I always give Derrek Lee a hard time and tell you that he sucks, so I have to report when he is on a hot streak. Lee homered for the fifth time in the last seven games, and has 14 RBI over that span. If you have him I would take this time to try to sell high on him. Even with this recent surge, I still don't have confidence that it will continue.

It was not a good night to be Johnny Cueto. Hell, it wasn't a good night to be any Cincinnati pitcher. Cueto allowed NINE earned runs over just two-thirds of an inning, walked three and struck out only one. Even with this horrible outing, Cueto's ERA is still only 3.45, so I don't see any reason to panic over this one incredibly bad start. Cueto is a young, up and coming stud. I know this outing hurts your ERA for the week, but don't put too much stock into it.

John Smoltz struggled again for the Red Sox, making it two of his three starts that he has been below average. He is now 0-2 after allowing five runs over six innings and struck out just three. I don't know how much is reasonable to expect from Smoltz, but he should be better than this. He won't be a savior to your pitching staff, but should at least be worth holding on your roster.

Brett Anderson had the best start of his young career, as he hurled his first major league shutout against the Boston Red Sox. Anderson came into the season as the number one prospect for the Oakland A's, but has gone through many of the same struggles that most young pitchers do. He has done a good job of keeping his walks under control, but he hasn't gone very deep into games and he has been allowing too many runs. However, he does have a ton of talent and should get better as time goes on. He is certainly a guy to hold on to in keeper leagues, so try to be patient.

Armando Galarraga had his best start since April, and perhaps he is starting to turn things around some. Galarraga allowed just one run for the second consecutive outing, but this time he didn't walk the entire ballpark. He was a pretty good pitcher coming into the season, and we all expected better than this. Don't go picking up Galarraga just yet, but certainly watch his next start. One more good turn and he could be worth picking up again.

Ricky Romero shocks me more with each outing. I have been telling you for a while now that you should have him while he is hot, but to just wait for the collapse to come. Well, it hasn't shown up yet. Romero beat the Yankees on Monday by allowing three runs over six innings and striking out five. It wasn't a great outing as he also walked three, but it was enough for him to collect his seventh win of the year against just three defeats. I stand by my philosophy from months ago. Continue to pitch Romero, but a regression is coming......I'm pretty sure anyway.

Randy Wells is the NL carbon copy of Romero. He is pitching well and you should continue to ride him while he is hot, but I see a regression in his numbers. Wells is a good strikeout pitcher, but his minor league ERA was always in the 4.00s. The funny thing is in the majors he has gotten fewer strikeouts, but his ERA is much better (2.48 after today). Perhaps he made some adjustments when coming to the majors, but I still say that he can not keep this pace up.

Alfredo Aceves is the front runner to take the rotation spot for Chien-Ming Wang of the Yankees. Aceves has been pitching well out of the bullpen this year with a 5-1 record and a 2.25 ERA. He was always a starter in the minors, so this isn't totally unexpected. He pitched well at AA, but struggled at AAA and gets just under a strikeout an inning. Aceves will likely be on a pitch count in his first couple starts, so they might not be that great. He is not someone that I would add before his first start, but I would monitor how he does. Aceves was supposed to be a good starter, so if he is successful he could be worth having in the near future.

Jason Marquis is now 11-5 after another eight shutout inning effort. This can not be happening. Marquis is not this good and should come back to Earth whenever the spaceship brings the real Jason Marquis back from wherever they brought him. His lifetime ERA is 4.50, and I'm sure it will be around there again this season. Definitely a sell high candidate.

Jarrod Washburn continues to pitch so much better than he should be as he threw a shutout tonight against the Orioles. His record might be 5-6, but his ERA is only 3.08. I assure you that it can not last, if you look at Washburn's career, his ERA has been well into the 4.00 range in the last three seasons, and there's no reason that 2009 won't be the fourth.

