Fantasy Baseball Around the Majors, May 2: Verlander, Santana and More

Johan Santana suffered one of the worst beatings of his career.  Justin Verlander seems to have turned things around.  Zack Greinke continues to be plagued by terrible luck.  Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

Pitchers:

• Justin Verlander (8.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K, W) - He had allowed just a first-inning single to Torii Hunter until the ninth inning.  Couple this with his previous start against the Twins (0 ER over 5.2 IP) and it appears that Verlander finally has things turned in the right direction.
• Josh Beckett (7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 6 K) - Now that’s more like it, though considering it was against the Orioles, we have to take it with a small grain of salt.  His next start comes against the Yankees, which will be a significantly better test to see if he has actually righted the ship.
• Zack Greinke (8.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 K) - You’ve got to be kidding me.  Realize Greinke is sporting a 2.27 ERA, yet he has yet to get a win.  It’s a big hang with him for fantasy owners, because what are you really going to do?  This is the prime example as to why wins are a tough category to predict.
• Tom Gorzelany (7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 10 K, W) - He is certainly an unsung starting pitcher option for fantasy owners.  He’s not a sexy name, but when you can accumulate strikeouts like this, he’s worth considering, though not on a weekly basis.  In Cincinnati next week could go either way, given the ballpark, but if you need a starter, he’s certainly worth considering.
• Jon Garland (7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 5 BB, 3 K, W) - He just continues to perform, now sporting a 2.06 ERA.  Remember, however, that this is the same pitcher who hasn’t posted a sub-4.00 ERA since 2005.  His fall is going to come, sooner or later.
• Doug Fister (8.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 K) - He didn’t win, but he’s now carrying a 1.29 ERA.  Of course, he’s gotten here with a .218 BABIP, 1.29 BB/9 and a terrible 4.11 K/9.  Sooner or later something is going to give.
• Johan Santana (3.2 IP, 10 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 1 K) - Needless to say, it wasn’t his night.  It happens to everyone, so I certainly wouldn’t push the panic button.  He had been pitching well and with the Giants next on the schedule, should be able to right the ship next week.

Hitters:

• Wilson Ramos (4-5, 1 R) - With Joe Mauer ailing with a bruised heel, Ramos was recalled and inserted immediately into the lineup.  While it was a nice debut, he was hitting just .179 (12-67) at Triple-A prior to the recall.  Granted, he hit .317 behind two levels in ‘09, but with just 7 HR in 224 AB.  He really doesn’t offer enough to be considered outside of the deepest two-catcher formats.
• Robinson Cano (2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R) - There were a lot of offensive heroes for the Yankees (like Mark Teixeira, who finally put up a big day with a 4-5, 2 RBI, 2 R performance and could be heating up in typical fashion).  Cano, however, has had an amazing start to the season and deserves recognition for it.  He’s now hitting .387 with 9 HR and 21 RBI on the year.  Before we get too excited, he entered the game with a HR/FB of 26.7%, so it’s hard for me to believe that the power is going to continue.  Still, having heard all about how good he could be for so long, it’s possible he’s finally lived up to the hype.
• Hanley Ramirez (3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R) - After hitting just two home runs in April, Hanley has started May off with a bang (6-9, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 3 R).  It was only a matter of time.
• David Freese (3-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R) - He continues to rake, to say the least.  He’s now on a 6-game hitting streak, going 12-22 with 3 HR, 11 RBI and 4 R.  In deeper formats, he’s clearly a usable option at a thin position while he’s smoking hot.
• Alfonso Soriano (3-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R) - Have we suddenly transported back to 2006?  He owned the Diamondbacks over the weekend, going 7-11 with 4 HR, 10 RBI and 6 R over the past three games.  Clearly, there’s no way he continues to hit like this, so enjoy it while you can.
• Andre Ethier (3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R) - While Matt Kemp may have finally shown signs of life again (2-4, 3 R), Ethier just continues to tattoo the ball.  He’s hitting .365 with 9 HR and 26 RBI on the season.  Over the last three games he’s gone 7-13 with 4 HR, 9 RBI and 6 R.  At home this season he’s hit .452 with 7 HR, 18 RBI and 10 R.  With six home games this week, he has the potential to continue raking this week.

What are your thoughts from yesterday’s games?  Which of these stories interests you most?  Did anything else catch your eye?

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