Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.When you drafted Ryan Theriot as your shortstop or middle infielder, you were doing so for average, runs and steals. You were planning on getting no power from him, and rightfully so. Entering 2009 he had only 7 career home runs in over 1,400 major league at-bats. He only hit 5 home runs in 2,048 career minor league at-bats. At 29 years old, why would he all of a sudden develop power?
Low and behold, "The Riot" has now gone deep in three of the past four games, including a go-ahead grand slam Friday when the Cubs were desperate to end an abysmal stretch (lost seven of nine).
I do have to say this, in case people didn't get it: The title of this entry was sarcasm. Theriot is obviously not a power hitter, and it would be incredibly shocking if he ended the season with more than 10. I went all the way up to 10 there to be safe, though, because it appears he's gained a bit of a stroke at the urging of his manager. Reportedly, Lou Piniella told Theriot during the series in St. Louis last week that he thought he had more power than he was showing, and he should look to drive the ball to his pull-field more often.
As of now, it's working. Enjoy the ride if you own the man, because it likely won't last -- which is okay, because home runs are gravy from him.
Bits from the Box Scores:
• I could have easily led with Zack Greinke, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more dominant pitching outings from him than we will Theriot power surges. Simply put: Zack Greinke is throwing the ball better right now than anyone I've ever seen. This isn't 2009's version of Cliff Lee. Greinke is going to be the best pitcher in baseball for a long time. If you own him in keeper leagues, he's the most valuable keeper right now. Seriously, he's just toying with hitters like they are little leaguers out there. Here is his current stat-line, which looks like one a Hall of Famer would have in high school ball: 6-0, 0.40 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 54 strikeouts, 8 walks, 0 home runs allowed, 3 complete games, 2 shutouts ... all this in only 6 starts and 45 total innings.
• Phil Hughes followed up his brilliant first outing of the season with a dud Monday night against the Red Sox. Personally, I'm willing to give him a pass. He's had a bad history against the Red Sox, they are a solid hitting team, and he had to wait a few hours for the rain delay. I'm still on board with him keeping his rotation spot this season, so hold onto him with confidence. He'll rebound with a solid outing Saturday in Baltimore.
• What an encouraging outing for Francisco Liriano. In his first four starts he was 0-4 with a 7.06 ERA. He had a quality start last time out against the Rays, but he only struck out 3. Monday night against the Tigers, Liriano looked to be getting closer and closer to his 2006 form, striking out 9 and allowing 2 earned runs in 7 1/3 innings of work. He came away with his first win of the season.
• Miguel Tejada is now 2-for-his-last-16. He hasn't hit a home run all season. Hope you enjoyed that high average in the early season, because he's now well on his way to being worthless.
• Matt Capps started off the season brilliantly. He went six outings without allowing a run, compiling 5 saves in the process. Since then, though, he's toed the rubber three times and been simply awful. In only 2 2/3 innings, he's allowed 9 hits, 7 earned runs, and walked 3. Nothing in his career history suggests he should continue this swoon, so we expect him to get things straightened out soon.
• B.J. Upton continues his struggles, as he's now hitting a paltry .152 with zero homers. Fortunately he has stolen 6 bases, but that's hardly enough to make up for his lacking in other categories. I'm standing strong -- hopefully not going down with the ship, but I will if I have to -- and saying he'll turn it around. He's a solid buy-low right now.
• David Wright is now hitting .364 in his past 6 games, and the home run last night was a good sign. That's only 2 on the year, but he's gone through home run droughts before and rebounded. In 2007, Wright was homerless until May 1, and he ended up hitting 30 the rest of the season.
• Jordan Schafer is just not ready. He's struck out in one-third of his plate appearances, and hasn't homered since April 8. The 22 year-old probably needs some more seasoning in the minors. For now, you can drop him in nearly all fantasy leagues.
• Matt Holliday Watch: Down to .223.
• It's too bad Mike Napoli only plays in 2/3 of his team's games, because the dude can mash. He's now hitting .364 after a 4-4 night Monday. He's left the yard 4 times in only 69 at-bats, walked more times than he's struck out, and even stolen 2 bases. He's a very useful -- and still underrated -- catcher in all leagues.
• Speaking of useful catchers, hopefully you didn't give up on Chris Iannetta. He's legit as well.
• Why is Scott Hairston hitting .377 with 4 homers and 15 RBI? He's even stolen 2 bases. Well, for starters, his .421 BABIP is simply absurd. Generally, 30 percent of the balls put in play fall in for a hit. Hairston's working at a 42.1 percent clip right now. We know BABIP isn't scientific, but numbers tend to normalize over time when they are outrageous, and this number is. Don't buy into him.
• Frank Francisco is the most reliable closer in the majors right now. He's now gone 13 innings and hasn't allowed a run. His WHIP is a stupid 0.62, he's struck out 10 batters, and saved 8 games.
• Don't be discouraged with the sub-par outing from Felix Hernandez. The Rangers can hit the ball against anyone, and King Felix is still in the middle of his coronation year. He'll handle the Twins just fine this weekend.
The Afflicted: Carlos Zambrano had to go on the disabled list -- giving ammo to everyone who wants to add the designated hitter to the NL. Rick Ankiel ran into the wall, but, thankfully, it wasn't quite shades of Bump Bailey. All tests have come back negative and Ankiel's said to be day-to-day. After seeing how ugly that was, he's very fortunate and baseball fans everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief. Kyle Lohse got hit in the elbow with a pitch and struggled after that -- in his worst outing of the season. Kevin Youkilis left the Red Sox game with back issues.
Lineup Lock Time: Two games are going off at 12:35 PM ET, so make sure you have those babies set before heading off to lunch, East-coasters.
Wednesday's Ace in the Hole: Mitchell Boggs (Cardinals) is set to take on the Pirates. He's only started one game this season, but it was a decent one. He did allow 4 earned runs, but struck out 9 in his 6 innings of work. The Pirates are very unfamiliar with Boggs (only Brandon Moss has faced him, and that was for two plate appearances), so that means he has an advantage, especially with pitching coach Dave Duncan's preparation ability.
