Max Scherzer (SP-DET) – Once in awhile, a pitcher just needs a simple jolt of confidence. It doesn’t often mean that rebuild happens in Triple-A, but that’s exactly what happened with Max Scherzer. Sunday was Scherzer’s first start since his...

Ubaldo Jimenez – How good has Ubaldo Jimenez been in 2010? Well, let’s count the ways. His “worst” start was April 11th against the Padres when he allowed 2 ER in 6 innings of work. He’s yielded 1 HR in...

Justin Morneau 1B (MIN) – Morneau is currently sporting a career high .372 batting average. Unfortunately for owners, it’s likely not sustainable. Morneau has hit over .300 only once in his career, back in 2006, and his current .337 singles...

Mike Redmond- CLE- FYI- Redmond has turned into Fausto Carmona’s personal catcher. That predictability can be good in a backup catcher, since you can figure out when to insert him in the lineup if you own him. But, is Redmond...

Matt Cain (SP—Giants) Matt Cain pitched a gem of a game Friday night against the D-Backs allowing just 1 hit for a 5-0 win. The five runs the Giants scored for him must have seemed like a wealth of riches...

Dan Haren: I thought this was the Dan Haren we got during the 2nd half? The guy who struggled to keep the ball in the park and as a result struggled to pitch to his peripherals. This year the situation...

Elvis Andrus: At just 21 years of age, Andrus is already showing skills, 13% BB% and a 56% GB%, that will maximize his biggest asset, speed. The final piece to the puzzle is making better contact, 81% Ct, but there...

Conor Jackson (1B - Diamondbacks) - What has happened to Conor Jackson? In 2006 and 2007, Jackson averaged a HR for every 32.3 and 27.7 at-bats. He struggled a bit in 2008, dropping his AB/HR to 45.0 with only 12...

Francisco Liriano – After allowing just 3 ER in 29 IP in April, Liriano had struggled through his first 4 starts in May by yielding 16 ER in 23 IP. But Wednesday, the left hander stymied the Yankees’ offense surrendering...

American League 3 Jeremy Hellickson TB SP A 8-1-0-0-1-5 in last start. Might be in big leagues now if he pitched for one of other 29 teams. 4 Mike Montgomery KC SP A Best start yet in AA last time...

Anibal Sanchez- FLA- Caution- Sanchez threw 116 pitches yesterday after throwing 119 in his previous start. This kind of workload is unprecedented in his major league career. Sanchez did have a quality start, but was a bit wilder (4 BB...

Vladimir Guerrero (DH—Rangers) Vladimir Guerrero continues to put the “S” in Sizzle as he has been hot, hot, hot! Tuesday night Guerrero went 3-for-5 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI. For those who may have had doubts about the...

We have a good pitching matchup tonight in the Inner Harbor when Jeremy Guthrie and Dallas Braden lock horns. Guthrie has strung together three straight quality starts and he has been outstanding in his last two, giving up 2 earned...

Johan Santana - To piggyback onto Drew's comment of a few weeks ago, here are a few more stats that illustrate the decline of one of the better pitchers of this generation: his contact% against has risen to its highest...

Michael Young - Young has been scorching in May, as another double and a homer yesterday bring his monthly line to 382/456/551. At age 33, most of Young's indicators have been pointing toward the negative for a few years now,...

Blake DeWitt (2B-LAD) – We haven’t updated DeWitt since May 3, so it’s time. Sunday, DeWitt was 2-for-3 with a run scored to bring his batting line to .286/.366/.403. The first two numbers are fine, as is a 0.79 EYE,...

Drew Storen - P Nationals In my fantasy career, I have, more than once, cut a pitcher during his appearance but I don't know how many pitchers in major league history have been promoted to the majors during a relief...

Gavin Floyd SP (CHW) - Floyd is a bit of an enigma. Last season his 4.06 ERA didn’t indicate how well he pitched as his xFIP was 3.69 thanks to a solid 2.76 K/BB ratio. This season his K/9 has...

Josh Willingham – Willingham crushed his 7th HR of the season Saturday and is now hitting .260/.420/.481 with 25 RBI. A cheap source of power, the outfielder owns a career .212 ISO and has tallied 26, 21 and 24 HRs...

Tim Hudson (SP—Braves) If there are any fantasy owners that are not giving Tim Hudson his due then you need to look again at what he has done this season so far. With a dominant performance over the Pirates on...

Mike Napoli: Napoli homered for the 4th time in May and the 2nd time this week, raising his May line to .298/.365/.649. The power is coming back in a big way as he’s picked up 12 extra base hits in...

Rickie Weeks: Weeks is mired in an extended and painful slump as another 0-4 on Thursday dragged his average down to .243 and made him just 20 for his last 109 with 37 K’s in that span. The extremely high...

Mike Aviles: Aviles has been on fire since rejoining the Royals, 2/3/.375 in 64 AB. Don’t count on it lasting, as he is enjoying an inflated .358 BHIP%, is hitting with below average power, and he has yet to take...

