Fantasy Baseball: Tuesday News and Notes

Last Night Rewind

• Though not necessarily part of the games last night, a great article in the Boston Herald this morning by Gerry Callahan on John Lackey and Josh Beckett. Beckett and Lackey have started 43 games for the Red Sox this season. Together the two have won 16 games and just five against teams that have winning records today. Beckett has yet to beat an over .500 team.
• The mythical 105-mph fastball of Aroldis Chapman is being recalled by the Reds to join the team today. By adding him today, Chapman becomes eligible for the postseason and will be facing hitters down the stretch that have never seen him before. Expect him to have no true defined role, but work in middle relief. Saves or holds likely out of the question at least in the initial weeks.
• We saw two near no-hitters against last night. J.A. Happ did not necessarily take on deep into the game against the Cardinals, but he held them to two hits overall. Happ worked a complete game and struck out four. He has now won three of his last four starts. Hiroki Kuroda worked 7.2 innings and gave up just one hit and two walks to earn his 10th win of the season.
• The Rangers moved Josh Hamilton away from the outfield due to soreness in his knee last night. Ron Washington does not expect that will be long term and says that Hamilton could play the field as early as Tuesday. He has had issues with the knee all season, and given the lead the Rangers have they may choose to let him rest some down the stretch.
• The White Sox expect that Manny Ramirez will join the team today for their game against the Indians. Ramirez is likely to be the DH the rest of the way with at-bats in the outfield being sacrificed for both Carlos Quentin and Andruw Jones. Those two are likely to end up in a righty/lefty platoon the rest of the way. Jones is barely over .200 against righties while Quentin hardly cracks it against lefties.

Tuesday Notes

• Ty Wiggington, Nick Markakis, and Luke Scott have raked against Josh Beckett. Wiggington checks in at .310 with four home runs in 29 at-bats. Scott has gone 8-for-18 with two home runs while Markakis is a .314 hitter. Beckett has struggled lately to say the least and the numbers of the better hitters do not bode well.
• Travis Hafner, Shin-Soo Choo, and Luis Valbuena have numbers that should get them in the lineup against Edwin Jackson. Choo is your best option, hitting .438 in 16 at-bats. Both Hafner and Valbuena have numbers better than .300. Look to avoid Andy Marte, as most would, given that he is 0-for-12 against Jackson.
• Vernon Wells is just 1-for-17 against Jeff Niemann and Jose Bautista is no better at 1-for-11. Adam Lind is a strong option at 7-for-17 and Lyle Overbay checks in at .333 in 18 at-bats. Niemann found mechanical flaws in his delivery last time out that he is attempting to correct. Usually not a great idea to be doing that this late in the season.
• Delmon Young has done nothing but struggle in August, and facing Armando Galarraga will not make it any better. Young is only 2-for-19 against the Detroit starter. Michael Cuddyer is at .200 in his 15 at-bats, and those two represent the worst of the bunch. Look to start Denard Span, who is 9-for-16 against Galarraga. Joe Mauer is 9-for-20.
• If there is a team that Felix Hernandez has had trouble with, it would be the Angels. Hernandez checks in at 0-2 in three starts against them this season. He has a 5.12 ERA in 19.1 innings. During that stretch, the Angels have got to him for four home runs and 21 hits overall. The team does not exactly hit him well, with only Bobby Abreu and Torii Hunter hitting better than .300 against him.
• Aaron Harang will take the ball today against the Brewers in his return from the DL. This will be his first start since the end of June. That usually does not bode well for fantasy owners. Prince Fielder is 12-for-36 against him with three home runs. Ryan Braun may be only hitting .263 in 19 at-bats, but he has three home runs as well. Craig Counsell is a solid option here at .353 against Harang.
• Kevin Correia has now allowed 14 earned runs on 16 hits in his last 7.2 innings pitched. Though he is 5-3 on the road, his 5.08 ERA in those outings is not going to give an owner a warm and fuzzy feeling. Neither will the 6.31 ERA in August. Gerardo Parra and Justin Upton are your best options. Mark Reynolds and Stephen Drew should be avoided in this one.
• Wandy Rodriguez has not had much success against the Cardinals this season, but he does have some more recent luck on his side. Rodriguez has allowed two earned runs or less in each of his last seven starts overall. In August, he has allowed just one home run in 33.1 innings pitched. He even has kept Albert Pujols in check. Pujols has one home run in 38 at-bats to go with just a .238 average.
• Trust the recent success of Ryan Dempster and not the numbers against the Pirates. Dempster shows up as 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA in two starts against Pittsburgh this season, but he is 4-0 in August. In five starts this month, he has posted a .183 BAA and 1.31 ERA.
• Spot Starts: Kennedy, Zimmermann, Duensing

Wednesday Notes

• Should have gone with the gut last time and kept Chris Volstad as a spot starter. This time, there are too many bats on the Nationals that have owned him. Ryan Zimmerman is 11-for-18 with two home runs against Volstad while Adam Dunn checks in at 8-for-16 with a home run and seven walks. Evan Ivan Rodriguez is a .364 hitter in 11 at-bats. Only the 1-for-10 of Nyjer Morgan should be avoided.
• Jon Lester rebounded with a nice win against Tampa Bay last time out. He has now held opponents without an earned run in three of his last four starts. He is 2-0 in three starts against Baltimore this season, allowing one run in 19 innings, and 8-3 overall on the road this year. Ty Wiggington and Matt Wieters are both 7-for-18 and should be started, but Nick Markakis is only at .205 in 44 at-bats.
• Ubaldo Jimenez continues to look for win number 18, and the Giants may help him out. Jimenez is 2-0 against them this season in three starts. Overall, he is 9-4 on the road and has held batters to a .182 average in those outings. Only Pablo Sandoval at 10-for-28 stands out as a regular you would want in your lineup against the Colorado ace.
• Tommy Hanson is winless in his last 10 starts and has allowed 10 earned runs in his last 10 innings pitched. He is just 4-5 at home this season with a 4.22 ERA in that stretch. Hanson has thrown relatively well against the Mets this season, but does not have a win to show for it. His run of luck makes him a tougher start here.
• Corey Hart is 6-for-16 against Johnny Cueto with three home runs. Prince Fielder has had a good showing as well, posting a .353 average in 17 at-bats with two long balls. Ryan Braun has struggled to a 3-for-17 mark and Rickie Weeks is only 2-for-12.
• Spot Starts: Gorzelanny, Figueroa, Vargas