Last night Josh Hamilton added his name to the baseball record books. He picked up 18 total bases in a game while going 5-for-5 with 4 HR's and a double. Hamilton's talent is never in question, just his health. Right now he is healthy and tearing it up. He has corrected his day night split problem from years past with special eye drops he uses before day games. He is living up to the contract year mythos in a big way. If you are an owner, enjoy it. If not, his value is probably too high right now to obtain him at a reasonable price. I mentioned a little while back I had him in a keeper league and traded him. Do I have remorse about it? Some. Not because he is still on fire, but because Hamilton is one of my favorite players (Yes, grown men can still have favorite players). I stil enjoy my team, but I miss seeing Hamilton's name on my daily roster. I parted ways with him for Joey Votto and Roy Halladay. I still think I got the better end of the deal in the long run, but after last night's performance if someone really wanted to pry him away via trade, is it even possible (realistic?) to give up more than the first and 2nd round picks I obtained for him? Probably not. If you have the resources to make such a move, don't. Sit tight. In fact, pre set your line ups for the next 3 weeks and lock up your computer. Better yet, have a trusted friend take it away. You need to be protected from yourself. There is a good chance Hamilton gets hurt in that time anyway.

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There are a couple things that piqued my interest yesterday. So much in fact, I couldn't decide what to focus on for the main point of this mornings article. So rather than short change any of my thoughts (looking to give you your full penny's worth) I'm just going to kind go on and see where it take me.

First up, the Cole Hamels suspension. I'm not going to go into the reasoning for the suspension, that doesn't matter. I want to focus on the actual act of suspending. I feel that suspending pitchers is a joke. He has a five game suspension. So pretty much that means he pitches on an extra day of rest. It's dumb. it's not a punishment. If a position player is suspended for 3 or 5 games, he actually misses 3 or 5 games. A starting pitcher only plays once every 5 games, so in essence he is suspended for games he wasn't scheduled to be in anyway. If a player is going to be suspended from games, he needs to be suspended from games he is actually going to have an impact on. I'm not a lawyer so I don't know what kind of language the rule needs, or how to make the players union and MLB agree to it, but for a starting pitcher to be suspended and have it be an actual punishment, he needs to miss a couple turns through the rotation or something. Now, all that being said, I own Hamels on my 2nd place Blog Wars team, and I'm pumped that he will be able to pitch this week in the weekly lineup format we use.

Next Item on the agenda; Carlos Zambrano, another player on my Blog Wars team. I grabbed him with my 2nd to last pick in the draft. The definition of draft lotto ticket, he has paid dividends so far. This week (a two start week) is the first I am actually using him in my lineup. He has a rep for not being the most stable guy in the club house, but neither is his manager. The Ozzie and Carlos marriage is one I figured would work, and to this point everyone has to be happy. He picked up his first win last night, a complete game 3 hit shutout in which he struck out 9 Astros. It was his 5th quality start in a row. There is a lot to like about him this year. His K/9 is up from last year while his BB/9 are down. His ground ball rate is back to where it was when he was the ace of the Cubs staff from '03-'06/'07. His current swinging strike rate is the highest it's been since 2001. Looking at his Heat Maps on Fangraphs, he has the off-speed stuff working, keeping his slider in on righties and the change up low and in on lefties. Both pitches are avoiding the strike zone and batters are chasing. I haven't been able to watch any of this games, but I imagine it pitches are heading for the zone then breaking out of it forcing the batter to swing. At this point he has earned some trust despite the level of competition in his quality start streak. (HOU, WSH, ARI, SF, HOU again). no comments

It has been a crazy week for injuries. The Great Mambino is back for their weekly installment of fantasy knowledge. Here's an excerpt from thier work:

What's happening in the water in major metropolitan cities across the US? Has the trace amount of fluoride in the tap just suddenly started to disintegrate tendons in your joints? Does pine tar gain the properties that destroys calcium in your bones? I'm not sure exactly what's causing our favorite athletes to drop faster than Charles Barkley does names on TNT. Let's take a look at who exactly went on the 15-day DL this week, how it'll affect their team, but most importantly, how it's going to affect YOUR fantasy team. 


OF Carlos Gomez, SS Alex Gonzalez and 1B Mat Gamel, The Good Land Brewers

All in a week, three Milwaukee starters went down with leg injuries, including Gomez with a strained hamstring, Gonzalez with a right knee injury and Gamel with a torn ACL. Extremely bad news for a Brewers team that's already under .500 and trying to get their postseason mojo back after losing Prince Fielder to free agency and trying to escape Ryan Braun's cheatery scandal. 

