Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.Max Scherzer, the 24-year-old fireballer for the Diamondbacks, has worlds of talent. He also takes a step back every time you think he's finally hitting his groove. This past week, he was a two-start pitcher in the fantasy baseball world. His first start was pure gold (that's gold, Jerry!). He threw 7 shutout innings and struck out 10 before getting chased in the eighth inning -- after allowing a few earned runs. He followed that up with an absolute catastrophe on Sunday. The light-hitting Braves touched him up for 10 hits and 8 earned runs in only 3 2/3 innings.
So, what gives?
It's actually not that difficult to figure. He's turning 25 this season. He's only made 17 starts in his major league career. He throws absolute smoke and has nasty off-speed pitches. When he's on, he will mow down the opposition. If he's missing his spots -- young power pitchers are often plagued by control issues -- he'll probably stink up the joint.
If you feel like you can accurately predict when Good Max will show up, you have a veritable fantasy ace. Check out the cherry-picked numbers:
Six Good Outings: 2-2, 36 innings pitched, 8 earned runs (2.00 ERA), 41 K, 12 BB, 1.11 WHIP.
Four Decent/Bad Outings: 0-2, 18 1/3 innings, 19 earned runs (9.16 ERA), 16 K, 10 BB, 1.98 WHIP.
Overall, I'm willing to sit through a few bad outings, because he's got all-world talent, in addition to the fact that he's developing at the big league level. Just remember that every once in a while -- 40 percent of the time so far -- you'll be saddled with Bad Max.
Bits From the Box Scores
- Asdrubal Cabrera just keeps hitting. He's now sitting there with a .318 average, 27 RBI, 38 runs and 7 steals. He's been one of the most pleasant surprises in the league. He's also been the beneficiary of finding the holes with a high frequency (.383 BABIP). That should come down a bit eventually, and with it his numbers suffer a bit.
- Chien-Ming Wang looked much better than Phil Hughes. Keep your eyes on that situation, because the Yankees will win games.
- Ricky Romero -- along with most of his Jays teammates -- has fallen back down to the Earth. After an inexplicable beginning to the season, he put together a 9.64 ERA in his last two outings (after 1.71 in his first three). This shouldn't be a huge surprise, especially in this division.
- How about those 12 strikeouts from Jon Lester? Granted, the Jays are struggling to swing the bats right now, but he has too much talent to continue scuffling.
- John Maine's last two outings? 2-0, 0.75 ERA, 1.00 WHIP. He's throwing strikes, he plays for a good team and in a ballpark that helps pitchers. Take a look in all leagues.
- If you need power in large leagues, take a look at Josh Willingham. In the past three weeks, he has started 16 times. He's hitting .308 with 7 (solo) home runs in that time span. Of course, he's only accrued 8 RBI in the same time-span. Seriously, Josh, mix in a home run with someone on base.
- B.J. Upton gathered a pinch hit single Sunday. Keep the faith (yes, I'm going down with the ship).
- Considering it's now June 1, we have to start considering that guys who are off to a "slow start" and haven't start to turn it around are simply having a bad season. David Ortiz is a perfect example. Another? Corey Hart. In the last 8 games he is hitting .333 with a home run, but that's such a modest "hot streak." He's also struck out 10 times without walking. Consider other options if he doesn't turn it around real quick.
- On the other hand, since May 4th, Brandon Phillips has been mashing. We're talking .377 with 6 home runs, 25 RBI, 4 doubles, 2 triples and an even strikeout to walk ratio (6:6) in 18 games. He's an elite fantasy second baseman in every format, and if you can still get your paws on him, do it.
- Frank Francisco allowed a run a lost a game. That sucks. I was really hoping he'd go untouched all season. Still, he's back healthy, he's 11-for-11 on save chances, has a 0.48 ERA and strikes out more than a batter per inning. He's an elite closer.
- Adrian Beltre is an established veteran and he's had an awful start. In the last 10 games, though, he's hitting .349 with a home run and 6 RBI. He's not scorching or anything, but we know his track record. I'd expect him to start getting hot in the upcoming weeks.
- I couldn't have been more wrong about Ervin Santana. Shelf him for now until he gets things figured out. You have to wonder if he's really completely healthy should this funk continue.
- Kris Medlen had a nice outing against the DBacks, going 6 innings and striking out 9 for the win. He only allowed a solitary earned run to lower his ERA to 6.28. Meanwhile, Tommy Hanson had his worst outing of the season (plummeting his ERA to 1.49). Guess the Hanson watch will continue for a bit.
The Afflicted: Joel Pineiro will miss his next start, though Kyle Lohse will probably be ready to jump right in. Willy Taveras missed his second consecutive game Sunday with hammy woes. That's a problem for a base-stealer, so buyer beware. With Rich Harden not due back anytime soon (shocker, I know) and Ryan Dempster being pushed back to Saturday, both Randy Wells and Sean Marshall will remain in the Cubs rotation -- even with Carlos Zambrano's suspension concluding Thursday. Chipper Jones may have to hit the disabled list, so keep him on the bench in all leagues for the time being.
Lineup Lock Time: Kick those feet up (er, actually do some real work at your actual job), because there's no baseball until 7:05 PM ET Monday night and only 18 teams are in action.
Down on the Farm: Gordon Beckham was recently promoted to Triple-A, and he's tearing it up. In a small sample of four games, he's 7-for-15 (.467) with a 1.038 OPS.
Stash Him: Jeremy Bonderman threw 8 shutout innings with 5 strikeouts and no walks yesterday for the Toledo Mud Hens (of Lou Brown fame). He should be recalled any day to join the first-place Tigers.
