Fantasy Baseball Tonight: Apr. 9

Chris Carpenter’s comeback to the major leagues is officially complete as he threw 6.2 NO HIT innings against the Pirates this afternoon. Carpenter’s final line was just one hit over seven innings and he allowed just one unearned run.

Make no mistake about it, if Carpenter can stay healthy, he should pitch like he did during his Cy Young years. I might be a bit biased being  a Cardinals fan, but I see no reason not to be optimistic. The downside? He could go down at any time, but so far he appears healthy.

Carpenter’s opponent was young Ross Ohlendorf. He was a good prospect for the Yankees, but was traded over in the Xavier Nady trade.  He only struck out one in his six strong innings, but he also only allowed two runs against a decent offensive team in St. Louis.

He does have a lot going against him seeing that he pitches for the lowly Tigers, but if you are in a 16 team, or NL-only league, I would give Ohlendorf a look.

Count me off the Oliver Perez bandwagon. I have been sticking up for this guy for years, but it is officially over. Perez just walks too many guys, and doesn’t have the stomach to be a consistent, quality major league pitcher. When he is on, he has amazing stuff. 

The minute things start to go wrong, you might as well call the bullpen, because Perez is unable to “tough it out.”  He couldn’t get out of the fifth inning in his 2009 debut, allowing eight runs, walking five, and striking out seven.

If he could ever get his head straight and keep the free passes down, he could be good, but for now I don’t have much faith.

I wouldn’t drop him for just any old fodder in free agency, but if a quality pitcher became available, I would certainly part company with him.

A beneficiary of Perez poor pitching was the Reds’ Joey Votto. For the first three games, Votto is hitting .500, with two homers, and a team record seven RBI over the first three games. Votto certainly looks like a guy who will far exceed his draft position.

If you can still get him relatively cheap in a trade, I would do it. But right now, the price is probably kinda steep.  I have to admit, there is a man crush forming with me and Mr. Votto.

Rick Porcello made his major league debut today with OK results. The 20-year-old rookie allowed four runs over five innings, walked only one, and struck out four. So, he wasn’t Cy Young in his first outing, but overall that isn’t a bad first start.

Remember how young this kid is, and how intimidating his first start in the majors must be. Perhaps he will struggle in his first year, that is very possible. But I tell you what, I am still buying on this kid, and will NOT be dropping him in any league I was lucky enough to get him in. If you own Porcello, keep the faith.

His opponent was another former first rounder, Ricky Romero of the Blue Jays.  Romero threw six innings, allowed just two runs, walked two, and struck out five. His numbers in the minor leagues were far from dynamic, but he did have a good spring and won the starting job in Toronto.

He isn’t someone that I am running out to the waiver wire after this first start, but the next time he pitches, I will be keeping an eye on his progress.

The Mariners/Twins game had a few pitchers worth noting. Glen Perkins, the starter for Minnesota was a decent pitcher to have last year for wins, but little else. His record was 12-4, but his ERA was nearly 4.50 and his WHIP over 1.40.

He didn’t strike many guys out in 2008, but his minor league numbers suggest that he will improve in that category. He is another pitcher not to go jumping on right away, unless you are in a very deep league. The M’s pitcher Jarrod Washburn threw eight shutout innings and struck out four.

This was a masterful performance, but PLEASE don’t pick him up. This is not a young guy on the upswing. Please just look at his stats the last three years. You can expect more of the same, this was a fluke. The good news out of the game was that closer Brandon Morrow was able to lock down the save with little drama.

Morrow did walk a batter, but struck out two. He looks like he is back on track after blowing his first save chance. He won’t get many opportunities because he is on the Mariners, but he should be able to convert most of those chances.

It doesn’t get much better than Evan Longoria.  The Rays’ young 3B is among the best young hitters in baseball and has an unlimited future ahead of him. He was 3-for-5 today with his second homer of the season. He has already driven in five runs, and appears that he will outperform his lofty draft position.

The Yankees are finally getting some results out of the money they spent this offseason. They got the first New York home runs out of Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira, but the big news was the start of A.J. Burnett. He only made it through 5.1 innings, but he struck out six and allowed only two runs.

Heard an interesting stat today that these were the first strikeout from Yankee pitchers this year. If he can stay healthy, Burnett could shine, it is just that his track record doesn’t give me much hope that he can do it.

Yankees 2B Robinson Cano appears to be another guy who will outperform many predictions this year. It may only be three games, but he has already been moved up to the fifth spot in the lineup (likely to change with the return of A-Rod), and he is hitting .571 on the young season.

Cano already has a home run, a stolen base, and has three RBI in the first three games. Look for his average to be back over .300 this year, far better than the .260s it was last season.

Jason Motte owners...are you worried?  The Cardinals entered the ninth up 2-1 and Tony La Russa brought in Dennys Reyes. If I was a Motte owner, I would be concerned, but I would not go dropping him just yet.

La Russa is very unorthodox and it could have been the manager just playing a hunch, or the numbers, or it could be he lost some faith in Motte. If Motte doesn’t close again the next time out, I would consider sending him packing, but don’t jump to conclusions just yet.

Matt Garza had a very strong first outing in Fenway Park as he allowed only one run over seven innings and struck out five. He has shown the ability to pitch well in the biggest games, and he looks like he will have a pretty solid season for the AL Champion Rays. 

If you have an injury or an underperformer (not after one game though) I would consider grabbing Garza.

Please don’t go running to the waiver wire for Royals’ pitcher Kyle Davies. He has been in the league for a number of years now and has never amounted to, for lack of a better phrase, a hill of beans. He was spectacular today, throwing seven shutout innings and striking out eight. Don’t fall into the hype though, no way it continues.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at [e-mail]. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss “The Fantasy Baseball Gurus Show” every Wednesday night at 10pm EST on Blog Talk Radio.

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