Fantasy Baseball Tonight 4/20

Between the light schedule and the rain, there’s not too much to report on tonight folks.

Justin Masterson made his first start in place on Daisuke Matsuzaka, and was impressive on Patriots’ Day.  He isn’t a huge strikeout pitcher, and will go back to the bullpen once Daisuke is able to return. But for a short-term replacement Masterson should be more than useful.   He didn’t have overly impressive minor league numbers, but he has been getting it done in the minors.

Jordan Zimmerman made his major league debut tonight, and overall I have to say that it was a success.  Zimmerman threw six innings, allowed only two runs, and struck out three.  And of course, the stat that I always watch with young pitchers is the walks, and Zimmerman only allowed one free pass.  He definitely earned a look if you have a pitcher not living up to expectations, and he earned more time if you have him on your team.

We pound on Nate McLouth a lot on this site, and so far he isn’t making me look good.  His average isn’t great, but he connected on his fourth homer of the season tonight, and stole his second base.  I still believe that his steals will exceed his power, but so far he is hitting homers at a good pace again like last season.  I’m still not a believer, but he isn’t making me happy right now.

Ross Ohlendorff had a great start for the Pirates, throwing seven shutout innings without walking a batter, and striking out five.  That is two good starts out of three, but I warn against putting too much stock in a Pirates pitcher.  They are off to a nice 7-6 start, but they have been historically bad for a long time.

It is possible that the White Sox could be moving Alexei Ramirez to centerfield in order to call up top prospect Gordon Beckham.  He had an incredible college career, including his final season when he hit 28 home runs in just 71 games.  In nine games this year in AA, he is hitting .368 with two homers and seven RBI.  Beckham was the 20th best prospect in Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospect list.  He won’t bring you much speed, but he is definitely a guy to keep your eye on.

Brandon Wood is trying to force his way back into the majors.  He nearly won a spot on the team out of Spring Training, but was optioned to the minors to start the year.  However, after just five games, he is making it tough to hold him down.  Wood has already hit four homers and driven in six runs over those five games.  With Vladimir Guerrero on the Disabled List for about a month, perhaps the Angels can call up Wood and put him in the DH role.

Dave Winfield is the newest analyst on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight.  I was able to watch some of it today—since the only game on was the Houston Astros-Cincinnatti Reds—and Winfield is HUGE. 

The new fad in baseball is to have the anchors standing up, and Winfield dwarfs everyone else on the set, even John Kruk.  Not saying Kruker is the tallest guy in the world, but he was a ball player too.  He looks like Winfield’s pudgy little brother.

Additionally, has anyone seen the commercials for that movie The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past?   Is there a man alive who wants to see this movie?  Who green lighted this idea and thought it was a good one?  Why does Hollywood have to torture us men with this crap? 

I feel bad for you guys who are dating—especially those of you who are dating someone new—because chances are you are going to get dragged to this horrible, horrible movie.  I’m going to watch Fight Club now, just to clear my head from what I just saw.  How does Matthew McConaughey sleep at night?

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. The show is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com.  To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. 

The Fantasy Baseball Scouting Report is also back!  Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the news, free agent pickups, minor leaguers, and injuries.  A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.  I also just met the people over at Baseball Trade Rumors and I invite you to visit their site.   They have a page for rumors for every major league team, constant updates on the latest rumors, interactive polls, and overall some great content.