They went 21-7 in June. That hot streak gave Colorado a new confidence after Clint Hurdle's May 29 firing. It's a confidence they won't easily let go of. "We showed that we can play with them," said manager Jim Tracy after his team finished 5-4 on the road trip. Jason Hammel also chimed in. "They know we are a different team now, and that it's going to be a dogfight until the end," said Hammel. Those quotes don't sound like they're coming from a team aware of its futility against the team leading their division.

...the medical staff believes that they're beyond the recurrence stage. Bursitis is a painful condition, but once corrected it tends not to recur. It's just the "getting ahead of it" that often takes something like a DL stint or even minor surgery to help.

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9075

Aaron Hill keeps on mashing.  19 homeruns now on the year. 

Brad Lidge allowed 1 hit (bunt single) and one walk, but did not allow a run to score in his action since landing on the DL.  He got the save, but his stuff and control, slider in particular, did not look so sharp. 

Tommy Hanson ran the NL East two headed monster this week and came out 2-0.  The strikeouts are not there yet, but his stuff looks very good.  I don't think he's going to make quite the impact the pre-season hype built up, but he should be a solid option the rest of the way.

Brad Penny matched up fairly well against Hanson, but was struck by the long ball twice (Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson).  I'm not a believer in Penny, but maybe Mark from Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove can convince me otherwise. 

Zack Greinke gets it done again, though he is clearly not as dominant as when the season started.  I would actually be fine with selling high on Greinke for a top-notch hitter right now.  After all Greinke did rank number 11 on Razzball's 20 Risky Pitchers for 2009.  Also, strikeouts trending down.

Since I said buy low on Wieters he has gone just about o'fer everything.  Killing me Matt, killing me. 

B.J. Upton had a 5 star day.  A homer, stolen base, 2 runs and an RBI.  Can you say HUGE second half?

Alexei Ramirez added his 10th homerun of the season yesterday.  He now has 10 homeruns and 11 steals.  More importantly "The Cuban Missle" has raised his AVG to .267.  Ramirez started out very slow last season as well.  Does his game rise with the summer heat?  I'd buy low to find out.

Brandon Inge hit a game winning homerun off of Jose Valverde.  It was Inge's 18th of the season.  I have to admit, I sort of liked the guy after his hot start to the season, but I never would have thought he'd be approaching the all-star break with close to 20 bombs.  His K/BB rate is pretty much the same as it was last season, but his HR/FB rate is through the roof. 

Matt Gamel batted leadoff yesterday.  That's interesting if it sticks.

Was this the turning point for Francisco Liriano?  Throwing 92-95 with a slider in the high 80's yesterday.  I'm still not convinced, though he kept the ball down nicely yesterday.  His last two starts have come against National League foes.  His next start against the Tigers will be a big one.

Aaron Cook continues to pull a 2008 on us.  Despite allowing 9.1 hits per 9 IP and a 1.61 K/BB rate, Cook continues to put the ball on the ground and get outs.  Look, at this point you ride em till he bucks ya. 

Jaun Rivera: 44.7% owned in ESPN leagues and 43% owned in Yahoo! Leagues.  That's up from 5.3% in ESPN and 4% in Yahoo! On June 9th, but still,  .305, 12 HR, 41 RBI...Those numbers are scary close to Carlos Lee right now. 

I am going to mention Clay Zavada for 2 reasons.  1) He's awesome. 2) Shout out to Dave from Goose Joak for this sweet 1971 Topps retro card upon request. 

Jose Lopez is now 8 for 12 in his last 3 games.  He should be in for a nice second half.

As I passed along the other day, it looks more and more like Adrian Beltre will not play through the pain much longer. 

Matt Kemp was actually able to fight off Juan Castro for the 7th spot in the Dodgers lineup yesterday.  He hit his 10th homer of the year.  I bet Mitch Kemp would bat higher than Matt Kemp if it were up to Joe Torre. 

Francisco Rodriguez had an embarrassing outing last night.  He walked three and allowed one hit, but the bases loaded walk to Mariano Rivera was the kicker.  Come on Mets fans!  I've watched Frankie pull this kind of stuff for years in Anaheim!  Consider yourself lucky he hasn't done it more often in 2009. 