Trevor Crowe- CLE- Hot- Crowe (who I haven’t seen yet in Robin Hood), is hitting .350 after yesterday’s 2-for-5 performance. He also has a homer and 2 steals in 5 games since being called up. Crowe has shown a trend...

Jon Garland (SP - Padres) - Jon Garland's streak of quality starts was broken on Wednesday with one of his lesser performances of 2010. Leading up to yesterday's game, Garland had 5 consecutive quality starts before he went 5.0 IP...

American League 11 Brett Wallace TOR 1B A- 70% CT% 2 weeks ago up to 74% now. .987 OPS means bat may be ready. 13 Mike Trout LAA OF A- How's this?: .372 in Apr, .373 in May. 1.018 OPS...

Josh Beckett – Josh Beckett couldn’t escape the 5th inning against the Yankees on Tuesday, allowing 5 Runs (3 ER) on 5 Hits and 3 Walks in just 4 2/3 innings. Beckett now owns an ugly 7.29 ERA and 1.66...

Daisuke Matsuzaka – Dice-K continues to be one of the biggest free agent signing busts in recent memory. The right hander took the hill against the Yankees on Monday and proceeded to allow 7 ER in just 4 2/3 innings...

Hisanori Takahashi: With his kind of numbers out of the bullpen, 3.12 ERA and an 11.4 K/9 in 26 innings, it was only a matter of time before Takahashi got a shot at starting a game, this Friday at home...

Mike Pelfrey - Pelfrey halted the Mets' skid last night, holding the Braves to two runs on seven hits over 7 2/3 innings, walking two and fanning three. Pelfrey's best asset is likely his ability to induce groundballs, and three...

follow me on Twitter for closer updates... @vtadave....and coming soon, prospect takes! Chris Carter (OF-NYM) – There are two Chris Carters in professional baseball right now. The “good one” plays for the A’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, and this Chris...

Joel Pineiro: Our own Thomas Massimo suggested Pineiro was due for some positive regression in this space earlier in the week and sure enough Pineiro tossed a complete game shutout on Sunday to get his numbers back in line. He...

Justin Smoak 1B (TEX) – As we’ve noted all along in this space since the Smoak call up, he should be owned in all leagues. That is still the case, despite the fact that Smoak entered yesterday’s contest with a...

Starlin Castro: I was pretty negative on Castro’s fantasy value upon his call-up and as a Cubs fan I think this surprised some. Even after his magnificent debut, I was heeding caution. Castro’s skill-set is immense, but he’s only 20....

David Ortiz has earned some swagger today after two beefy homeruns last night against the Tigers as part of a 4 RBI night. As we say here in the Commonwealth, not for nothing, but after being given his last rights...

Carlos Lee (OF—Astros) Now this is just getting silly. Five games ago in a contest against San Diego, Carlos Lee hit his 2nd home run of the year and it finally appeared that his season long slump was about to...

Ryan Zimmerman: Zimmerman was a one-man wrecking crew on Thursday night hitting 2 HR’s and driving in 6. At just 25 Zimmerman continues to show impressive improvements in his power. With the 2 HR’s on Thursday he’s up to 19...

Dustin Pedroia: Pedroia turns 27 years of age in August and has increased his power. 2008/2009/2010 AB’s 653/626/144, HR’s 17/15/7, and Doubles’ 54/48/13, with just some minor erosion is his plate skills, 2009/2010 BB%’s 10%/8% and Ct%’s 93%/87%. The tradeoff...

Dustin Pedroia: Pedroia turns 27 years of age in August and has increased his power. 2008/2009/2010 AB’s 653/626/144, HR’s 17/15/7, and Doubles’ 54/48/13, with just some minor erosion is his plate skills, 2009/2010 BB%’s 10%/8% and Ct%’s 93%/87%. The tradeoff...

Randy Winn- NYA- Hot- Winn has been getting more playing time lately and producing. For the month of May He is hitting .316 in 8 games and has a whopping 2.50 Batting EYE. It’s doubtful that Winn can help in...

    1.  Mark Reynolds (3B - Diamondbacks) - .  Reynolds continues to struggle at the plate, going just 2-for-14 in the last 4 games with only one HR in the last 11 (or the last 38 AB).  In his first...

American League 3 Carlos Santana CLE C AAA 8 H in last 5 G. 1.1 EYE overall with a .974 OPS. May debut in June. 6 Desmond Jennings TB OF AAA Just 30 AB due to wrist injury, but he's...

Adrian Gonzalez- SD- FYI-A year ago Gonzalez had 10 homers and was about to go on an incredible tear, hitting another 10 before the end of May. That kind of run is highly unlikely in 2010 due to scheduling. Last...

Matt Thornton (RP—White Sox) Nows the time to grab Matt Thornton as his stock has just risen. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen announced that the 9th inning duties will be split between Bobby Jenks and Thornton. Thornton has been superb...

Casey McGehee - What I wrote two weeks ago about McGehee still stands: he has made tremendous strides this year in his power and control of the strike zone...so much so that I'm inclined to buy in. The AVG, however,...

The Yankees recalled RHP Ivan Nova from AAA Scranton on Monday. The Yankees lost Nova to the Padres in the 2008 Rule V draft but the Padres opted to return him to NY. Since then he’s made the most of...

