Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.Here are three abbreviations you don't want to see near your closer's name in the box score: BS, BB and HBP. Those three -- blown save, walk, and hit by pitch -- were all a part of B.J. Ryan's line Wednesday night against the Rangers. Prepare for the uptick in ownership of Jason Frasor and Scott Downs. Is it time to hit the panic button on Ryan after three blown opportunities?
Thus far, Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston hasn't given a strong indication that Ryan would be pulled from the closer gig. But now Ryan is sporting a Ray King-sized ERA of 11.12 to go along with his 4-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Meanwhile, Downs is simply a strikeout machine with 13 over 8 2/3 innings. No walks and a 1.04 ERA, too. Frasor, who picked up his third victory, hasn't allowed a run yet.
Ryan has shown brief glimpses of overcoming his early-season struggles, but he's still having trouble scraping 90 mph on his fastball and doesn't possess the command needed for ninth-inning duties. I think Downs must be grabbed in all leagues where he's still available, and Frasor is worth an add if you've got the space in deeper leagues (at least until we see how this all shakes out). In late March, Gaston suggested Downs could fill in if Ryan wasn't getting the job done, so he appears to be the better bet at this point if Ryan is yanked.
Bits from the Box Scores:
• Melky Cabrera, or the Melkman as some Yankee fans call him, is on a rare power tear. After hitting two jacks against Oakland, he's up to four homers over his last three starts. I'm not a believer that Cabrera has suddenly turned into a slugger and you shouldn't be either. But that park is awful friendly and you could do worse if you need a fill-in outfielder in deeper leagues.• Two widely-available catchers -- Rod Barajas and Kurt Suzuki -- are starting to remember how to hit again. Against the Yanks, Suzuki hit a three-run shot a day after he went 4-for-4 at the plate. Barajas, who has been known to be streaky, blasted two and drove in four against Texas. With many fantasy teams going through catcher woes early, both could come in handy.
• CC Sabathia's ERA at the end of April 2008 was 7.76. Just a reminder not to go overboard after seeing another rough game (6 ER, 4 BB in 6 2/3 IP) from the big fella. He'll adjust in time.
• Francisco Liriano on the other hand? Not convinced this is just an early slump. He was shelled for seven runs over four innings and walked four. Strikeouts are dandy, but not if they come with an 0-4 record and 7.06 ERA. If you're expecting a 180-degree twirl back to the 2006 Liriano, I think you're going to be disappointed; the control just isn't the same. A full-season version of the 2008 Liriano? Now that seems more realistic.
• I'm also a little bit concerned about Marlin strikeout artist Ricky Nolasco, who was roughed up again and has a 6.86 ERA to go along with his 17 K's. It's worth noting he got off to a similar rocky start last year before mowing down everyone the rest of the season. So mark this one under the wait-and-closely-watch approach.
• Guess who's tied for third in the AL in RBI? That's right, it's good ol' Mike Lowell. Perennially one of the most underrated fantasy third basemen, Lowell hit his third homer of the season and has 16 RBI. He's somehow unowned in 35 percent of Yahoo! leagues. Nervous Chris Davis owners, I'm looking at you (which means I'm also looking at myself).
• Let's play a little game of Player A, Player B -- a favorite of my old boss Matthew Berry ...Player A: .270 average, 5 RBI, 7 runs, 6 SB
Player B: .323 average, 9 RBI, 10 runs, 6 SB
What if I told you Player A was owned in 97 percent of Yahoo! leagues, but Player B was still available in about half of them. Interested, hm? Player A is Jacoby Ellsbury and Player B is waiver-wire heartthrob Nyjer Morgan, who leads the NL in steals after swiping two more against the Marlins.
• Well lookie here, the Diamondbacks finally decided to give Dan Haren some run support -- two big ones! Haren picked up his first win in four tries, but you can't really complain when he has 26 strikeouts and a 1.38 ERA. It's just the volatile nature of the category. And Knox's pick for NL Cy Young looks good so far, minus the W total.
• On the surface, there's not much to take away from a 1-0 Giants-Padres limp-batted snoozefest. But look closely and you'll see that Pablo Sandoval made his first start of the year at catcher. If your league eligibility is five games, he should reach that total by the end of May.
• Cliff Lee continues to turn the corner after a couple of scary outings early. He threw 85 of his 122 pitches for strikes against the Royals and kept his command in check over eight innings of work.
• Braden Looper wins another for the Brew Crew, but he still isn't striking anyone out. Proceed with caution; he will blow up in your face sooner or later.
• After another stellar pitching display, lefty John Danks is holding opposing batters to a .138 average. Big fan. Danks, just like Josh Johnson, is one of the starters grabbed late in drafts with the potential to perform like a No. 2 in fantasy rotations.
• Players who have surprisingly already hit their fifth home run: Curtis Granderson, Andre Ethier and catcher-eligible Brandon Inge. It's been a dominant stride for Ethier (whopping 17 RBI) as he continues to hit behind Manny Ramirez. All three are well on their way to reaching the 25-homer plateau.
Run to the Wire For: The hot-footed Morgan, and if you're in a deep league and need power, Kendry Morales. The Angels first baseman finally broke through for a big knock and five RBI against the Tigers.
The Afflicted: Milton Bradley returned to the lineup for the Cubs and struck out three times. Nice one, guy. B.J. Upton is expected to be in the lineup again on Thursday. Trevor Hoffman will join the Brewers this weekend and should be activated Sunday. Detroit's Marcus Thames will miss a good chunk of the season due to a strained rib cage muscle. Ryan Raburn and Jeff Larish will pick up at-bats, but outfielder Josh Anderson is the one to watch. He has three steals and the potential for many more. Kelvim Escobar was transferred to the 60-day disabled list.
Lineup Lock Time: Kansas City and Cleveland get it on at 12:05pm ET.
Playing the Splits: Jhonny Peralta is hitting .375 in 32 at-bats vs. Gil Meche. Khalil Greene is hitting .150 in 20 at-bats vs. Livan Hernandez. Derrek Lee is hitting .304 with five homers in 46 at-bats vs. Aaron Harang.
Friday's Ace in the Hole: Two very nice matchups on tap. Detroit's Rick Porcello (1-1, 3.75 ERA) faces the Royals tomorrow. Arizona's Doug Davis (1-2, 2.57 ERA) is up against the Giants.
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