Luis Castillo has reached base in all but one game since June 22nd.  So why not move him (.279 AVG, .375 OBP) to the 8th spot and hand leadoff duties to Daniel Murphy (.248 AVG, .316 OBP)?  Can a Mets fan please help me understand the wacky mind of Jerry Manuel?  

How about that Chad Gaudin fella?  One hit, 9 K in 8 1/3 innings against the slugging, albeit slumping, Rangers offense.  His strikeout numbers are huge over his last 3 starts.  His next few starts come against NL West foes.  Go ahead and ride him out. 

The news is bad for Volquez...and he's been shut down for at least two weeks. That makes a return before the All-Star break impossible, and it could push it back as far as August...his long-term health, even if this heals up cleanly, is going to be in question...Has anyone noticed that Volquez was a Verducci Effect guy?

About the Verducci Effect; does that apply to Volquez?  Or am I reading into this wrong?

Volquez owners may want to start making plans for fielding a pitching staff without him for the rest for the season.  In keeper leagues this is a much different situation.  Depending on the depth of your keeper list and if a pitcher like Volquez would be a keeper type or not, I would be trying to trade him in hopes another owner may be looking toward his value in 2010 and beyond.  While Will Carroll brings up the thought that Volquez may be a high risk pitcher going forward, there is really no way to tell for certain.  Though I do take his opinion in very high regard.  If you can get a piece or two that will help you win this season by trading away Volquez, take the chance.  Even if he comes back healthy next season there are never any guarantees when it comes to pitching.

Also; the outlook for Brandon Webb is not good either.  If he has surgery, he will likely miss close to half of next season as well as the rest of 2009.  The chances of him pitching again this season look grim at best.

Big Papi cranks his 7th of the season.  See above.

Zack Duke improves to 8-5 with 6 IP, 1 ER effort last night.  Duke now has lowered his ERA to 3.09 for the season.  Like other pitchers getting by on groundballs and very few strikeouts (Nick Blackburn, Mark Buehrle, Kevin Slowey) there is always the distinct possibility for a complete falloff.  However, given that all these guys should have cost you very little on draft day, who really cares.  Sell high if you can, just enjoy the unexpected value you've received if you can't. 

Sizemore goes deep for the first time since coming off the DL.  That didn't take long.  More on him later today. 

Joey Votto is a bit rusty.  Don't give up on him just yet.  He was in the midst of a breakout season before taking some time away for some real serious reasons.  He has the power and plate discipline to be a fantasy force in the second half.  I don't think he'll hit anywhere near .350, but .290-.300 with 15 or so homers is realistic. 

Scott Richmond continues to make the best of his opportunities.  I'm still nervous about endorsing Richmond because of his GB/FB rate, which favors flyballs. His 21% line drive rate is a bit high too.  I'd sit him upcoming against the Phillies.

Pat Burrell connected for his second homerun of the season.  Burrell is only owned in 54% of ESPN leagues and there is no doubt that when healthy he can provide plus power.  Much way I liked the pickup of Marcus Thames, I would say the same for Burrell, especially in OBP leagues.

Holy Joe Blanton!  10 K's in 7 IP.  Blanton has been pitching much better since his rough month of May.  His peripherals are actually much improved from last season.  As of yesterday his K/BB rate stood at 2.79, which but him alongside Jered Weaver and just below Felix Hernandez, Cliff Lee and Jake Peavy.  Keep him on your watch list for good matchups.  Toronto is not one of those good matchups. Correction: Blanton's next start would be against the Braves.  That is a go for a spot pickup. 

David Wright goes 4-4 in an 11-0 rout of the Cardinals.  He also added his 19^th stolen base of the season.  Power outage!?  With a .356 AVG and 19 steals, who cares!!

It might be safe to say that Rickey Nolasco is officially back.  7 IP, 7 K, 1 BB in a win against the Orioles.  Nolasco hasn't given up more than 2 ER runs in July and has only walked 5 batters in 4 games.  He walked 3 on June 7th, his first game back from the minors. 

With the news that Marlins closer Matt Lindstrom was headed to the DL, the guessing game began for, "who will be the next Marlins closer?"  Leo Nunez seemed to be the first in line, but perhaps his ankle injury was not 100%.  I had a hunch on Reynel Pinto, but he was brought on to pitch the 8^th.  The save went to Dan Meyer, who has been exceptional for the fish this season.  Reports were that Fredi Gonzalez would use a mix and match to close out games so stay tuned.

