Hideki Matsui - Is a DL stint imminent for Godzilla? He's still nursing that sore left knee and will be examined by doctors on Friday to see if he's ok to at least DH in the first game of today's doubleheader. He has sat out the last four games when manager Joe Girardi shut-him-down after a pitiful batting practice session. If you need to make a decision now, definitely keep him benched through this weekend. With the Yankees not having a day off until July 7th (and a series coming up against the rival Red Sox), my guess is that Matsui lands on the DL retroactive to four days ago and opens a roster spot for the Yankees for the next 11 days.
Rich Harden - Its difficult not to get too excited about the pitching success (and lack of injuries) of Harden's 2008 campaign. Having invested at least 4 straight fantasy seasons in Harden, only to be disappointed by the injury bug, he is finally looking like the ace we all expected. We'll get to the pitching stats in a second, but the best measure of Harden's future value is that he has now pitched in 9 consecutive starts without an injury (since the beginning of May). He is 7-for-9 in QS and is 4-0. Last night, he was as dominant as he has been all year: 95 pitches, 8.0 IP, no runs, 2 hits, 11 K's, and 1 BB. He'll have two starts against the Angels and the White Sox next week and will truly be tested by two of the better offensive teams in the AL.
Cliff Lee - Watching Cliff Lee this year is mind-blowing. Those fans (and fantasy owners) who have a historical view of Lee remember 2005 and 2006 vividly (throw out 2007 since he pitched less than 100 innings last year). In 2006, Lee posted a 4.40 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, a H/9 of 10.0, a HR/9 of 1.30, a K/9 of 5.79, and K/BB of 2.22. This season, Lee has been absolutely unhittable. He has a 2.34 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 8.0 H/9, 0.43 HR/9, K/9 of 7.81, and K/BB of 5.63. Strike outs are up, home runs are down, walks are down, and dominance is WAY up. Last night, Lee crushed the Giants with an 8.0 inning, 4-hit, 1 ER, 11 K performance that led to his 11th win of the season. He remains with just the one loss against the Reds in mid-May and is one of the favorites to win the AL Cy-Young if he can keep this up for the remainder of the year.
Michael Young - This is all very un-Young-like. He's only hitting .274 for the season and has not had a sub-.300 season since 2002 when he hit .262 early in his career. Young began the season in true-form, hitting .302 in April with 10 RBI, 2 HR, and 8 doubles (he's typically a doubles machine). Since May 1st, its been a different story. He's hitting only .252 since then with a .299 OBP and a 0.46 FPI. Young has 5 consecutive seasons of 200+ hits, but with only 88 through 321 AB on June 26th, he is on pace for 182. He'll have to pick up his pace if he wants to hit the 200-hit level again. Continue to start Young as he definitely has the ability to go on a tear at any given point. As an FYI, in 2007, Young his .216 and .296 in the first two months of the season and then followed it with four months of .361, .327, .330, and .362 to finish the season. He can do it again.
Scott Baker - Baker pitched a solid game against the Padres on Thursday, earning the Quailty Start with the minimum 6.0 IP, 3 ER and posting his 2nd win in a row. Baker has now hurled 4 consecutive quality starts and 5 starts in a row of giving up 3 ER or less. In those five outings in June, Baker has a 3.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 6.9 K/9, and 3.3 K/BB. While he's pitched well, his GO/AO ratio of 0.57 could be a cause for alarm (evidenced in his HR/9 of 1.20). His next start will be at home against the Tigers next week.
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