Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.Jon Garland has a 6-10 record on the season with a 4.26 ERA and I'm about to tell you that he's been the victim of poor run support. Well, that's at least part of the reason for his double digit loss column.
We've heard it before from the Diamondbacks and their pitchers. Dan Haren started the season with three straight losses even though he gave up only four total earned runs in those three games. But Haren is an ace and it was believable when we played the run support card with him. Garland, on the other hand, just doesn't have the track record.
But, take a look at the last seven starts for Garland. First off, they have all been quality starts. He has gone at least six innings in each while never giving up more than three earned runs. The Diamondbacks have four losses in those seven starts. In those four games they scored a total of six runs.
There is a no-decision and two wins included in Garland's seven game resume. But two wins over seven games where he never pitched poorly is a shame. His ERA over those seven starts was 2.81.
I'm not about to tell you that the complete game victory we saw on Sunday was the real Jon Garland. I think he's a good pitcher who hasn't been helped a lot in 2009. But, he isn't that good either. He is, however, better than his 4.26 ERA and 5% fantasy baseball ownership show. He is definitely useful us NL-only leagues right now. And if you're in a very deep mixed-league and wanted to jump on Garland to see if the Diamondbacks could start scoring while he's on the mound, I might not argue.
Bits From the Box Scores
• The fact that Joey Votto hit his 17th home run on Sunday is good. It's not so good that 12 of his 17 dingers have been solo shots. Talk about killing your RBI potential.
• Jeff Francoeur his his third home run as a Met on Sunday night. He also has 19 RBI and is batting .301since hitting the "Big Apple". He's done all that in 19 games. In 82 games this season for the Braves, Francoeur hit .250 with five home runs and 35 RBI. It looks like the NYC is agreeable to Frenchy.
• If big numbers scare you you shouldn't look at the Red Sox / Orioles box score from Sunday. You should however know that the quickest way to become a favorite among Red Sox Nation is to go 5-for-6 with four RBI like Victor Martinez did in his second game in Boston.
• If you don't have the Nationals Josh Willingham on your fantasy team (and you probably don't since he's owned in only 34% of fantasy leagues) take a look at him. Over the past month he's blasted eight home runs (including one on Sunday) and is batting .326.
• If I had told you at the beginning of the season that Alex Gordon would have more stolen bases at this point of the year then home runs would you have believed me? He stole his third base on Sunday but has only one home run. Nothing about this sentence is good for the Royals.
• Gordon Beckham went 3-for-5 on Sunday with an RBI and has a sick .350 batting average over the last month. He's gone from AL-only to mixed-league must own rather quickly.
• Kendry Morales drove in six for the Angels on Sunday, hitting two home runs. He's also batting .299 on the season. Dare I say that he's breaking out?
• Jered Weaver notched his 11th win of the season on Sunday... nice. He struck out 11 batters in 6.2 innings... fantastic!
• Bud Norris wanted his first major league win. Unfortunately he had to go through Albert Pujols and the Cardinals on Sunday to get it. And get it he did. He shut the Cardinals potent lineup down for seven innings, allowing only two hits. I wonder what Norris must have been thinking out there.
• Vin Mazzaro gave up seven earned runs on Sunday losing his eighth game of the season. Remember back in early June when I was asking in he could continue his perfect 2-0 start? Never mind...
• Dating back to June 1st, Jimmy Rollins has hit safely in 26 of the 29 games he's played. He hit safely twice on Sunday including his 11th home run of the season.
• Cody Ross belted two home runs on Sunday for the Marlins. You'd better check on his .217 batting average over the last month before running to sign him though.
The Afflicted: Ian Kinsler hit the 15-day disabled list on Sunday with a hamstring
issue. That opens the door for uber-prospect Neftali Feliz. Watch and be amazed. Scott Downs is having more big toe problems. He'll once again go onto the 15-day disabled list because of it. Those of you clinging to Brandon Webb and hoping can now dump him from your fantasy rosters. Webb's season is over as he's scheduled for shoulder surgery on Monday.Stream Team: Our very own R.J. White gave you two pitchers to use for streaming purposes on Monday. They were two of six options I recommended as two-start pitchers for fantasy week 18 that can easily be found on the waiver wire. Great minds think alike, huh?
Lineup Lock Time: The Royals and Rays kick the week off at the ever popular starting time of 12:08 PM ET. get your rosters locked early.