Jason Kubel hit his 13^th homer of the season.  Now Kubel's line stands at .311,.373/.512, 13 HR, 40 RBI.  ESPN's "Player Rater" scores Kubel at 6.43, which is higher than the scores of Andre Ethier, Alex Rios, Bobby Abreu, Jermaine Dye, Carlos Lee, Matt Holiday and Nick Markakis.  All of those players listed are owned in at least 90% of ESPN leagues.  Kubel is owned in less than 64% of ESPN leagues.  If he is available and you have the roster space, go get him. 

Nick Blackburn gets hit pretty hard, but still manages to keep the damage to only 3 ER on 11 hits.  Uncharacteristically, Balckburn surrendered 13 fly balls to only 9 ground balls.  More of this type of outing to come.

Both closers struggled in the Kansas City/Houston game.  Joakim Soria and Jose Valverde blew their respective save chances allowing 2 hits and one run each.  They each are well enough along from their DL returns to think this was just one of those days and nothing more like an injury. 

You may have noticed that Joe Torre doesn't think Matt Kemp is a valuable enough hitter to bat in the middle of the order.  Well, last night he batted Kemp 9^th.  He also batted Mark Loretta 6^th.  I love you Joe, but you are driving me freaking insane.  Too much wheatgrass I guess.  All Kemp did was blast his 9th homerun of the season. 

Forget BABIP, Dan Haren is the unluckiest pitcher in baseball!  How does a guy with a 2.25 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 104 strikeouts have a 6-5 record? 

Frank Francisco, fresh off the DL did not come in for the save in a 2-1 game.  Francisco entered in the 8th and pitched a scoreless inning.  C.J. Wilson, who had been filling in for Francisco, was the one to come in and nail down the save.  Here's the quote from the game recap:

C.J. Wilson then retired the side in order in the ninth for his seventh save. Washington is still undecided when Francisco might return to his closer's role. This was just his second outing since coming off the disabled list on Saturday.

But one thing that Washington does like: seven strong innings from his starter, and then Wilson and Francisco finishing up -- no matter in what order.

"That's solid," Washington said.

No Ron!  We don't need solid!  We need to know who is going to close games for the Rangers!  Stop with all this real life, what's best for the team crap!  My fantasy team needs saves!!

I own Frank Francisco in two leagues.

There has been a Garrett Atkins sighting!  The Rockies said they were going to use interleague play to showcase Atkins and shocase they did.  3-4 with a homerun will do the trick.  That raised his AVG to .216.  Ian Stewart took an 0-3 and lowered his AVG to .218. 

3.1 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.  There's the Jason marquis I know and love!

Chone Figgins is now hitting .330, but has only 3 steals in the month of June.  He has been caught stealing 4 times this month and had only been caught stealing 3 times in April and May.  That smells a bit fishy to me.

Eric Aybar has as many steals in June as Chone Figgins.  He stole his 4th of the season last night.  I still think Aybar has 20+ steal ability and it looks like he is sarting to run a bit more. 

Vlad shaved his dreads.  Then he hit a homerun, only his 2nd of the year.  If (and ONLY IF), Vlad continues to DH basically full time, he is a great buy low candidate. 

Russell Branyan has a chance to enter the all-star break with a .300 AVG and 20+ homeruns.  This guys needs to be at the all-star game.  Not only for his performance in 2009, but also for how long he has purservered in a mostly dissapointing career.  I mean Chris Davis has more friggin votes (ranks 5th for AL firstbasemen) and he might be at AAA by the break. 

You can put Brandon Morrow on the backburner now.  Control is still a huge issue and he has made no adjustment to get his fastball down. 

Casey McGehee continued his torrid production going 2-4 and touching up Verlander with a homer.  You can go ahead and add McGehee now and ride him while he's hot.  I don't think this production will sustain the rest of the season, but when you're hot, you're hot.  Hitting in the two hole will help.

B.J. Upton has raised his AVG 28 points in the last 10 days.  His power seems to be creeping back after offseason shoulder surgery limited him early on.  If you need proof, just check out this bomb he hit yesterday measured at 417 ft true distance by hittrackeronline.com.  I am anticipating a huge second half from Boss Man Jr.