Last thing of the night, there will be another Fantasy Roundtable with Steve Gardner and myself at the usatoday.com. I have talked about his Fantasy Windup blog for a couple months now and hopefully you all have checked it out. The latest Fantasy Roundtable will be this Tuesday at 12pm EST just like last week and likely last between 60 to 90 minutes. For those of you unfamiliar, this is different from a regular chat. Instead of throwing your questions into a hopper and hope the host answers them, this is a chat room type discussion where questions are asked and answered in real time. Join me and Steve and get your questions answered. It will be on the final exam, so I hope to see you all there. I know Jennifer and Martha were both there last week, so if you can leave a comment if you found it valuable that would be appreciated. Here is a link to last week's chat.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don't miss the "Fantasy Baseball Tonight" podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can't miss if you plan on winning your league.

Labels: alfredo aceves, armando galarrago, brett anderson, derrek lee, jarrod washburn, Jason Marquis, john smoltz, johnny cueto, randy wells, ricky romero

John Smoltz had his second start of the season interrupted by rain, but it was much better than his first. Smoltz only pitched four innings, but allowed just three hits, one run, and struck out two. I am still on the fence on what to expect from him this season, but this was definitely a step in the right direction. At this point in his career he is more of a fifth starter in your rotation or even an end of the roster kind of guy. As of right now, I would continue to start him, but keep expectations under control.

What can we expect from Johan Santana while the entire Mets' offense is on the DL? He must have so much pressure on himself to perform, that perhaps he will go into a funk as well. He has now lost three of his last four starts, and was less than stellar on Tuesday. Santana allowed four earned runs over six innings, walked four and struck out four. The walks are so not like Santana that you have to figure that the trend won't continue. If you have worries about Santana, take a look at his career second half numbers, that should make you feel better.

Joe Saunders has had a pattern of one good start, one bad start. Unfortunately for his owners, this was his turn to be a bad start. Saunders allowed eight runs over just 3.2 innings, walked five and struck out only two. He still is on pace to win 15 games, but given his second half last year, I'm not sure if he will reach that number. If you can get a good return for him in a trade, I would certainly consider moving Saunders. I still think he is good enough that I wouldn't just flat out drop him.

Bronson Arroyo got off to a pretty good start, but has been struggling badly of late. He gave up five earned runs on Tuesday, and has now allowed five runs or more in three of his last four starts. Arroyo is not a guy that I would hold on my roster unless your league has 16 teams or more. If Arroyo gets a matchup against a weak hitting NL teams I would give him a start, but other than that I would leave him in free agency.

Martin Prado had a great 4/5 game including the winning hit, but don't fall into the trap of picking up the hot hand. Prado has never really been a full-time player, and while he might be earning some playing time with his recent success, there is no way that it will continue. He is a fine part time player, but if he were to play everyday I guarantee his numbers will suffer. Leave him in free agency, that is where he belongs.

Ross Ohlendorff has now given up three runs or less in four of his last five starts after his Tuesday outing. He shut the Cubs out for seven innings and struck out eight batters. Ohlendorff is not anywhere near that kind of strikeout pitcher, as he only had 44 in his previous 89 innings. It was impressive that he was so good against the Cubbies, but this isn't a guy that I would pick up unless I was in an NL only league.

Gordon Beckham had his second consecutive three hit game, and his second consecutive two RBI game. The kid has a ton of potential that I have talked about in these articles before, and now he is starting to put it together some. I still don't believe that he is ready to be a consistent fantasy force, but all those Ofers that he took when he came up are likely behind him. He is worth having on your team (and in keeper leagues is a must have), but I just don't know that he will help you on a daily basis.

Mailing List

I'm not going to stop bringing up the mailing list until I get a day where I don't get a request to join it. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, when I find news earlier in the day I will send an email to you about whatever it might be. If you were on the mailing list you would have found out about the callups of Matt Wieters, Fernando Martinez, Nolan Reimold and others. The trade of Nate McLouth, and injuries to Jose Reyes, etc. This mailing list is your way to get a step up on your competition. Anyone who is on the list, please leave a comment below on whether you think that you have benefitted from the list. Send an email to either fantasybaseballtonight@gmail.com or fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com and put Mailing List in the subject line.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don't miss the "Fantasy Baseball Tonight" podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can't miss if you plan on winning your league.

Labels: bronson arroyo, gordon beckham, joe saunders, johan santana, john smoltz, martin prado, ross ohlendorff