Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
It wasn't enough for Jacoby Ellsbury to win every U.S. citizen a free taco by swiping the first base of the 2007 World Series. No, Jacoby Ellsbury does more than feed the country. He's working to steal the hearts of all baseball fans. He took a step towards that goal Sunday night by stealing home during the final game of the Yankees/Red Sox series at Fenway Park.
This was the first straight-steal of home plate by a Red Sox player since Billy Hatcher did so in April of 1994. Jose Offerman stole home on the front-end of a double-steal in 1999.
As you can see the feat is very rare, and was by no way planned by the Red Sox coaching staff.
The steal was not manager Terry Francona's idea. It was not third-base coach DeMarlo Hale's brainstorm. This, quite simply, was pure instinct and aggression from the 25-year-old Ellsbury.You can imagine manager Terry Francona, in the dugout after an Ellsbury curtain call, giving him the Lou Brown speech from Major League, "Nice play Jacoby, don't ever $@!%$*# do it again".
Bits From the Box Scores:
- Kosuke Fukudome didn't want any birthday shenanigans from his Cubs counterparts on Sunday. He just wanted to completely rake yesterday with a home run and five RBI against the Cardinals in a 10-3 win. His three hits yesterday bring his season average up to .371, and he leads the Cubs in base hits (14), RBI (15), and OPS (1.142).
- Fill-in closer Scott Downs got his second save yesterday for the Blue Jays and is slowly becoming a must-own in all fantasy formats. He has a 0.84 ERA and a 0.47 WHIP along side 14 strikeouts and zero walks this season. While you're not supposed to lose your job to injury, B.J. Ryan who is on the 15-day disabled list, may have to fight to get his job back with Downs pitching so well.
- The heart of the batting order is supposed to be the 3-4-5 hitters. Somebody forgot to tell that to Brian Roberts, Adam Jones, and Nick Markakis who yesterday collected nine hits in their game against Texas. All three of the 1-2-3 hitters are batting above .345 this season and you'd be hard pressed to find another combo performing as well as these three at the top of the Orioles lineup.
- Jordan Zimmerman held the Mets to one run on six hits on Sunday to collect the second win of his rookie campaign. He's 2-0 with a 2.38 ERA in two starts for the Nationals and should be getting some looks from fantasy owners in keeper leagues, even though he pitches for what is arguably the worst team in the National League.
- If you're looking for some middle infield, injury replacement help, here are two second baseman who are on a lot of waiver wires that you should be aware of. Alberto Callaspo went 1-3 yesterday and is hitting .377 this season with a home run and five RBI. Asdrubal Cabrera had two hits yesterday and his average is .339 with a home run, nine RBI, and three stolen bases.
- We knew that the Padres were going to be bad this season, but not Jake Peavy, not this bad. Peavy got beat up yesterday to the tune of five earned runs in five innings. He's now 2-3 with a 5.74 ERA this season and hitters are batting an uncharacteristically high .277 against him.
- Maybe getting benched for the night and being moved down in the batting order was exactly what Howie Kendrick needed to jump start his season. He was 3-5 yesterday with four RBI and is batting .368 over the last week.
- It was impossible to draft Pablo Sandoval this season unless you wanted to waste a 12th round pick (yes, I said waste). Due to a slow start, Sandoval was dropped in a lot of leagues and if you're smart you'll now go sign him on the cheap. He hit his first home run yesterday and went 4-4 with three RBI. Over the past week he's batting .400 which has brought his season average up to .292.
The Afflicted:
The biggest piece of injury-related news that fantasy owners need to know today is about Trevor Hoffman. He was activated from the 15-day disabled list Sunday and should immediately begin closing out games for the Brewers. If he's on the waiver wire in your fantasy league, go grab him immediately.
Lineup Lock Time:
Every game on Monday is a night game. First pitch tonight is 7:05 PM ET in four games; Washington at Philadelphia, Boston at Cleveland, Texas at Baltimore and New York at Detroit. The Angels and Athletics have the night off.
Tuesday's Ace in the Hole:
Scott Richmond will be getting his fourth start of the season for the Blue Jays on Tuesday against the Royals. He's 2-0 with a 3.31 ERA and has almost a strikeout per inning. He's only owned in 6% of Yahoo fantasy leagues so Richmond could make a smart waiver wire play tomorrow.
