Fantasy Baseball - the Daily Dirt for Sunday

by Todd Lammi Adrian Gonzalez stayed scorching hot, hitting his 20th home run and driving in three runs. What is mind boggling to me is how he was only 12th in the league in walks heading into Sunday's game. The four hitters batting behind him on Sunday had averages of .228, .236, .172, .209. Why would he not be walked every time he came up to bat? He has homered against every team he has played against this season except for the San Francisco Giants. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Sunday... Hitters: Mark Teixeira hit his 16th home run of the season and drove in all four runs for the New York Yankees on Sunday. He ends the week with three home runs and 10 RBI as he knocked in a run in 5 out of 6 games for the week. Kevin Youkilis hit two solo home runs and scored three runs. Despite having nine home runs on the season, Youkilis leads the American League in slugging percentage as well as on base percentage. David Wright stole his 12th base of the season. Despite hitting .333, he is off to a slow start in the power department with only three home runs. I have to wonder if he is hiding an injury as two stats give me warning flags 48 games into the season. One, he is on pace for 178 strikeouts which would be 60 higher than his career high of 118 last season. Second, he has already been thrown out stealing seven times, which is more than each of the three previous three seasons when he was caught five times each year. Ben Francisco went 2 for 3 and stole his ninth base of the season. Francisco is quietly putting together a nice season, and is now on pace for 18 home runs, 70 RBI and 32 steals. Josh Willingham hit two solo home runs giving him nine on the season. He seems to enjoy hitting with no men on base, because despite having nine home runs, he only has 12 RBI on the season. Carlos Pena looks to be locked in the home run mode as he continues to swing for the fences. Pena hit his 17th home run of the season, but continues to strike out at a high rate, making it tougher for him to boost his .231 batting average. Pena has 66 strikeouts on the year, good for a 204 pace. Mike Cameron homered for the second consecutive day and now has 11 long balls on the season. Despite being the 20th player to reach the 250-250 home run - steal level, his stolen bases are a thing of a past in 2009. He has two stolen bases for the season and both of those came on opening day. Brandon Phillips homered for the second straight day as he continues to play through the the injury to his thumb. Phillips is up to 9 home runs and 36 RBI on the season. Adam Kennedy went 3 for 5 with three runs scored and hit two home runs to give him four on the season. Since the Oakland Athletics acquired Kennedy from the Tampa Bay Rays on May 10th for a player to be named later, Kennedy has hit .390 with four home runs, 15 RBI and five steals in 82 at bats. Edwin Maysonet went 2 for 4 and is now hitting .450 for the Houston Astros. With Kaz Matsui on the disabled list, Maysonet should have some value in National League only leagues the next few weeks. Scott Hairston hit his seventh home run of the season and stole his sixth base of the year. With Jody Gerut now out of the picture, I see a possible 20-20 season out of Hairston. Torii Hunter blasted his 12th home run of the season and knock in two runs to boost his RBI total to 42. Hunter is currently on pace for his first 30-30 season of his career with 12 home runs and 10 stolen bases year to date. Matt Kemp hit his sixth home run of the year and stole his 12th base of the season. Despite being slotted 7th in the batting order for the majority of the season, Kemp still is on pace to drive in close to 100 runs this year. Pitchers: Edwin Jackson hurled eight shutout innings with seven strikeouts to up his mark to 5-3 on the year. Jackson has allowed three earned runs or less in his last five starts, going 4-1 during that period. It took him three starts but Kris Medlen finally picked up his first win of the season, allowing one run in six innings with nine strikeouts. The win most likely extended his stay in the rotation until Tom Glavine is ready to return. Chad Gaudin allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts to notch his second win of the year. It was the first start this season for Gaudin where he did not walk a batter, after previously walking a minimum of three hitters in every start. Jon Lester allowed one run in six innings with 12 strikeouts to pick up his fourth win of the season. Despite an increase in his strikeout rate, Lester has seen opponents bat 50 points higher against him in 2009 and his home run rate is 2.8 times higher than it was in 2008. Eric Milton allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings with four strikeouts to improve his record to 2-0. The 33-year-old Milton has solidified the Los Angeles Dodgers 5th starter slot, and one could argue his three starts should make him the fourth starter ahead of Eric Stults. Yovani Gallardo allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts to boost his record to 5-2. Heading into Sunday's start, Gallardo had the lowest batting average against for starting pitchers in all of baseball at .193. Closers: A painful way to end the week for David Aardsma owners, as he allowed six base runners in 2/3 of an inning with three runs scored to blow his first save of the year. To get more fantasy baseball insight and analysis, go to Fantasy Baseball Tools

