Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 6/26/08
Matt Garza allowed only a Hanley Ramirez home run, which stopped him from throwing a no hitter. Garza has been a very solid pitcher for the past two months, and it looks as if he is going to fulfill the potential he showed throughout the minors. Garza allowed just that one run today, and struck out ten Florida hitters. This isn’t a fluke, he has always had the talent. I’m not saying he’s going to turn into Jake Peavy, but he is ready to take his game to the next level.
The St. Louis Cardinals welcomed back Albert Pujols with open arms today, and as usual, he didn’t disappoint of course. Albert was the DH for the Cards and went a perfect 4-4. All of his hits were singles, but it must have done Tony LaRussa good to see his superstar back on the field.
After beating the Cardinals with an RBI single on Wednesday, Gary Sheffield followed that up with a game-tying homer in the bottom of the 9th to send the game into extra innings on Thursday. Sheffield created a lot of email buzz for me upon his return, but he is getting up there in age, and I’m not saying to avoid him all together, but chances are that wasn’t his last trip to the DL.
Tampa SS Ben Zobrist homered for the second consecutive day, and I warn against you getting too excited about this. He isn’t a power hitting prospect, and really will probably never be an everyday player. Don’t overreact to this little power surge.
Pitching News
Rich Harden continues to be masterful while he is healthy. Harden threw eight masterful innings, allowed just two hits and struck out 11. There was never any argument about Harden’s talent, the problem has been with his durability. Keep him active while he is healthy.
Clayton Kershaw struggled some again on Thursday. He only allowed two runs, but because of his inconsistency he was only able to last four innings. He now has 23 walks in 34 innings, and he is going to have to get that number way under control if he is going to live up to the hype. It is way too soon to start losing faith in Kershaw, however, you just have to live with the growing pains.
He is mortal after all! For the first time this season Edinson Volquez allowed more than two runs. Volquez allowed five earned runs over just 4.1 innings, and for the first time he didn’t record a strikeout. Volquez will still be a great pitcher for the rest of the season, so don’t overreact from his first bad start.
Jesse Litsch threw a great game on Thursday, shutting down the Reds for eight innings. Litsch allowed just one run and struck out six as he ran his record to 8-4. The Blue Jays continue to climb back in and hang around due to their incredible starting pitching.
Cliff Lee raised his record to 11-1 with another spectacular performance. Lee allowed just one run over eight innings and struck out 11, while lowering his ERA to just 2.36. I have been saying all year that this can’t last, and I still believe it, but Lee is trying to make me look bad.
As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don’t forget to check me out at mlbfrontoffice.com on Tuesdays under In The News. Also go to fantasybaseballsearch.com to find me in the Gurus Blog.
