Fantasy Baseball Around the Majors: May 23: Tulowitzki, Zobrist and More

Eric Stashin

May 24, 2010

Zack Greinke and Roy Halladay took rare beatings. Cody Ross and Jason Bay finally paid dividends in the power department for owners who stayed patient. Ben Zobrist and Troy Tulowitzki continued their resurgence. Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

Hitters:

Cody Ross (3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R) - The Marlins launched five home runs (Jorge Cantu, Dan Uggla, and Ronny Paulino hit the others) with Ross leading the way. His value lays in his power, which he had not yet shown prior to yesterday (he entered the game with 2 HR). Considering he’s hitting .309 (though it is based from a .377 BABIP) with more power to come, he’s a good buy in all five-outfielder formats.
Denard Span (1-1, 1 R, 1 SB) - He ultimately was forced from the game with a bruise to his right shoulder. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, he is day-to-day, so unless you hear something else or have a great alternative, I’d roll the dice on him for the upcoming week.
Ben Zobrist (3-6, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R) - He’s really starting to heat up, isn’t he? Over his last seven games he’s gone 14-28 with 2 HR, 7 RBI, 7 R and 3 SB. Hopefully you didn’t give up on him in his early struggles, because he’s starting to live up to the hype.
John Jaso (2-4, 4 RBI, 1 R) - He was hitting third in this one. Who saw that coming? The better question is how do they take him out of the lineup?
Troy Tulowitzki (2-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R) - He’s on an eight game hitting streak, with three home runs in his last four games. Is anyone still complaining about a power outage? He’s one of the elite shortstops in the game, it just took him a while to show it once again.
Scott Rolen (2-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R) - He’s been hot, going 9-22 with 4 HR, 12 RBI and 5 R over his last seven games. It’s not a huge surprise that he’s seen an offensive resurgence, hitting .288 with 6 HR and 13 RBI at home (he has 10 HR and 27 RBI on the season).
Ryan Doumit (3-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R) - He’s now hitting .286 with 4 HR and 18 RBI on the year. He’s no Joe Mauer or Brian McCann, but entering the day there were only seven catchers with as many as 20 RBI and only two (Miguel Olivo and Joe Mauer) had an average above .270. Needless to say, he has value in all formats.
Albert Pujols (0-3, 1 R, 2 SB) - Just when will he start hitting again? At least he’s contributing in other ways, but we all know that he’s going to start hitting, and probably soon.
Edwin Encarnacion (2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R) - In the series against the Diamondbacks he went 6-11 with 5 HR, 8 RBI and 6 R. What exactly is there to say about that but wow…
Jason Bay (2-2, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R) - He entered the game with just one home run, leaving the Mets and fantasy owners alike to wonder what was going on. Luckily, he has been hitting alright, now with his average at .307, so he hasn’t been a complete bust. Still, hopefully this is just the start of a stretch with significant home runs and RBI, the reason fantasy owners selected him on draft day. He’s not going to come close to last year’s 36 (and in CitiField, did anyone really expect him to), but he’s still likely to end the season as one of the Top 25 OFers in all formats.

Pitchers:

Matt Capps (1.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K) - It was his first blown save of the season. Would anyone have guessed that? Don’t start calling for Drew Storen’s insertion as the closer unless this becomes an epidemic for him.
Roy Halladay (5.2 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 1 K) - He hasn’t won in three starts, facing the Rockies, Pirates, and Red Sox. What is going on? This was the only bad one in the past three (he had allowed 4 ER in 15.1 innings in his previous two). Remember, the Red Sox have a lot of familiarity with Halladay (14 starts the previous three years).
C.J. Wilson (5.2 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 5 K) - We all knew he was pitching a bit over his head and has really turned the other way in his last two starts (12 earned runs over his last 10 innings). His next start comes against the Twins so there is no guarantee that he is able to turn things back around. If you have better alternatives, I’d leave him on your bench for the upcoming week. Don’t drop him yet, but be cautious.
Zack Greinke (3.1 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 1 K) - Ouch, he can’t blame the Royals anemic offense for this one. It happens to everyone, so I wouldn’t be too concerned.
Trevor Hoffman (1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K) - He pitched the eighth inning, but don’t look for that to continue for long. Sooner rather then later he will be back in the closer's role, so just sit tight.
Ben Sheets (6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 8 K) - He took a no decision, but he’s pitched well in three of his last four starts (including three 8 K games). He seems to be turning the corner and is worth using in all formats.
Mat Latos (6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K, W) - He out pitched Felix Hernandez (7.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 6 K) to win his third straight decision. He hasn’t allowed more than 2 ER in each of his last five outings and faces the Nationals, at home, in his next outing. Needless to say, he’s developed into a must use option in all formats.
Rick Porcello (6.0 IP, 2 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 2 K, W) - He won for the second time in his last three starts, but he still has flaws, to say the least. He has had 3 Ks or less in each of his last six starts. Just once has he had more than 3 Ks (his season high is 5 Ks). Aside from the ERA and WHIP, that alone is a huge detriment and makes him a tough play. I’ll take a closer look at him in the upcoming days.