Fantasy Baseball: Wednesday News and Notes

Last Night Rewind

Colorado closer Huston Street was injured during batting practice when he took a line drive to the hip. Street was taken off the field in an ambulance and passed out multiple times according to sources. Street complained of pain in his abdomen and shooting down his right leg. He is considered day-to-day at this point, but daily league owners should look for other options.

Sticking in Colorado, Troy Tulowitzki is back. There are not expected to be any limitations on him and he will be right back to being the every-day shortstop for Colorado. His activation will move Clint Barnes back to second base, likely in a platoon with Jonathan Herrera.

Gavin Floyd has allowed just one earned run in his last 19 innings of work after working seven shutout innings against the Mariners last night. Floyd is now 4-1 in his last six starts and stands a good chance to get to double-digit wins this season. Additionally, he has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last 10 starts.

Buster Posey extended his hitting streak last night to 20 games. He has recorded multiple hits in five of his last 10 games and is hitting .458 over his last 24 at-bats. Posey continues to be one of the brighter spots in the San Francisco lineup and is 36-for-80 over his entire hitting streak. In that game, Josh Johnson allowed more than two earned runs for the first time since May 8th.

There are two injuries to note. Stephen Strasburg was scratched before his start last night with shoulder inflammation. Expect the Nationals to be very careful with him. Strasburg has never thrown the type of workload that he is experiencing now. They will be certainly more safe than sorry. Dan Haren, who was hurt on Monday, is on track to make his next start for the Angels.

Wednesday Notes

Joel Pineiro suffered his first loss since June 1st in his last outing, snapping a streak of eight starts without a loss. He pitches well at home, posting a 7-2 record there this season. David Ortiz rakes against him, posting a .440 average in 25 at-bats with three home runs. Both Marco Scutaro and Bill Hall are hitting over .300 against him. Look to avoid the 3-for-19 Mike Cameron.

Bobby Abreu is just a .203 hitter against Josh Beckett and has struck out 23 times in 69 at-bats. Juan Rivera is just 2-for-18 and Alberto Callaspo is 2-for-12. Look to use Howie Kendrick is 8-for-19 while Maicer Izturis is 10-for-27.

Jeremy Guthrie is 1-5 on the road this season with a 5.01 ERA. He is 0-1 against Toronto in two starts this season. Both Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay are hitting better than .310 against Guthrie and both have had at least 29 at-bats against him. Aaron Hill is 6-for-27 while Adam Lind is 6-for-25 lifetime against the Baltimore starter.

Look to use Adrian Gonzalez against Hiroki Kuroda. He is 5-for-15 with two home runs against him lifetime. Kuroda has looked good of late. He has allowed just one earned run in his last 14 innings of work overall. Add to that, he is 3-1 in Petco over his last five starts.

Hopefully, you were patient with Randy Wells. The Chicago starter had a rough outing back on June 23rd, but he has now given up just five earned runs in his last 34.2 innings of work, while striking out 30 batters and walking 11. He is 2-1 this month with a 1.26 ERA.

The numbers for Ryan Zimmerman against Tim Hudson are ugly. The infielder is just 4-for-28 against the Atlanta starter. Josh Willingham struggles as well, at just 1-for-20. Adam Dunn, at 9-for-20, is good to go, as is the .448 mark posted by Ivan Rodriguez.

Alex Gonzalez is only 4-for-41 against Livan Hernandez lifetime. There should be no other major concerns for you in the Atlanta lineup in this one. Hernandez has had two solid starts in a row, allowing a total of two earned runs in his last 15 innings. He is 4-2 at home this season with a 2.57 ERA.

Not great numbers for the Rangers against Trevor Cahill. Michael Young is worth the start given his 5-for-10 mark. Ian Kinsler, though, sits at just 1-for-11, with Vladimir Guerrero at 2-for-10, and Elvis Andrus at 3-for-13. Avoid the majority of the lineup where you have better options available.

Spot Starts: Vargas, Duensing, Wells

Thursday Notes

The numbers for Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham against Derek Lowe are also ugly. Dunn is 5-for-28 without a home run and Willingham is 5-for-25. Nyjer Morgan is worth the play here, as he is 9-for-16 against Lowe. In another random number, Adam Kennedy has hit .402 in 32 at-bats against the Atlanta starter. Use all others as normal.

Ubaldo Jimenez is certainly one of the best pitchers in baseball, but he is getting killed of late. Jimenez has a 7.64 ERA in his last six starts. Add to that, he has struggled with command, walking 11 batters in his last 15.1 innings of work. There are two good signs for him in this one though. Jimenez is 6-0 at home this season and he faces the Pirates.

Johan Santana is on an impressive streak, allowing just three earned runs over his last 38 innings of work. He is 3-0 in July with batters hitting only .199 against him for the month. Look to avoid the 4-for-25 of Ryan Ludwick against him. Skip Schumaker and Felipe Lopez should be on the bench as well, but there are no other concerns.

Rick Porcello will once again take the ball for the Tigers. He has not won since early June and has been incredibly inconsistent over the bulk of the year. After a stellar outing against Cleveland, where he allowed one run in eight innings, he walked four batters without striking out one in a loss against Toronto. With the way Tampa is playing, he is not a good gamble here.

Mat Latos has been simply impressive. He is 4-2 at home this season with a 2.23 ERA in those starts. In 44.1 innings, he has allowed only three home runs. Latos is 3-0 in July and has struck out 22 batters in his last 21 innings.

Spot Starts: Mazzaro, Talbot, Davies