Roto Rush: Cliff Lee the 2009 CC

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

For the second consecutive year, the Indians have given a playoff contender a huge boost. For the second consecutive year, they traded the previous season's AL Cy Young award winner. And for the second consecutive year, he's absolutely dealing in the National League.

Through five starts, Cliff Lee is 5-0 with a 0.68 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 2 complete games and 39 strikeouts (with only 6 walks) in 40 innings. Sound familiar?

Last season, CC Sabathia joined the Brewers and started similarly on fire. After five starts, he was 4-0 with a 1.82 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 3 complete games and 34 strikeouts (with 10 walks) in 39 2/3 innings.

If the similarities are any indication, Lee is going to continue giving the Phillies quite the ride. Sabathia went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA for the Brewers. He threw 7 complete games and 3 shutouts in 17 starts. That's just insanity. And Lee has started his NL career better than CC did.

The main difference between the two situations -- as it applies to just the current season -- is that the Phillies were already going to the playoffs. The Brewers needed Sabathia to ensure they made it and he had to virtually carry them to make it happen. The Phillies landed Lee as a piece that could push them over the top. Again.

As far as fantasy baseball goes, Lee is once again an ace. He wasn't for the 2009 Indians, but he is for the 2009 Phillies.

Bits From the Box Scores
- Yovani Gallardo is laboring his way through the season, his first as a full-time starter. He's taking on a big workload and still finding ways to battle. Through 26 starts, he's 12-10 with a 3.51 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. Just as we expected, his striking out his fair share (179 in 164 1/3 innings). When looking at starting pitching next season, remember Gallardo was only 23 this year and coming off ACL surgery. He's going to be a good one.

- Ryan Spillborghs stole the spotlight Monday night with his walk-off grand slam, but we cannot dismiss the job done by both starting pitchers. Both Barry Zito and Jason Marquis were brilliant, and it really illustrated what an unexpected boost they have each given their respective teams this year.

- Randy Ruiz has had quite the journey. He's played 1,088 minor league games in 11 years. Last year, he had a cup of coffee with the Twins, but he still qualifies as a rookie. A 31-year-old rookie. Thus far, he's making his mark with the Toronto Blue Jays -- his 11th organization. In 12 starts, the designated hitter has only gone hitless once. He's hitting .348 with a 1.030 OPS. The 4 home runs in 46 at-bats isn't too shabby either.

- Here comes the inevitable Pat Burrell hot streak. In his last seven games, Burrell is 11-26 (.423) with 2 home runs and 5 RBI. We've seen this before -- at least once per season -- and he should be active in all leagues right now.

- Jose Contreras has disgusted his manager, Ozzie Guillen, to the point that he's been summarily dismissed from the rotation. This coming after a 2 2/3 inning start where he allowed 7 runs. Of course, only 1 of them was earned and his last time out he worked 7 solid frames. Regardless, release him in all leagues -- not that he should have really been owned in many anyway.

- Joakim Soria continues to disappoint owners. He still doesn't have half as many saves as he did last year. His ERA has jumped from 1.60 to 2.97. He's allowing hits and home runs at a higher clip than last season as well. Sure, the Royals are an awful team, but Soria saved 42 of their 75 wins last year. He's now blown the same amount of saves as last season. So, once again, this is why you wait on closers on draft/auction day.

- Big night for Travis Hafner. His OPS is up to .858 on the season. Should he stay healthy the rest of the way, there could be hope yet for his post-30-years-old career.

- Jered Weaver had been pretty bad since his ERA crept all the way down to 2.08 after a June 14 shutout. Between that and last time out, his ERA was 7.07 in 11 starts. He then threw a shutty last time out, which may have been a tease. I say that because Monday night he reverted to his bad self. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowing 8 hits, 2 walks and 5 earned runs while only striking out 2. We better be very cautious with him from here on out.

- Fernando Rodney should have quelled concerns over his possibly losing closing duties for the Tigers. The big man has worked three straight scoreless saves now, and his Monday night outing was 1 1/3 perfect innings -- including 2 strikeouts. He'll hold the job the rest of the way.

- Ian Snell has now won two straight. In those outings, he's tossed 11 2/3 innings. He's allowed 8 hits and 2 earned runs (1.54 ERA) in that stretch. The strikeout-to-walk is an issue -- 5 walks and 4 Ks -- but everything else is pointing in the right direction. We know he has talent. If he can work his confidence up a bit in Seattle, he'll be a good late-round value next season.

The Afflicted: Johan Santana has been scratched from his scheduled Tuesday start with elbow discomfort. Rut roh. That is definitely something you never want to hear for a pitcher. Sit him in daily leagues and monitor his progress. Ichiro is dealing with a calf issue. He's out until Wednesday at the earliest. This is a bit of a concern because his speed is such a huge part of his game. Jeff Francoeur has a torn ligament in his thumb. He was actually hitting pretty well for the Mets, so keep your eyes on him.

Lineup Lock Time: 7:05 PM ET

C'mon Back: Joe Saunders will return to the hill Wednesday against the Tigers. His upside in the start compared to the chances he hurts you doesn't make this an enticing start. Give him a look or two before grabbing and using him.