White Sox 3B Gordon Beckham followed up his first career homerun Saturday with a 2-3 Sunday.  He's still only owned in 48% of CBS leagues.  I'd add Beckham and stash him if I had roster space. 

Toronto lefty Ricky Romero battled through 8 hits and 3 walks to earn his 4th win of the season and 4th quality start in a row.  The Nationals best hitters were 6 for 18, but Romero did his best Mark Buehrle impression and kept the ball on the ground educing 12 groundballs.  Romero's next start comes at home against Philadelphia.  The Phillies are hitting .246 vs. left-handed pitching this season, and Raul Ibanez will still be serving his DL time.  I'd give him a go in deep formats as the best DH options for the Phillies are lefties Matt Stairs and Greg Dobbs. 

Jeremy Guthrie held the Phillies to 1 run on 3 hits over 7 innings.  Keep in mind this was a Phillies lineup without Ibanez or Howard.  I am not buying Jeremy Guthrie one bit

I am buying Cole Hamels, though that sounds like a no-brainer.  For those owners that stuck with him through a very rough start, you may be in for a very nice second half.   10 K's and 0 walks yesterday.

David Ortiz hit a rocket over the Monster in left-center off Jair Jurrjens.  It is safe to say that Big Papi has found his stroke and timing again.  The blast came off a 92 mph fastball, which would have been blown by him or weakly popped up earlier this season.

Khaili Greene has 3 homeruns in 3 days.  He got plunked by a wild Gil Meche pitch, but is listed as "day-to-day".  There is no doubting Greene's power when healthy.  

This just in...Albert Pujols is not from this planet.

Gil Meche got rocked by Pujols and the Cardinals.  He just could not locate his fastball like I've seen in his last few outings, but the Cards were hacking at the ones he did leave over the plate.  Pujols hurt Meche in the 1st with a base hit and in the 3rd with his grand slam.  That was 5 RBI right there.  I'll never fault a pitcher for getting beat by Albert Pujols, but the problem was allowing the base runners ahead of Pujols. That I do blame on the pitcher.   

If you told me pre-season that almost to the end of June Michael Bourn would be hitting 80 points better than Carlos Gomez I would have said that Carlos Gomez would have to be hitting .150.  But Bourn is a .300 hitter right now and he also has 17 more steals than Gomez.  Bourn is certainly drawing more walks this season, but has also benefited from a BABIP of .377 and a line drive rate of 23.5%, which seems likely to regress.  For being a slap hitter, Bourn does not make great contact and still strikes out over 20% of the time.  I'd sell Bourn now if you can stand the loss in stolen bases.  His AVG seems likely to finish more around the .275 mark.

Wandy Rodriguez got back on track allowing only 1 R on 3 H while striking out 8 and walking 3 in 7 IP.  The one run came on a Michael Cuddyer homerun.  As I have mentioned all season long; one of the biggest keys to Wandy's success has been is ability to repress homeruns.  He's starting to give them up at a higher pace now.  I still think he'll end the season with a good ERA, but now might be a very good time to sell high for an impact bat while his ERA still looks great.

Louis Valbuena is hitting .435 in his last 4 games with 3 homeruns.  He's only owned in 5% of CBS leagues.  As of now it looks like the Indians are set with him at SS and Jhonny Peralta at 3B.  He's there if you need a quick fix at SS in your AL-only league.

Whatever it was that was bothering Geovany Soto earlier this season is past him now.  That makes it 2 Homeruns in his last 8 at bats. 

Andrew McCutchen just keeps on hitting (2-5 with 2 R yesterday)...

...and so does Clint Barmes (Homerun number 8 yesterday).

Kevin Millwood struck out 10 in 7 IP against the Giants.  He also allowed 8 hits and 3 walks and has a strand rate in the mid 80% range.  At some point the bend has to break...right?

Kevin Correia makes me look good with 6 2/3, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K's. 

Dallas Braden also pitched well, but surrendered two long balls.  His HR/FB rate has been low against his career average and he is allowing over 42% flyballs.  I'm sitting Braden in his next start at home against the Rockies. 

Felix Hernandez pitched good again...Joe.

