by Scott White | Senior Fantasy Writer
How far he'll fall remains to be seen since he's clearly still progressing as a player, but judging from his lack of plate discipline, I'd say he profiles as about a .280 hitter. With his combination of power and speed, that's enough to keep him a regular starter in most Fantasy leagues, but he could have some rough patches ahead.
During these times when he tests your patience, just remember your enthusiasm when he was carrying your Fantasy team in early May. It's not like he's a different player now. He's just streaking a different way.
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com
Madson, who tossed a scoreless innings and recorded a save for Inland Empire May 13, believes he is close to returning, but acknowledges he might have been overly aggressive in his comeback attempt. Madson will still join Salt Lake for a rehab assignment, but no date has been set for when he will take the hill.
by Joe Polito | CBSSports.com
Al Melchior and Scott White agreed on Wednesday’s episode of Fantasy Baseball Today that they’d give up Kemp in a deal for Ryan Braun, but wouldn’t for guys like Joe Mauer and David Price.
by Jack Moore | CBSSports.com
Maholm allowed just one unearned run over 7 1/3 innings. The Twins managed seven hits and a walk and struck out four times. Maholm continues to thrive in Atlanta; he owns a 3.38 ERA for the season and a 3.45 ERA since joining Atlanta at last season's trade deadline (21 starts).
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com
“David Ross, we’re hopeful he will be in Portland (Thursday) to get some at-bats," Farrell said. "We’ll just have to go through the normal protocol with MLB when it comes to concussions. So there’s some lengthy paperwork as you might expect to get that taken care of. But we’re hopeful that he’ll be back for us during the Cleveland series (May 23-26)."
by Scott White | Senior Fantasy Writer
That's what he said in between segments on Wednesday's Fantasy Baseball Today -- referring, of course, to Kenley Jansen -- and I can't disagree.
If Mattingly is declaring an open competition for the role, which is how I read it, then Jansen shouldn't have much trouble delivering the decisive blow to Brandon League. His meltdowns over the weekend have created some suspense, but in the end, he'll prove to be the more effective reliever.
And if his performance as a closer last year counts for anything, he might end up being a top-five reliever the rest of the way.
by Jack Moore | CBSSports.com
Salas owns a 3.86 ERA and 4.0 K/BB in 16 1/3 innings. Tyler Lyons, Jaime Garcia's replacement in the starting rotation, will take Salas's roster spot.
by Al Melchior | Data Analyst
Two numbers in Leake's stat line look a little out of place, though. Specifically, he has stranded 79 percent of his baserunners, while his previous career high was 76 percent, and he has allowed only five home runs over 55 1/3 innings. For someone with a career 1.2 HR/9 ratio, that smells of good fortune.
Look no further than Leake's game log to see why he's having more success than usual. His career HR/9 jumps to 1.4 for home starts, and he didn't fare especially well at Great American Ball Park in outings against the Braves and Nationals. Leake did do well against the Cubs and power-poor Phillies, and he's had largely favorable matchups and venues on the road.
The sledding gets tougher for Leake in the next few weeks, so not only is he a sell-high candidate in deeper mixed leagues, but the door could re-open for Cingrani in the near future.
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com
Worley struggled from the get-go Wednesday. He allowed the first three runners to reach base and surprisingly escaped the first inning having allowed just one run. He tossed a scoreless second inning before the Braves added two more runs in the third inning, including one on Ramiro Pena's home run. But Worley fell apart in the fourth inning. Justin Upton led off with a home run and six batters later Evan Gattis parked his first career grand slam.
Worley allowed eight runs on 10 hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out three, as his ERA jumped from 6.20 to 7.21. The Twins have yet to name Worley's replacement. His next turn through the rotation would have been Monday at Milwaukee.
by Scott White | Senior Fantasy Writer
It's not like Fernandez was pitching poorly. He had allowed just one run in five innings. But as colleague Al Melchior pointed out on Wednesday's Fantasy Baseball Today podcast, there were some extenuating circumstances. The Marlins sent in a pinch hitter for Fernandez with the tying run at third base in the bottom of the fifth inning. Most likely, if the bases were empty, they would have allowed Fernandez to pitch an extra inning.
Either way, I'm more encouraged by Fernandez's workload last time out than discouraged by his workload in this one. At least now we know the Marlins are willing to him push 100 pitches. If 85 pitches was a hard cutoff, he'd have a hard time making a signifiant Fantasy contribution.





