Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.Remember 'Five Alive,' the juicy blend with five fruits that's fun for all the family? Well, Rick Porcello is a unique blend of rookie flavor who's reeled off five straight victories. You can hardly find that syrupy drink on the shelves anymore, but you can still find Porcello in about 30 percent of Yahoo! leagues. And that's not all there is to like about Porcello. After the jump, it's fun time for all fantasy owners! (sugar rush optional)
Porcello threw 53 of his 82 pitches for strikes against the Royals, but what really caught my eye was 11 groundball outs to only three fly outs. In four out his past five wins, Porcello's induced a significant number of groundouts and kept his control in check. His strikeout tally has been steady, with 32 K's over 51 2/3 innings. It's also nice to see Jim Leyland isn't overworking the talented hurler so early in his career. Porcello has been pulled before he's reached 90 pitches in four of his last five games.
A very impressive string for Porcello, no doubt, but stay cautious and remember he's a rookie, and a 20-year-old one at that. It's easy to already draw comparisons to another Detroit pitcher that had great success his first full year, Justin Verlander, who posted a 3.63 ERA and 17 wins in 2006. The biggest thing they have in common is maturity, and though Porcello obviously doesn't have the fastball Verlander possesses, he's shown rare confidence and command of his repertoire for a pitcher his age.
I think we'll continue to see ups and downs from Porcello in 2009, with more positive starts mixed in than negative ones. An ERA around 4.00 with 14 wins is a fair expectation, and anything better is just gravy. Both the Tigers and keeper-leaguers have a special one on their hands.
Bits From the Box Scores
• One of the few bright spots for the Pirates has been the play of third baseman Andy LaRoche. His 11-game hit streak ended against the Cubs, but if the rest of his season goes anything like the first two months, we could be looking at a very cheap 15-homer, 70-RBI corner option with solid average. Basically, what Conor Jackson was before he got illnesses like valley fever. By the way, don't ever do a Google images search for valley fever, trust me on this one.
• Four hits and a 10th stolen base for Josh Anderson out of the Tigers' leadoff spot. If he got any kind of consistent playing time there, he'd swipe 30 easy and score 90 runs. Alas, he's an AL-only gem and not a whole lot more.
• Yes, that was Toronto's Aaron Hill hitting his 12th homer of the year -- one more than Chase Utley. And yes, that was Orioles rookie Nolan Reimold blasting his fourth in only 49 at-bats, a game-winning shot to win it in extra innings. You have to love it when a "late call-up" prospect like Reimold excels right away. It looks like he'll stay fantasy relevant all season long. Amazingly, he available in almost every mixed league. The 20-plus homer power is for real, and this offense is going to be even more potent with Matt Wieters coming up. So while everyone goes ga-ga over the catcher, don't overlook the 6-foot-4 slugger with shaving cream on his face.• Thirty-four walks already this season for Manny Parra. At the rate he's stinking up the joint, I wouldn't be surprised if he takes a bump down to the bullpen or even the minors if he can't get his act together. Jettison him from your team if you haven't done so yet. With that same logic, Clayton Kershaw would be waiver bait, but the difference is Kershaw has maintained a 2.57 ERA and .176 batting average against in May despite shaky control. Imagine how good he's going to be.
• Three steal attempts for Ichiro in the series against Oakland. We should start to see him be more active on the basepaths now that he's in a hitting groove (.362 average in May). A good buy-low, relatively speaking. Or go pick up speedy Denard Span instead, laugh, and eat some Pocky for good measure.
• You know what's sad? You could make a case that Russell Branyan is the Mariners' most valuable player to this point. Not many times will you see a guy with 11 homers still unowned in 40 percent of leagues, but there you have it. Mr. Branyan at your service, gents.
• Dan Uggla is waking up in a big way. Five homers over his last nine games, and the average should improve to stomachable territory as well. Here's one to take you for a loop: shortstop Ben Zobrist is only one home run and seven RBI shy of Uggla ... and sitting on the waiver wire in 50 percent of leagues. Oh, and he stole his fifth base Wednesday.
• Nick Johnson, putting together his best Mets audition, collected three more hits and his 21st RBI of May. Fernando Martinez, doing his best Lastings Milledge impersonation, went 0-for-4 and was caught watching one of his pop-ups in front of the plate. The only fantasy-relevant Martinez this season is Victor.
• Three strikeouts for Chris Davis a day after he blasted two homers against the Yankees. It looks like we're just going to loathe this guy in the average department. My dad called him the modern day Rob Deer, and glancing at Deer's career stats, it's a pretty accurate comparison. Home run or bust.
• Look who decided to hit a home run with men on base -- Jay Bruce. He's hit nine of them in May alone, but has only 16 RBI to account for the jacks. Bruce is batting .163 with runners in scoring position. Still, you can't gripe too much with 14 homers. • Jered Weaver wins my vote for the most underrated fantasy starter so far this year. He has a 2.36 ERA and a 53:18 strikeout-to-walk ratio through his first 10 starts. Many of us were expecting something close to his 2007 numbers, but he's turned the clock back to his stellar 2006 rookie season.
• Not too shabby, Jake Fox. One at-bat, one hit, one RBI. He smashed the ball to the tune of 17 homers and 50 RBI down at Triple-A before his call-up. However, he's unlikely to get an extended look in Chicago.
Lineup Lock Time: There are only five games on the docket, but two of them are afternoon affairs. Tampa Bay plays Cleveland at 12:05 PM ET.
The Afflicted: It looks like Hanley Ramirez, still sidelined with groin tightness, won't play in Friday's game either. Alfonso Soriano admitted he's battling soreness in his knee; that could explain the .223 average in May. Jake Peavy pitched with some tendinitis in his right ankle against the D'Backs. Nothing to get alarmed about, yet. Travis Hafner hopes to return from the disabled list Monday, so don't forget about him. Brett Myers is scheduled to undergo an MRI Thursday on his right hip after X-rays revealed some "jaggedness." Carlos Zambrano survived beating up a gatorade machine without injury, but will likely be suspended one start after his run-in. Cardinals GM John Mozeliak's gut tells him Troy Glaus has "less than a 50-50 chance" of returning this year. Why does my gut tell me it's closer to nil?
Down on the Farm: Gordon Beckham, the South Side is calling. Well, not quite yet, but Beckham was pushed up to Triple-A and is officially creeping onto the fantasy radar. There's not one player batting over .246 between infielders Chris Getz, Jayson Nix, Alexei Ramirez and Josh Fields. So if you've got dead weight in a very deep league, now is the time to make a speculative play for Beckham, as well as the likes of pitchers Tommy Hanson and Clay Buchholz.
Friday's Ace in the Hole: A's rookie Josh Outman seems like a nice pick, but shaky command and a trip to Arlington is a bad combination. I'd roll with ground-baller Mike Pelfrey (4-1, 4.31 ERA) instead. He hasn't given up over three runs in any of his last six starts and has a good shot at the W. Since his return to the bigs, Brian Bannister (4-1, 2.79 ERA) has pitched well under the radar. He'll get the volatile White Sox at home. Finally, I like Philadelphia lefty J.A. Happ (2-0, 2.60 ERA) against ... who else ... the Nationals. They're sending Ross Detwiler out on the mound for his very first road start.
