Roto Professor

According to Anthony Witrado of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (click here for the post), Ned Yost, the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, has removed Eric Gagne as the team’s closer, saying that “he probably needs a little bit of a mental break.”  No official replacement was named.

The likely candidates to replace Gagne would be David Riske, Salomon Torres and Guillermo Mota, with Torres getting the first shot in today’s game.  He lasted only 0.2 innings, however, giving up a run on 1 hit and 1 walk, before being lifted for Brian Shouse.  Shouse got the final out, earning his first save.
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According to tsn.ca (click here for the full article), the Toronto Blue Jays’ Vernon Wells has suffered a broken wrist after making a diving attempt during the game against the Indians on Friday night.  He is expected to be out of action for 6-8 weeks.

This is bad news for fantasy owners, who had been looking for a comeback season from Wells, and so far had been getting it.  He was hitting .281 with 5 HR, 24 RBI, 21 R and 1 SB.

Surprisingly, Adam Lind has not been recalled, despite hitting .347 with 3 HR and 16 RBI in 75 AB at AAA (he did struggle at the majors early this season, hitting .053 in 19 AB before being sent back down recently).  Instead, it appears that the newly acquired Brad Wilkerson and Kevin Mench will be seeing plenty of time in the OF over the next few weeks.  Both have limited potential to fantasy owners, especially since it is unknown if either will get full time AB’s.  If one of them gets hot, he could become useful as a short-term fill in.

Photo courtesy of Icon Sports Media, Inc.

I’ve been asked to participate in a new Sunday Pick ‘Em game, along with 9 other fantasy baseball writers, by Mike Musch of the Poughkeepsie Journal.  Basically, we each pick one batter and one pitcher outside of the Top 50, and accumulate points based on the following scoring system in Sunday’s games only:

Hitters-
1 point for every base (i.e. single=1 point, double=2 point, etc)
1 point for a run
1 point for an RBI
1 point for a SB

Pitchers-
3 points for W
5 points for CG
3 points for SV
1 point for 2IP
-1 point for ER
1 point for K

My picks for this week was the Chicago White Sox’ Gavin Floyd and the Houston Astros’ Hunter Pence.

To see all the details and who the other participants picked, click here.  Let’s see how well I do.

It was a day for young starters to make statements.  I’m kind of short of time this morning, so let’s get right to the leaders and a few notes.  I apologize that it’s shorter then normal, but things will return to normal tomorrow morning.  I also want to take a minute to thank everyone for their support.  Hope everyone has a great Mother’s Day!

Home Runs:

• Grady Sizemore - Cleveland Indians - 2

RBI:

• Carlos Beltron - New York Mets - 5
• Grady Sizemore - Cleveland Indians - 5
• Dan Uggla - Florida Marlins - 5
• Scott Hatteberg - Cincinnati Reds - 4
• Victor Martinez - Cleveland Indians - 3
• Ken Griffey Jr. - Cincinnati Reds - 3
• Ronny Paulino - Pittsburgh Pirates - 3
• Milton Bradley - Texas Rangers - 3
• Adrian Beltre - Seattle Mariners - 3
• Kevin Millar - Baltimore Orioles - 3
• Adrian Gonzalez - San Diego Padres - 3
• Brian Anderson - Chicago White Sox - 3
• Carlos Quentin - Chicago White Sox - 3 Read the rest of this entry »

Francisco Liriano made his 3rd start as he tries to work his way back to the majors, and it was his most promising yet.  He went 6 innings giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and only 2 walks, striking out 5, in a no decision.  He threw 91 pitches, 58 of which were strikes

While the line isn’t overwhelming, the fact that he has continued to reduce his walks is a great sign.  In his first start back in the minors it was 5 walks, then 4 in his second.  If the trend continues, it’s not going to be long before he finds himself back up in the majors.

Remember, before being demoted, Liriano had thrown 10.1 innings in 3 starts, giving up 13 walks and 15 hits.
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According to an article on mlb.com (click here to read), St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa has announced that Jason Isringhausen will no longer be closing games.  LaRussa is quoted as saying, “We’re going to try to give him a mental break, choosing his opportunities a little differently.”  The article says that there is no set replacement at this point, though Ryan Franklin and Russ Springer are expected to see time in the role.

Isringhausen does have 11 saves, despite his struggles, so I wouldn’t expect him to be out of the closers’ role for too long.  I would not drop him in any format, just stash him away until he finds his touch once again.

Photo courtesy of Icon Sports Media, Inc.

According to Tim Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (click here for his post), Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo, who suffered a torn ACL, will undergo surgery next week.  When asked if could return this season, Gallardo was quoted in the article as saying, “I’d like to. It just depends on my rehab and how quickly I can recover. You never know. Some heal quicker than others.”

If you have a deep roster and want to hold out hope and keep him stashed away, or if you are in a keeper league, then I could see holding onto him.  Otherwise, the confirmation of his surgery should pretty much lead to him being dropped at this point.  Even if he is able to return towards the end of the season, there is a good chance it would only be for a few starts in September and who knows how effective he would be.

Photo courtesy of Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Is Adam Laroche a great buy low candidate?  Is it time to cut your losses and move on?  That’s definitely a question that owners have to be asking themselves as he continues to toil right around .200 with little power to show for it.

Last season, he struggled in April as well, with everyone pointing towards adjusting to life with a struggling team as the reason.  He hit just .133 in April with 3 HR, 11 RBI and 8 R.  Things improved in May, hitting .283 before dipping again in June with a .238 average, though he hit 5 HR’s for the month.

In the second half, he was terrific, hitting .312 with 8 HR and 37 RBI.  In the first half he had hit just .239 with 13 HR and 51 RBI. 
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Lance Berkman continued to dominate.  Jimmy Rollins made a triumphant return.  Jason Isringhausen & Jonathan Papelbon blew saves.  C.C. Sabathia outpitched Roy Halladay.  It was another full day of baseball with plenty of big stories.  Let’s look at everything that took place.

Home Runs:

• No one with more then 1 HR

RBI:

• Freddy Sanchez - Pittsburgh Pirates - 3
• Alex Gordon - Kansas City Royals - 3
• Aubrey Huff - Baltimore Orioles - 3
• Luis Gonzalez - Florida Marlins - 3
• Brandon Boggs - Texas Rangers - 3
• Jimmy Rollins - Philadelphia Phillies - 3 Read the rest of this entry »

A few days ago we started covering the Cardinals left handed SP Jaime Garcia, who was dominating AAA.  He was 3-2 with a 2.06 ERA in 6 starts (35 innings), striking out 41 while allowing 26 hits and 16 walks.  Yesterday, he took a step closer to the majors, making his debut for the Memphis Redbirds, the Cardinals AAA affiliate.  He was solid, giving up 1 run over 6 innings in a no decision.  He allowed 6 hits without walking a batter, striking out 6.

The Cardinals rotation has backed away from its early season dominance, outside of Adam Wainwright, which could open an opportunity for Garcia this season.  Kyle Lohse has been terrible over his past 2 starts, now carrying an ERA of 4.87.  Todd Wellemeyer (3-1, 4.07), Braden Looper (5-1, 3.95) and Joel Pinero (2-2, 4.33) have been solid, though unspectacular despite the solid records.
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