will come close to last season’s stats, but he certainly out of the gate strong.

Nick Adenhart was great in his first start of the season. Filling in for the host of injured starters in Anaheim, Adenhart was a highly ranked prospect for the Angels. 

He struggled mightily last year in his taste of the majors, but on Wednesday he was sharp. Adenhart through six shutout innings and struck out five. 

He did walk three in those six innings, which isn’t horrible, but it is a red flag with him.  In his three starts in 2008, Adenhart walked 13 and struck out just four. So, although you would like to see him offer fewer free passes, it is an improvement from last season.

There were a few good young pitching matchups tonight, here is a quick look at how a couple shook out.

Zack Greinke battled Gavin Floyd tonight and they both pitched very well. Floyd took the loss, but he was a victim of no run support. Floyd allowed just two runs over seven innings and struck out nine. 

The strikeouts are more than you should expect from Floyd, but the guy won 17 games last year, so the rest could be for real. Greinke took his first step to what I believe will be a breakout year. He threw six shutout innings and whiffed seven. 

He did walk three, which I don’t like, but other than that, there’s nothing to complain about here.  Floyd is a hard luck loser, and Greinke goes to 1-0.

Mike Pelfrey and Edinson Volquez took the mound, but neither of them pitched wll, as they both struggled with control. Pelfrey gave up four runs over five innings, walked four and struck out just two. Not what the Mets were hoping for from their second starter, but because of his offense, Pelfrey picked up the win.

Volquez also walked four in just 4.1 innings, allowed four earned runs and struck out four. Some fantasy players questioned if his breakout of 2008 might be for real, and although this isn’t the way you wanted him to pitch today, I still see good things from Volquez this year.

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