Beyond the Boxscore for August 9, 2008
Francisco Liriano won again in his second start since coming back from the minors. And although he hasn’t been near the dominant pitcher we saw two years ago, he has been more than an effective starter. Liriano lasted 5.2 innings, allowed three runs, walked two and struck out five. It isn’t the dominating outings he had at AAA, but I still think that some of it has to be mental with him, and the more success he has, the more likely he will be to just let it all go some more. Definitely continue to start him with confidence for the rest of the season, just don’t expect a seven shutout inning, nine strikeout performance.
J.J. Putz seems to be getting back to form. After Brandon Morrow was sent to the minors to stretch out to be a starter, it was obvious that the Mariners were giving the job back to Putz. The question was, how would he fare? He really hasn’t collected a save yet since being put back in the closer’s role, but some of that has to do with the team. Putz has gone 6.1 innings without allowing a run, but he did walk four batters in two innings of work on Saturday. It is encouraging, though, the Seattle had enough confidence to send him out for two innings. He won’t get a lot of saves in Seattle, but he looks to be solid enough going forward.
Brett Myers has been looking pretty good since being put back in the Phillies rotation, and if he was somehow still available in your league, I would certainly go grab him. Myers lasted into the eighth inning Saturday, and allowed just one run and struck out six. It was his longest outing and most Ks since coming back from the minor leagues, so it is safe to assume that the worst of his season is behind him. The Phillies are in first place, so he should be able to get you a decent amount of wins, and he has been an above average strikeout pitcher in the past.
Dan Giese pitched an effective outing for the Yankees as they continue to try to piece together a starting rotation until everyone gets healthy. Giese gave the Yanks everything they could hope for as he went six innings and allowed only one run and struck out five against the high powered Angels. The bullpen imploded and the Yankees lost the game, but this was an encouraging outing for Giese. In my opinion, stay far away from this guy. I think this was just a one time good start, and I don’t see him continuing to be good. Not to mention who knows how many starts he will be getting.
Injury News
It was a crushing blow to many fantasy owners as a Bronson Arroyo pitch broke the pinkie of Carlos Lee, likely ending his season. Lee was having another spectacular season, as he was leading the NL in RBI with 100. The diagnosis is for him to miss 6-8 weeks, but I wouldn’t count on having him anymore in 2008.
Orlando Hudson will also miss the rest of the season after breaking his left wrist on a tag at second base. It hasn’t been decided whether or not he will have surgery, but it seems he will miss the rest of the year either way. He isn’t an integral part of your team, but he does do a little bit of everything.
Evan Longoria missed Saturday’s game, and won’t play Sunday with a sore left wrist after being hit by a pitch on Thursday. The good news for the soon to be AL ROY, and his fantasy owners, is this seems like it will be a short term injury. In fact, Longoria says he expects to return on Tuesday for the division leading Rays.
Michael Young left Saturday’s game early with a finger injury, which is still bothering him from when he broke it last week. Somehow, Young has been able to play through the pain, and his manager said he will most likely be in the lineup on Sunday.
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