The problem here isn't so much that these guys are integral parts to the Milwaukee offense; Gomez was an above-average player, while Gamel and Gonzalez were giving the Brewers replacement-level production. Nor was it that they had any particular upside as the season went on. The real hurdle to their absences, especially a season-ending injury like Gamel's, is that the players replacing them are indicative of Milwaukee's lack of depth. Two punchless hitters in SS Cesar Izturis and 1B Travis Ishikawa are now the starters, and an under-achieving OF Nyjer Morgan is replacing a cresting Carlos Gomez. Sure, Gamel, Gonzalez and Gomez weren't All-Stars or highly productive hitters, but at least they were decent, rather than the below replacement-level stink performed by their understudies. All in all, a devastating week for Milwaukee. 

Fantasy Spin: None of these three are worth even holding on your DL spot, unless you're in a very deep mixed league or NL-only league (in Gamel's situation, he's a must-drop for everyone). Their replacements aren't worth picking up either, so if you owned anyone that I just talked about, you're pretty much screwed. Sorry.

For more on the many injuries over the past week check out the rest of their article. no comments

It finally happened. After 111 AB's, Pujols finally went yard. I don't have any experience as a big league hitter, but I can imagine this is a sizable burden that has been lifted off him. Hopefully with that out of the way he can relax and get back on his game. He still has the 10th worst OBP and 20th worst AVG in baseball among regulars, but as outlined last week, he is a prime buy low candidate and despite the slow start still projects for close to 30 HR's.

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I dropped Rickie Weeks in a 12-team mixed league this weekend to pick up Ernesto Frieri (more on Frieri in the notes portion). Weeks is now hitting .180 on the season. He has struck out 32 times in his 100 at-bats and has just a 12% line drive rate - by far the worst of his career. Although he has the tools to be an impact player without hitting for average, those tools haven't really been there to date. I ranked him way too high in the preseason and got caught with him way too early in the draft, but it's time to look at other options.

Jose Altuve has already has 5 steals which is halfway to what Weeks has averaged for the full season in each of the past two seasons. Jason Kipnis is in the midst of making the jump from potential to player. Veterans Kelly Johnson and Omar Infante are not the most appetizing names out there, but both players have gotten off to solid starts. 

Weeks is still hitting leadoff for the Brewers and the season is only one-sixth complete, but if you would not pick up a player with Weeks' numbers on free agency then don't let his past reputation prevent you from improving your team. Weeks is not worthy of being owned in a mixed league.
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Last night in Kansas City, Mariano Rivera collapsed in a heap of agony on the warning track after chasing down a fly ball during batting practice. As he was running it down, he tweaked his knee, hit the wall, then hit the ground. After being carted off the field, there was an actual game played, but I don't think anyone was really paying attention until the late innings, wondering what would happen in the event of a pinstripe save opportunity. That never happened.

Checking the headlines this morning, it seems that Mo has a torn ACL. He is certainly out for the remainder of the season, and this could possibly be the end of his career, which is sad. I'm a Mets fan and hate the Yankees, but Rivera is an icon, gentleman, and one of the games finest players and people of all time. No one wants to see him go out like this. That being said, we still have to look at our options, much like Girardi did. Two names come to mind, and one more so than the other.

David Robertson is the first add I would make if he is still available in your league. In 11 innings this year, he has yet to give up an earned run, has a K/9 over 14, and a WHIP checking in at 0.91. Choice two, Rafael Soriano, has closing experience, notching 27 saves as a Brave in 2009, then 45 with the Rays in 2010. Despite two wins this year, his WHIP is a less than desirable 1.89, an xFIP of 4.55 and a tERA over 5.00... So to recap, Robertson is Plan A, Soriano Plan B. We won't know for sure until Girardi tells us, or we see it, which is mildly annoying, but at least this is a better picture than the mess that is the Cubs, or the mystery that Robin Ventura dangled in front of us all spring.

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Where to begin with all the action and surprises in baseball last night? Weaver? Harper? Lynn? This is too much to process in one paragraph. It's a quick jump into bullets today.

• Jared Weaver was a walk and a passed ball away from perfection last night, but had to settle for the 9th no hitter in Angels history last night. It would have been the 5th, but some dude named Nolan Ryan had to be selfish and throw four of them.
• Bryce Harper had a clutch 3 hit night that included two doubles and 2 runs scored. One double came in the 9th and was a table setter for Ian Desmond to hit a game winning HR. Despite less experience, Harper is currently winning the battle of the top prospect performances over Mike Trout so far.
• Lance Lynn is the first 5 game winner in the NL this year. Who saw that coming? He was originally slated to be the odd man out when Chris Carpenter returns from the DL. Lynn has an ERA of 1.60 and a 0.77 WHIP. Inducing a grounder 56% of the time, he should see continued success if he can maintain his stellar walk rate (1.86 BB/9) no comments

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