Roto Rush: My Apology to Derrek Lee

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

Before the season started, I was rough on Derrek Lee. I named him the biggest bust on the Cubs for this coming season and included him on the list of "five guys to lose" your fantasy league. I even predicted Mike Fontenot would hit more home runs than Mr. Lee. Obviously, it sounds outlandish now, in hindsight, as Lee clubbed his 35th home run Tuesday night. In the process, he established a new career high in RBI with 109. His OPS is the second-highest it's ever been -- trailing only his insane 2005 season when he did an Albert Pujols impersonation.

It's not like I hated Derrek Lee before the season started. It was nothing of the sort. He plays for my favorite team. He's a good leader in the clubhouse and a great guy off the field.

It's just that he was coming off a season where he had a .462 slugging percentage. In the second half of 2008, he hit .266 with a dismal .390 slugging percentage. Those are rate stats of a light-hitting middle infielder, not the three-hole of a team who won 97 games. Plus, he was 32 years old and had already begun to trend downward during the 2007 season.

Yes, I'm aware he broke his wrist in 2006, following his career year, but I've never heard of a player losing power for three freaking years after a wrist injury.

Whatever it was, though, Derrek Lee is back and I felt it necessary to call myself out for being so incorrect about him.

Oh, and get this, he's hit 24 bombs since July 1. That would be a full-season pace of 50-plus jacks and he leads the majors since that date. He appears to have plenty of gas left in the tank.

Bits From the Box Scores
- Big outing for Joe Blanton and he's now worked in 13 consecutive scoreless innings. He's struck out 16 batters in those two starts as well. In fact, he's got a 9-4 record with a 2.78 ERA since May 26, and that's including a 4 2/3 inning, 8 earned run outing against the Nationals. He's a great option for his final two starts.

- Edwin Jackson also had a good outing, and his was big news for a different reason. Amidst reports that he was tipping pitches, Jackson had a 6.12 ERA in his first four September starts. It was nice to see him work seven shutout frames, though we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. He was facing the dreadful Indians and he only struck out 2 while walking 3.

- Adam Dunn hit his 38th home run of the season, which means he's about to hit 40 again. There are few certainties as each baseball season begins, but one of them is Adam Dunn hitting at least 40 bombs. This season will mark the sixth consecutive time he's done it. If he ends up exactly on 40, it will be for the fifth straight time (which is an amazing coincidence).

- Not sure if anyone has noticed, but Lastings Milledge is hitting the hell out of the ball, and has been for the past five weeks or so. Since August 17, Milledge is hitting .357. Keep an eye on him for next year. The Pirates figure to give him an everyday job.

- Matt Wieters is picking up the pace as the season's end grows closer. In his last nine games, he's hitting .471 with 2 home runs, 11 RBI and a 1.235 OPS. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets drafted lower next year than he did this past year when he was a hype machine. Thus, he'll be a great value pick as he emerges as a stud.

- Rafael Soriano is probably going to make a decent chunk of dough as a free agent closer. Don't fall in love with him due to his new home, though. Since becoming the closer, Soriano is 19-for-22 on save chances, sure, but his ERA in that time is 5.23 and his WHIP is 1.29. He's allowing nearly a hit per inning. If he signs in the AL, beware.

- Zack Greinke should be the number one pitcher drafted next season. Period.

- John Danks had been in a pretty good groove. His ERA in his previous eight starts was 2.14. Tuesday night, though, he was destroyed by the Twins (6 innings, 8 hits, 7 earned runs, 3 home runs). Just remember, he's only 24 and the Twins are playing as well as anyone right now. Danks will still be a quality option next season.

- Dexter Fowler is going to be a star and his break-through is going to come next year. Since August 2, the speedy center-fielder is hitting .341 with a .962 OPS. He hasn't hit a home run during that period and has only stolen 3 bases, but those features of his game will come when he fully reaches a comfort level. That's coming.

The Afflicted: White Sox closer Bobby Jenks will miss the rest of the season because of a strained calf muscle. Octavio Dotel and Matt Thornton will split closing duties in his absence. Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is day-to-day after being pulled from Tuesday's game with a tight left hamstring. Add back tightness on top of Kevin Kouzmanoff's already existing calf injury. It looks like he will miss the rest of the season. Josh Hamilton took batting practice and shagged fly balls. He should be back in action this weekend. Brett Myers was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain of his right lat muscle and won't pick up a baseball for another week.

Lineup Lock Time: 3:35 PM ET