Fantasy Baseball: Wednesday News and Notes

It took up 14 minutes. 

The first entire segment of SportsCenter was on King Brett. They went through press conferences, interviews with coaches, players, teammates, and enemies. They showed headlines from newspapers and spoke with everyone from Marcellus Wiley to Jon Gruden. 

And you know what the worst part is? No one has realized at that network that the public just does not care. Plain and simple. The timeline regarding the play or retire decision by Favre and his family has held hostage three franchises over recent years, and the football watching public seems to be done. 

So, he is back. Let us all move on. Nothing more to see here. 

On to the notes. 

Tuesday Rewind

• What a disaster of a night for Josh Beckett. Some teams simply have the number of a pitcher, and that is the case with Beckett and the Blue Jays. At the Rogers Centre, Beckett is now 1-3 since 2006 with a 7.76 ERA. Overall, he simply just does not pitch well against them. Something to keep in mind as the divisional contests become more frequent over the final month and a half of the season.
• The Cubs have announced that Carlos Marmol will take over the bulk of the closing duties going forward. The team demoted Kevin Gregg after a series of unspectacular outings. Marmol is already on most rosters, but if you can find him you should be able to steal a few saves.
• The acquisition of Ivan Rodriguez by Texas should likely tell you all you need to know about the health of Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Rodriguez would not have been traded for if the Rangers felt their young catcher would be able to come back strong. Watching him throw against Boston was painful, even just back to the pitcher.
• Jake Peavy struggled in his rehab outing last night, giving up three earned runs in four innings of work. Peavy struggled with control, hitting a batter and giving up a home run. The plan is still for the starter to go one more rehab outing at a minimum before making a return to the White Sox.
• Eight innings, seven hits, two earned runs, seven hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. That was the line for Ubaldo Jimenez last night. The pitcher is now 5-0 in his last seven starts and has worked into the seventh inning in six of those outings. He is just under 70 percent owned this morning. This needs to push him up to 80. Grab him if he is available in your league.
• Stephen Strasburg is not likely to pitch for the Nationals this season. The team announced that they would look to use him in the Arizona Fall League, but not with the big club at this point. Strasburg is still a solid long-term keeper option that owners need to make sure is on their roster. Of course, the GM that made the statement is not likely going to be there by the end of the day.
• How about Ricky Nolasco? The Marlins pitcher struck out 10 in a complete game effort yesterday against the Astros. Nolasco allowed just three hits and two earned runs in the game. This same Astros team absolutely wrecked him for 10 runs last week, so this was a nice bit of vengeance for Nolasco.
• Clay Buchholz owners should get a few more starts out of the young pitcher. Tim Wakefield had a setback yesterday during his bullpen session and is not yet ready to return to the Red Sox rotation. Wakefield is experiencing issues in his calf as a result of the lower back problem. It would not be surprising to see Boston wait until rosters expand to activate him.
• Congratulations to Manny Parra! The Brewers pitcher got through six innings without giving up at least eight hits. That marks the first time in his last six starts that he has accomplished that. Ross Ohlendorf came through on the call yesterday, picking up the win and continuing to improve on his home record.

