Fantasy Baseball: Friday News and Notes

Last Night Rewind

• Dustin Pedroia was scratched from last night's lineup in Boston with a sore foot. Pedroia hurt the foot (the same one he broke earlier this year) when attempting to steal a base on Wednesday night. Jed Lowrie replaced him at second base. It does not look like a DL matter, but he is going to be day-to-day.
• Ted Lilly continued his dominance since being traded to the Dodgers at the deadline. He worked a complete game last night, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out 11 batters. It was his first complete-game effort since 2004. He has allowed four runs in 28 innings as a Dodger and improved his record to 4-0 in that stretch.
• The Cardinals acquired Pedro Feliz from the Astros yesterday and expect him to take over at third base. The struggles of Felipe Lopez and the injury to David Freese forced the Cardinals to make a move to solidify that spot. Feliz should continue to be played as normal in all formats, but NL-only owners should react to Lopez accordingly.
• Lance Berkman was placed on the DL by the Yankees with an ankle injury. Berkman had been hitting just .179 in New York and has largely been an outcast amongst the fans since nearly killing Alex Rodriguez. He had been part-time for the most part, so this should not impact most fantasy situations. Still, take note.
• Ryan Howard is set to begin a rehab assignment tonight in Single-A. The plan is for Howard to play there and get in another game at Triple-A over the weekend. Aggressive expectations have him re-joining the team on Monday. That would be assuming that everything goes perfectly. Weekly leagues should get him in for next week.

Friday Notes

• Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, and Derek Jeter all have averages better than .300 against Felix Hernandez. The player that struggles the most is Nick Swisher, who checks in at just 7-for-31. Four of his seven hits have been home runs though. Alex Rodriguez has been held to just a 3-for-13 mark against Hernandez.
• Chone Figgins is 5-for-12 and Ichiro checks in at 6-for-15 against A.J. Burnett. The New York starter is coming off one of his better outings of the season and has had only one start in his last five that has truly been a disaster. Backing that one out, he has allowed four earned runs in 26.1 innings of work.
• Jon Lester has allowed only two earned runs in his last 19.1 innings over three starts. He is already 2-0 this season against the Blue Jays, holding them to just two runs on five hits in 13 innings. Only Jose Molina at 5-for-15 is worth starting. Aaron Hill is just 2-for-23 against Lester with Adam Lind at 2-for-14 and Vernon Wells a .208 hitter.
• Not much action from the Indians against Armando Galarraga. You will want to start Shin-Soo Choo and his .318 mark against the righty and probably avoid the 2-for-14 of Travis Hafner. Otherwise, play them as you normally would. Galarraga is 0-2 in three August starts with a 5.60 ERA and .303 BAA.
• Jayson Werth is 6-for-12 against Jason Marquis and has pounded two home runs as well. Chase Utley checks in at .473 in 23 at-bats. Look to avoid the 5-for-36 of Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco is only 3-for-15. Carlos Ruiz should be behind the plate as Brian Schneider is just 1-for-21 against Marquis.
• Alex Gordon is 0-for-11 against Edwin Jackson lifetime, but Billy Butler has done a solid job against him. Butler is 4-for-13 with two home runs. Jackson has been solid since coming over from Arizona. He is 1-0 in three starts and has allowed just three earned runs in 20 innings. In that stretch he struck out 24 and walked only five.
• Anibal Sanchez has thrown very well in back-to-back outings, giving up only two earned runs in his last 12.2 innings. Sanchez is 3-3 at home this season, but with a very respectable 2.97 ERA in 11 starts. He has already beaten the Astros once this season, holding them to one run in 6.2 innings. Good spot start here.
• Brett Cecil was lit up his last time out and blamed it on a knee injury that pushed his start back. He had limited work between starts and says that impacted his pitching. Cecil had little velocity on his fastball and already has a 4.03 ERA on the road this season. Beware and leave him on the bench against Boston.
• Spot Starts: Sanchez, Hellickson, Kennedy

Weekend Notes

• Chone Figgins is only 2-for-13 against Javier Vazquez and Jose Lopez is just 4-for-19 against him. Look to get Franklin Gutierrez and his 5-for-15 mark in this one. Vazquez is 0-2 in August with a 7.24 ERA.
• Ricky Romero has been lit up twice by the Red Sox this season, allowing 10 earned runs in 8.1 innings of work over two starts. David Ortiz is 8-for-16 against Romero while Dustin Pedroia is 6-for-11. Victor Martinez and J.D. Drew have both raked against him as well, each hitting better than .357. Avoid Romero here.
• Freddy Garcia has allowed 11 runs in his last two starts, working a total of only 7.1 innings. While he is 5-2 on the road, the wins have not been pretty. Garcia is holding a 5.25 ERA and batters are hitting .298 against him in those starts. Yuniesky Betancourt has been red hot, but he is only 1-for-12 against Garcia. Butler is 5-for-9.
• Ubaldo Jimenez is 3-0 against Arizona this season, allowing just two earned runs in 21 innings of work. He has got himself back on track in August, posting a 2.05 ERA in three starts this month. Adam LaRoche, Kelly Johnson, Gerardo Parra are the only batters that are posting numbers above .300 against Jimenez.
• Michael Brantley is 5-for-10 against Justin Verlander and Andy Marte is 4-for-13. The two have the best numbers against the Detroit starter. You can get away with Travis Hafner, who is at .289 in 38 at-bats with two home runs. Avoid Matt LaPorta, who is hitless in nine at-bats and Shin-Soo Choo who is 5-for-28. Verlander has surrendered 12 earned runs in 17 innings against Cleveland this year.
• Paul Konerko is just 8-for-45 against Zack Greinke and Carlos Quentin has struggled to 4-for-21. Alexei Ramirez is no better at just 3-for-20. A.J. Pierzynski and Alex Rios are your best options. The Chicago catcher has a .419 average against Greinke while Rios is at .346. Greinke has a 4.55 ERA in his home starts.
• Werth has good numbers against Sunday starter Scott Olsen as well. Werth is 10-for-20 with three home runs against him. Raul Ibanez is 5-for-10 in his efforts. Shane Victorino and Chase Utley have really struggled, hitting .160 and .167 respectively. Utley does have three home runs against Olsen to offset the average.
• Clay Buchholz is 2-0 and has allowed just one earned run in 16 innings against Toronto this season. In those two starts, he has given up just 12 hits and four walks, good for a WHIP of 1.00. Adam Lind has hit him well, going 9-for-21 against him. Travis Snider, Jose Bautista, and Vernon Wells have all struggled against Buchholz.
• Spot Starts: Correia, Niese, Matsuzaka, Garland, Hudson