Mark Reynolds did the only damage against King Felix with a 2 run jack.  I don't care how many times Reynolds strikes out this season.  Unlike Chris Davis, Reynolds is worth his weight in homeruns, not to mention the added bonus of 13 stolen bases so far.

CC Sabathia and his $26.8 million dollar bicep left yesterdays game with soreness (since the Yankees are paying Sabathia $161 M for his left arm I simply divided it into 6 parts; The shoulder, the bicep, the triceps, the forearm, the elbow and the hand).  No detailed report yet, but it does not appear to be serious and Sabathia was said to be "day-to-day".

Marlins closer (for now) Matt Lindstrom is getting dangerously close to becoming a set-up man.  He gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and 1 walk to just barely earn the save against the Yankees.  Leo Nunez is waiting patiently and so too is sleeper Reyniel Pinto, a lefty who has been better vs. right-handed batters (.213 BAA) than left-handed batters (.308 BAA) in only one more at bat.

Jonathan Broxton is not 100% right now.  His velocity has been dropping mid-inning lately.  I would not be surprised if Torre gives him a couple days off. 

The Reds continue to bat Willy Taveras leadoff despite a .219 AVG and OBP around .270.  What's worse is Taveras only has 13 steals on the year.  What's even worse is that he is the only thing between Drew Stubs and a chance to play everyday in the majors.  Deep leagues should keep their eyes on Stubs, who is hitting .309 with 25 steals, a .394 OBP and .825 OPS at AAA.  You would have to think even if he scuffled a bit in the transition to the majors that he'd still be more productive than Taveras.  Stubs does strike out a lot, but at least when he does strike out he won't be clogging the bases.  We know how much Dusty hates that.

Homeruns a plenty in Philly last night.  Adam Lind continues his solid season.  Jayson Werth is starting to get red hot and finding his power stroke again.  Jimmy Rollins had a five star day going 3-4 with a HR, SB, 2 R and 2 RBI. 

Raul Ibanez isn't juicing!  Whoever plays left field for the Phillies is granted the gift of homerun by the baseball gods!  Pat Burrell hit them before Ibanez, he hasn't done jack in Tampa Bay.  Now enter Ibanez's replacement while on the DL:  John Mayberry Jr.  He goes 2-5 with a big fly.  Though Mayberry certainly has 20 HR pop, he is a free swinger that strikes out a ton and will find it hard to sustain a high AVG.  Don't worry about picking him up in all but the deeeeeepest of formats.

As far as who the closer is for the Jays right now...ummmm.  Well, Jason Frasor surrendered a double with runners on to allow Philly to tie the game.  B.J. Ryan came in, walked one and struck out one, but he's been throwing just a little harder than Jamie Moyer lately.  Jeremy Accardo who was just recalled ended up with the save and he has filled the role for the Jays before.  I can't really say for sure, but if I missed out on Frasor, I'm picking up B.J. Ryan, because I enjoy torturing myself. 

I didn't realize that Christian Guzman is owned in only 41% of Yahoo! Leagues.  Yea, he does not contribute much with regards to RBI's and HR's, but he's basically Miguel Tejada light right now hitting .329. 

Joba Chamberlain continues to walk way too many hitters.  His K rate is real nice, but I just can't endorse a BB/9 over 4.5.  If I needed to take a risk and buy low on a pitcher, I'd do so on Joba.  At least the strikeouts are there and I'll roll the dice that his control gets better as the season goes along. 

Brendan Harris goes 3-4 hitting in the two hole.  That's a nice spot to be in if you are a part of the Twins lineup.  Harris is now hitting .291 and has 10+ HR pop.  Say what you want about his defense (very good article by the way), it doesn't matter in fantasy.  Heck, I hope the Brewers play Ryan Braun at short for the rest of the year. 

I am selling Nick Blackburn faster than Carlos Gomez on a ball to the gap.  A 3.09 ERA is nothing to sneeze at, but I am cringing at any pitcher getting by with a K/9 under 4 and a 1.5 K/BB rate.  Once hitters adjust to the fact that Blackburn is throwing his two seam fastball with confidence this season (18.8% of the time) we should see the ERA shift towards the 4.00 barrier.

