Jake Arrieta (SP—Orioles) The Orioles are probably off to the most surprising start of any team in baseball and they didn’t disappoint on Monday with a 5-1 victory against the Tigers. Leading the way was Jake Arrieta who gained his first victory of the year pitching six innings, allowing one run on six hits, two walks and striking out three. After spending his rookie season with uneven and inconsistent outings, Arrieta finished the year strongly and apparently has carried it over into the beginning of the season. Arrieta has the chops to be a front of the line rotation guy. He’s been excellent at avoiding the long ball and in the minors he consistently averaged more than seven strikeouts per nine innings and crisp ERA’s well below 4.00. He hasn’t yet been able to find his out pitch on the major-league level but he showed good command of his pitches on Monday, hitting a little better than 60% of his pitches for strikes. Arrieta is still a work in progress but he is starting to show more and more signs that he is a rising talent. He’s worth a pick-up in deeper mix leagues as there is a lot of upside if you show patience.
Magglio Ordonez (OF—Tigers) Magglio Ordonez sat out Sunday’s finale against the Yankees because his surgical repaired right ankle was acting up. But he was back in the lineup for the home opener at Camden Yard against the Orioles on Monday. Ordonez did manage to get his first base hit of the season, going 1-for-4. He raised his batting average to 0.91. Fantasy owners will more than likely need to get used to the idea that, at 37, Ordonez will need to take breaks now and again and that he is not likely to be the home run hitter we once knew as he has only been able to hit 21 the past two seasons spanning 788 at-bats. However, Ordonez is still a very competent hitter who rarely strikeouts and can certainly offer a .300 batting average. The slow start should turn around but owners should be prepared for Mags those rest days and temper expectations who the thought that he is the hitter he was in his prime.
Koji Uehara (C—Orioles) Koji Uehara pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning on Monday against the Tigers requiring only nine pitches to retire the side. Uehara was outstanding last season in relief with a K/9 of 11.25 and a BB/9 of 1.02. His ERA of 2.86 was higher than his FIP of 2.40 indicating how effective he really was. Monday’s appearance was not a save situation, but manager Buck Showalter may be leaning more towards Uehara to work the ninth inning rather than Kevin Gregg. Uehara is definitely worth a pick-up in mixed leagues as it appears that he could be getting some saves and if Gregg falters, he will be firmly in the closer role.
Derek Holland (SP—Rangers) Derek Holland made his first start of the season on Monday and pitched well enough to earn a quality start and a win. He pitched six innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits, one walk and striking out five. Last season, Holland bounced back and forth between the minors and the majors but towards the end of ’10 he started to find a groove. Over his last eight appearances at the end of last season, his record was only 1-2 but he had a very good 3.21 ERA, striking out 30 in 33.2 innings. Holland has potential to be a #3 starter, possibly a #2, so we may be seeing a pitcher who is evolving and figuring things out. Holland could be close to a break out year. If not this year, he will undoubtedly make some significant strides in that direction.
Erik Bedard(SP—Mariners)Erik Bedard got knocked around on Monday against the Rangers needing 95 pitches to get through five innings. He gave up five runs (three earned) and allowed two home runs in an uneven performance. We all know that Bedard has tremendous upside but he has struggled to stay healthy over the past seasons. He has had three surgeries since his last major-league start. If Bedard can capture some of his old magic, fantasy owners who have taken a risk on him will be rewarded. But it’s a high-risk as he has only pitched 164 innings over the past three years.
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