Andy LaRoche (3B-PIT) – It wasn’t a great day Sunday for LaRoche, who made two errors while going 1-for-4 at the plate. However, 2010 is shaping up to be LaRoche’s best season. The 26 year-old is batting a solid .307/.384/.432....

Delmon Young: It’s been really quiet, but Delmon Young looks like he’s starting to put things together. Young’s cut his K Rate in half (down to 11%) and quadrupled his walk rate (up over 8%). Suddenly he’s sporting a relatively...

Eric Young Jr. – 2B/OF Rockies The Rockies recalled Eric Young Jr. on May 1 to replace the injured Brad Hawpe on their roster as the club searches for an answer to the struggles of Clint Barmes. Young has been...

Paul Konerko 1B (CHW) – What has gotten into Paul Konerko? He bopped his major league leading 13th HR last night. Not bad for a 34 YO slugger who is supposed to be in decline. Konerko’s HR/FB% has been pretty...

Nate Schierholtz: Schierholtz’s improved approach at the plate, 2008/2009 BB%’s 5%/10% and Ct%’s 80%/87%, has led to playing time and success, 1/5/.362 in 69 AB. With a 48% GB%, it is not surprising that his good power is unevenly distributed,...

Travis Snider - Snider is heating up, adding three more singles last night to make him 11-20 (with 5 XBH) in his last five games. Despite Snider's slow start to the year, his peripherals are loaded with positive signs. His...

Starlin Castro (SS—Cubs) Just a little after 7PM ET, there was probably a mad dash by fantasy owners who jumped on their computers and frantically checked to see if Starlin Castro was available in their league. Chances are if you...

Scott Olsen: Olsen was absolutely fantastic for the 3rd straight outing. He took a no-hitter through 7 and finished limiting the Braves to just 1 ER on 2 hits and 1 bb, while striking out 8. He now has posted...

Rajai Davis: Davis certainly knows how to steal a base, 11 swipes in 12 attempts, but without power, 1 home run in 103 AB and a 52% GB%, his approach at the plate, 5% BB% and an 81% Ct%, is...

Cliff Lee- SEA- Caution- Including the postseason last year, Lee threw a total of 4111 pitches. That is 750 more pitches than in any other season. He hit the 110+ pitch barrier 20 times. His previous high in that category...

May 6, 2010 - NL Fantistics Blog   1.  Dexter Fowler (OF - Rockies) - Dexter Fowler has largely been a disappointment through the first 5 weeks of the season, but he is coming around.  He's 5-for-19 through the first...

American League 28 Hank Conger LAA C B+ .299/.365/.507 and there's more power to come I think. Solid 85% CT%. 36 Ryan Westmoreland BOS OF B Reportedly making very good progress, but we simply don't know much about this injury...

Rich Harden (SP—Rangers) Rich Harden is one of those pitchers who seems to be developing a case of Ollie-itis. You know, Oliver Perez disease where you never know if “Good Ollie” or “Bad Ollie” will show up. While I hate...

Seth Smith: Despite only hitting, .204 in 58 PA, Smith is showing outstanding power, 4 home runs and 2 doubles. Last year he proved not to be helpless against LHP, 3/10/.259 in 69 PA, so if his depressed .139 BHIP%...

Michael Bourn - Bourn singled, doubled, walked, and stole a base yesterday in a 9-1 loss. He definitely has the Juan Pierre 2.0 skill set down pat, which will make him an asset when he's hitting over .300 and...

  May 4, 2010 - AL Fantistics Blog   1.  Frank Francisco (RP - Rangers) - The closer situation in Texas continues to be a big soap opera.  While Neftali Feliz continues to look like the best option to everybody but one...

Scott Hairston (OF-SD) – Hairston was 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs, a pair of RBI, and two stolen bases Sunday against the Brewers. He’s now batting .271/.357/.542 in a muddled outfield situation. Will Venable and Kyle Blanks have...

Ben Zobrist: Zobrist went 0-4 on Sunday, dropping his batting average down to .253. Given how seemingly “out of nowhere” his 2009 campaign was, owners are certainly going to have their concerns about Zobrist’s slow start, so lets dig in....

Victor Martinez C (BOS) – Martinez is off to a slow start, posting a triple slash of .238/.307/.325 heading into last night’s contest with the Orioles. Those aren’t the numbers fantasy owners expected to see out of the consensus number...

Jason Heyward – Heyward picked up the hat trick on Saturday by homering in his third straight game to give the rookie phenom 7 already in 2010. What else can you say about the Say Hey Kid? He’s walking in...

Jonathon Niese (SP—Mets) Now is about the time we should start paying some serious attention to Jon Niese. Certainly, the Phillies are paying attention after Friday's game where Niese pitched 7 strong innings, allowing just 1 ER, 4 hits, 1...

Fausto Carmona - After starting the season with a 3-0 record and 2.96 ERA (despite a 13/12 K/BB mark), Fausto Carmona struggled against the Twins on Friday by allowing 6 ER in 6 innings of work. While he didn’t get...