Zach Duke took the loss going 6 innings and allowing 3 runs.  Not bad, not great.  He struck out none, which I hate.  His ERA is at 3.18 and should rise as we go along, though I still think he'll end just under 4.00.  His ratios look similar to those of Nick Blackburn, but his K/BB rate is better. 

Gordon Beckham is starting to heat up just a little.  I actually think Beckham is going to end up a bright spot in a season of rookies not living up to (perhaps too high) expectations.  College drafted players usually find more immediate success at the big league level than high school drafted players in their early 20's.  Beckham, unlike Matt LaPorta, makes very good contact and doesn't strikeout a lot.  He also has plus power, which we are starting to see with doubles in back to back games and he has just missed a few homers already.  I'm a believer in Beckham.

Gavin Floyd has really turned it around of late.  Walks are still an issue and he has been turning up the strikeouts, but that has been too inconsistent to trust just yet.  I'd still add him in mixed leagues and follow his next start against the Dodgers.

Derrek Lee (8) and Geovany Soto (4) hit homeruns and account for 5 of the Cubs 6 runs. 

I blinked my eyes and Kosuke Fukudome was hitting .261.   

Carlos Zambrano did his normal "a little of this, a little of that" to get through 7 innings with 3 ER.  I just don't trust the guy anymore.  His K rate is up, but so is his BB rate.  He'll probably finish with a 3.65 ERA and 150 K's, but I'm staying away.

Tulow continues to produce in one way or the other.  No homerun today, but he added a stolen base instead. That makes it 9 HR and 9 SB on the year.

Carlos Gonzalez hit his first homer as a Rockie.  For what it's worth, he is hitting .206 despite a 27.3% line drive rate and 81.1% contact rate.  His liner rate won't hold up, but it could very well end up around 20%.  I think he has some sleeper value in deep leagues right now.

In my face, twice in one game.  I write about Adrian Beltre getting better and he goes 0-5.  I write about how Adrian Gonzalez hadn't hit a homerun since June 2nd and he goes 4-4 with his 23rd jack of the season.  It's only one game, but it still stings a little.

The bigger story from the M's and Pad's game was Brandon Morrow, who looked both good and bad.  He had trouble throwing strikes in the first couple innings, but settled in for the last two.  He was up with the fastball most of the night.  He did strike out 6 in those 4 innings and averaged 95 mph on his fastball. I'm still in a holding pattern until Morrow proves he can locate his fastball.  If he can't locate his fastball, he really has nothing else to fall back on.  

Matt Wieters went 2-4.  Stay hot young man!

Francisco Rodriguez had his first real blown save of the season last night.  2 hits, 2 walks...there's the Frankie I know!  K-Rod has been lights out so far this season and he should be fine going forward.  He'll sprinkle in a few of these outings here and there. 

Get back on the Ricky Nolasco train.  Both Nolasco and Lester were pitching well when rain stopped play.   Kevin Youkilis had the only hit off Nolasco, a homerun.  Homeruns have been an issue for Nolasco, but his HR/FB was high last season too.  I don't think his second half of 2009 will resemble his second half of 2008, but he can certainly be a 3.75 type pitcher with some nice strikeout numbers the rest of the way. 

Chris Davis connected with his 13th homer of the year..and struck out twice.  Nelson Cruz stole his 11th bag on the year. 

Don't look now, but Chris B. Young has gone 3 straight games without a strikeout.  He went 4-4 last night with his 11th stolen base of the season.  Keep a very close eye on Young's plate discipline over the next week.  He has the talent to play at a much higher level than what he has bee showing so far this season.

Rick Porcello goes 5 2/3 innings allowing 1 ER on 8 H with 3 K's and 2 BB's.  Sell on Porcello.  He's stranding a ton of runners and has a K/BB rate under 2.  He's also on pace for over 170 innings, which would be a 50 inning increase over last season.  At the fragile age of 20, the Tigers will have to limit his workload even more as the season goes along.

Casey Blake (2-4 last night) continues to produce while only being owned in 63% of Yahoo! Leagues.

Webb was seen leaving Kauffman Stadium prior to Thursday night's game. 

When asked about it, D-backs GM Josh Byrnes said Webb "didn't feel good." 

"We decided to cancel the bullpen session [Friday]," Byrnes said. "He is heading back to Phoenix."