Fantasy Baseball - the Daily Dirt for Friday

by Todd Lammi Luke Scott went 3 for 3 and delivered two home runs while driving in five runs in a 7-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. Scott has been on a tear since coming off the disabled list on Wednesday, with 5 home runs and 12 RBI in three games. Rookie Matt Wieters debuted as the starting catcher, going 0 for 4 with a strikeout. Wieters hit seventh and should see the majority of starts going forward. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Friday... Hitters: Nelson Cruz went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI including his 13th home run of the season in a 6-3 win over the Oakland A's in the first game of a double header. Jermaine Dye started the Chicago White Sox scoring with his 13th home run of the season, en route to an 11-2 win over the Kansas City Royals. Alexei Ramirez, A.J. Pierzynski and Josh Fields each contributed three hits in the win. Edwin Maysonet went 4 for 4 with RBI including his first home run of the season as the Houston Astros defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1. It was Maysonet's second start of the season since being recalled on May 22. Omir Santos hit his third home run of the season and drove in two runs in the New York Mets -21 win over the Florida Marlins in 11 innings. Santos will remain with the team when Brian Schneider returns from the disabled list, with the trade of backup catcher Ramon Castro to the Chicago White Sox. Evan Longoria went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI, including his 13th home run of the season, to power the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-3 win over the Minnesota Twins. Longoria increased his league leading RBI total to 54. Carl Crawford went 2 for 4 with three runs scored and connected for his second home run of the season. The home run was Crawford's first since May 7th. Yunel Escobar went 2 for 5 with three RBI to pace the Atlanta Braves offense in a 10-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Escobar knocked out his fifth home run of the season and his second in the last four days. Carlos Quentin was placed on the 15-day disabled list with plantar fasciitis in his foot. Quentin has been bothered by pain in his foot all season which helps explain his .229 batting average. Scott Podsednik will continue to see playing time in his place and is a good source for steals in American League only fantasy baseball leagues. Pitchers: Ted Lilly allowed one run in seven innings with five strikeouts to pick up his sixth win of the season in a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Chad Billingsley took the loss, allowing two runs in seven innings with seven strikeouts. Josh Outman allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts in a no decision. Outman has allowed three runs or less in all eight of his starts this season and currently sports a 3.06 ERA. Andy Pettitte allowed one run in five innings to improve his record to 5-1 on the season in a 3-1 defeat of the Cleveland Indians. Pettitte was removed from the game in the sixth innings with stiffness in his lower back. J.A. Happ allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings to earn his first win since moving into the starting rotation in a 5-4 win over the Washington Nationals. Brian Moehler allowed tossed a complete game allowing one run with four strikeouts to gain his second win of the year. Casey Janssen picked up his first win in over two years, allowing three runs in seven innings with two strikeouts. For Janssen, who missed all of 2008 with shoulder surgery, it was his second start since being recalled from Triple-A last Friday. Mike Pelfrey allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings with six strikeouts in a no decision. Pelfrey has allowed two runs or less in four consecutive starts while lowering his ERA by 1.5 runs. His counter part, rookie Sean West, allowed one run in seven innings with two strikeouts. James Shields surrendered two runs in seven innings with five strikeouts to even his mark at 4-4 on the year. Braden Looper allowed two runs in seven innings with four strikeouts to pick up his 5th win of the year in a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Scott Feldman allowed two runs in six innings with two strikeouts to boost his record to a perfect 4-0 on the year. Feldman has a 2.59 ERA since moving into the starting rotation on April 25th. Clayton Richard allowed two runs in seven innings with seven strikeouts for his third straight quality start. Richard has allowed three runs in his last 20 innings with 18 strikeouts. Jason Marquis pitched eight innings of shutout ball with six strikeouts to pick up his seventh win of the year. It was the third consecutive win for Marquis who has allowed three earned runs in his last 23 2/3 innings. Jason Vargas allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings with two strikeouts to record his second win of the season in a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels. The two runs were the most Vargas has allowed in his four starts this season. Matt Cain improved to 6-1 by giving up one run in 6 1/3 innings with five punchouts in a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Cain has won his last three starts, while allowing two tuns in 21 1/3 innings. Closers: C.J. Wilson picked up a win and a save in the Texas Rangers double header. With Frank Francisco back as closer, Wilson should only see a few save opportunities going forward. Huston Street picked up his 8th save of the season and has not allowed an earned run since April 24th. During that time he has lowered his ERA from 8.59 to his current number of 3.10. To get more fantasy baseball insight and analysis, go to Fantasy Baseball Tools