Wednesday Notes

• Roy Halladay has been impressive against the Red Sox, and there are a few regulars that owners should consider keeping down if they have other options. Dustin Pedroia is just 7-for-35, and Jason Varitek is a .213 hitter in 75 at-bats against Halladay. It is likely Boston still uses him and avoid Mike Lowell on the turf as much as possible.
• After back-to-back outings where he gave up five earned runs, Justin Verlander settled down and dominated the Red Sox during his last time out. He is 7-1 at home this season, and draws a struggling Mariners offense. Batters have hit just .205 against him at home this season. Owners should keep regular Mariners in the lineup, as Ichiro and Jose Lopez are both over .300 against Verlander. The other potential bright spot is the 6-for-20 (.300) of Franklin Gutierrez.
• Paul Maholm has owned Prince Fielder. Fielder is just 3-for-30 against the Pirates starter. Jason Kendall is only 2-for-19 in his at-bats as well. No concerns regarding your Brewers otherwise in this matchup. Maholm has not recorded a win against Milwaukee in three starts this season, allowing 14 runs in 17.1 innings of work.
• You will likely want to avoid Randy Winn and Aaron Rowand against Bronson Arroyo. Winn is 4-for-22 while Rowand is 3-for-13. All your other Giants are decent plays in this one. Edgar Renteria might be a nice reach for some. The infielder is 6-for-17 against Arroyo.
• Zack Greinke has certainly seen a fair amount of the White Sox so far this season. In four starts, he is 2-1 and has given up only five earned runs in 28 innings while keeping the White Sox to 26 hits and four walks. Still, do not shy away from Scott Podsednik, as he is 16-for-30, and A.J. Pierzynski is 16-for-37. Carlos Quentin could get the night off based on his 3-for-14 numbers against Greinke.
• So the issue for the Royals comes in the fact that those that are going to be in the lineup have no luck against Jose Contreras. Without Coco Crisp and Jose Guillen, the .268 of David DeJesus is the best of the bunch. Do not look to grab Mark Teahen, Billy Butler, or Yuniesky Betancourt. The numbers are just ugly for those three.
• After two rough outings against the Dodgers, Jair Jurrjens rebounded against the Phillies to the form owners are accustomed. Jurrjens may have just nine wins this season, but he still has posted a 2.99 ERA this year. He has a win against the Mets already this season, and has a 3.20 ERA on the road in 12 starts this season.
• The Rangers could get Nelson Cruz back from the DL today, as the outfielder is eligible to return to the team. Texas has not had many at-bats against Scott Baker, but the ones they have do not paint a pretty picture. Michael Young has gone just 3-for-13, and Hank Blalock is 1-for-8. Not much of a record, but some.
• The Twins have hit Kevin Millwood very well. As a team, they have 244 at-bats against him and a .336 average in that time. There should be no concern when it comes to starting any of your regulars in this one. The only potential hold up is the 4-for-20 of Joe Crede.
• Spot Starts: Randy Wells, Jeff Niemann, Jason Marquis

Thursday Notes

• Look to avoid Aaron Hill against Jon Lester. Hill is 0-for-14 against the lefty starter with six strikeouts. Adam Lind is not much better, having gone 2-for-14 with eight strikeouts. If you are looking to use anyone in the Toronto lineup, your best and really only bet is Marco Scutaro, as he is a .316 hitter against Lester.
• While Luke Scott is going to get a fair amount of regular action for the Orioles going forward, he is hitting only .239 in August. He draws James Shields on Thursday, and is just 3-for-16 against the Rays starter. Your other Orioles should be in the lineup if you would normally start them.
• Whether or not it makes sense, the numbers do not lie. Matt Diaz is 11-for-20 against Johan Santana with a home run. Diaz is getting regular at-bats thanks to the injury to Nate McLouth, and this is a solid opportunity for owners to get him in the lineup. At home, Santana is tough, and he has not given up an earned run to the Braves in 2009.
• While owners should start Jhonny Peralta and his .400 average against John Lackey, they are best to avoid both Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore if there are better options available. Hafner is 4-for-26 while Sizemore is 3-for-18 against Lackey. Shin-Soo Choo is 4-for-9, but those are limited at-bats to judge.
• Freddy Sanchez is only 9-for-45 against Aaron Harang based on his time with the Pirates. Harang has done a good job against the Giants he has faced, but owners may want to look at Eugenio Velez and his 4-for-9 numbers against the starter if they need some good at-bats.
• Spot Starts: Doug Davis, Justin Masterson, Joel Pineiro

Collin Hager writes The Elmhurst Pub fantasy blog. You can get your questions answered by sending an email to [e-mail]. He's also on Twitter @TheRoundtable.