Wednesday's Daily Fantasy Baseball News and Notes

Reading through some things this morning and came across an article about the guy that caught Griffey's 600th. He says he isn't sure what to do with the ball. I like to think I'd always take the high road and give it back to the guy, for one thing or another.

But, I'm also a guy willing to sell my NBA Finals tickets for the right price. So I can see both sides. I hate having to lead with injury news, especially when we have to talk about star players. Sadly, that's what we have to start this Wednesday. As always, there are some bright spots to talk about. On to the notes.

• Albert Pujols went down with a calf injury that looked pretty bad on replays. No word on the extent of the injury or how long it will keep him sidelined. I would anticipate going at least several days without him in the lineup. I'll keep you posted as we learn more.
• Tom Glavine will be heading to the DL with an elbow injury. The Braves pitching staff is just taking a beating. This likely doesn't have a huge impact fantasy wise, but look to grab another Braves pitcher, Jorge Campillo, as a fill-in for the time being. He is still largely available in all formats.
• But there is good news on the injury front. Jake Peavy will be activated to start on Thursday for the Padres. My rule still is in effect: give him one start to get his legs under him. We don't know the toll the injury took on his arm, and his ability to throw strikes might be compromised early on. He should be good to add to your lineups for next week. In addition, the Rockies activated Matt Holliday. He should be back in all lineups immediately.
• J.D. Drew is still on an absolute tear. He's 10 for his last 19, with three home runs and eight RBI. This is a classic way to ride the hot streak. Whatever guy hits in front of Manny Ramirez is going to see good pitches to hit. Plain and simple. Drew is that guy right now, and he's been able to take advantage of the situation.
• Hideki Okajima is making it harder to justify keeping himself on a fantasy roster, for holds or cheap saves. His last three outings have been brutal, allowing three earned runs in two-and-a-third innings. He's struggled twice against Baltimore as well. That guy on the Red Sox is likely going to be Manny Delcarmen going forward, who has pitched very well of late.
• Both Clayton Kershaw and Greg Maddux did what you would expect yesterday. Kershaw allowed two earned, working into the sixth, while Maddux allowed one earned and completing six innings. Neither ends up involved in the decision as the bullpen imploded for the Padres. Still, this continues to point to the same signs—Kershaw is worth the start and Maddux is lights out at home.
• Ryan Doumit's return from the DL continues to go well. He's at .313 in his four games back, and he hit his first two home runs last night, giving him seven on the season. He's still available in 10 percent of leagues and is a much better option than most guys that are 100-percent owned.
• C.C. Sabathia continues to pitch well against Minnesota. Since 2005, his ERA against them is now under 2.50. Scott Baker wasn't bad either, going seven innings and allowing just one run. Baker is largely unowned, which surprises me. His stint on the DL likely hurt him, but he's a solid option in deep, mixed leagues and all AL-only formats. In his eight starts, he has allowed three or fewer earned runs in seven of them. He has walked just seven in 45 innings.
• Other notes: My man-crush on Dana Eveland was nearly justified last night. He allowed just two runs in six innings, but Wang was better. Roy Oswalt improved to 2-0 against the Brewers this season. He struck out ten in seven innings and looked in command all night. Micah Owings has allowed at least four earned in each of his last three starts, only working beyond the fifth inning once.

Notes for today's games:

• Scott Kazmir should be in every lineup, but don't be afraid of keeping Torii Hunter and Vlad Guerrero in there to face him. Hunter hits .333 and Vlad checks in at .444. Avoid any Ray not named Carl Crawford.
• Hanley Ramirez is the only Marlin that has had any success against Cole Hamels. Ramirez is 7-15 lifetime against the lefty. Hamels struggled against the Marlins his last time out and is not as effective on the road. He is still worth the start, but don't expect another shut out.
• There isn't a place that Brandon Webb hasn't been good. Webb sports a 2.38 ERA and a BAA of .206 on the road. David Wright and Carlos Beltran have had decent numbers against him, but that won't be enough to slow Webb down.
• While Braden Looper has struggled on the road this season, he has held the Reds to a .221 BAA over his career. I like his chances to do well again. Johnny Cueto has pitched better lately and holds opponents to a .216 BAA at home. If I had to pick one of the two, I'd go with Cueto in this matchup. Looper struggles against lefties and hasn't seen Jay Bruce yet.
• Expect another pitchers duel out in San Diego. Randy Wolf is another Greg Maddux, in that they both pitch well at home and nowhere else. In six games, Wolf has a WHIP just over 1.00, an ERA of 2.68, and a BAA of .224. Expect Juan Pierre (.419) to be in the lineup against him, but he's the only Dodgers regular with any decent track record. Billingsley struggled through five against the Cubs, but has been good on the road, with a .198 BAA and a 2.97 ERA in six starts.
• Manny Parra has looked very good in four of his last five outings, and one of those starts was a six inning, one-run performance against Houston. The difference here is that the game is at Houston. Don't expect the same performance this time around, as Houston hit him well in his start at The Juicebox. Brandon Backe struggles with control, but is very good at home.
• Justin Verlander has pitched well recently, but not against the White Sox. Pierzynski (.320/3/10), Thome (.333/5/7), Crede (.381/0/3), and Dye (.370/3/5) all have good numbers against him. Verlander struggled in his earlier outings against them, and these numbers don't have me believing this time will be better.
• Garrett Olson is not good on the road, stay away from him at Boston.
• Spot starts today? Randy Wolf, Darrell Rasner, Brandon Backe, and Jair Jurrjens in that order.

 

Quick notes for Thursday:

• The Tigers own Mark Buehrle and he's not good on the road. I'd avoid this matchup. Kenny Rogers has been good historically against the White Sox, but keep Paul Konerko in your lineups.
• Jeremy Guthrie pitches well against Boston, so don't be afraid to keep him around. Lester hasn't been fantastic since his no-hitter, but he's worth a start against a struggling Baltimore lineup.
• The Cubs only hit .214 as a team against Tim Hudson. He's also been pretty good on the road, and certainly worth a start if you need one. Let's hope Hudson can get through the outing, period. He's all the Braves have left.
• I don't care if he's facing Jake Peavy tomorrow, you start Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda has allowed three or fewer earned runs in seven of his last eight starts and looked good against San Diego last time out. Seriously, start the guy.
• Surprisingly, if Pujols is out of the lineup, Bronson Arroyo is likely worth a start against St. Louis. I will now light myself on fire.
• Scott Olsen has been pitching very well at home and draws a Phillies team that he controls pretty well, outside of Ryan Howard.
• Early spot start calls? Let's go with Kuroda, Olsen, Guthrie, and Laffey.

 

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