2011 Fantasy Baseball Daily Fix: Jason Heyward Returns & Josh Beckett 1-Hits The Rays
Josh Beckett was 1 hit away from near perfection, completely owning the Rays. He lowered his ERA to 1.86 and now leads the league by a good margin.
Best pitching match-up of the day is David Price vs Clay Buchholz. True, neither one has stats that will blow you away, but it is the "year of the pitcher" and either of these guys could be the next one to take a no-no into the late stages of the game.
It’s always fun to track the continued comeback of Ryan Vogelsong who has not given up more than 2 earned runs in a game since May 3rd. Sometimes it takes over-hyped prospects a little time to climb the mountain… I guess there is still hope for Lebron.
After shooting across the sky like an unobtainable shooting star, Anthony Rizzo has come crashing back to earth with a 1-14 streak. The stink of the Padres has already marred this prospect.
Half-way through June and Matt Kemp continues to make a mockery of all pitchers who cross his path with a .423 avg, 7 HR, 16 RBI, and a 1.536 OPS so far this month. But over the last 7 days nobody has a better batting average than the immortal Emilio Bonifacio.
At the time of this writing, the hitting stars of the day fall into two categories. First, the "needs no introduction," Mark Teixeira (3 for 5, 2 HR, 4 RBI). The second, is not as familiar, Michael Morse, 1st baseman for the Nationals (3 for 4, 2 HR, 3 RBI). On Morse, Adam LaRoche is officially out for the year leaving Morse to be the everyday first baseman, and he has played quite well this season with a .303 AVG, 10 HR, 37 RBI. More amazingly, he only assumed the starting role on May 22nd, and he has put up the bulk of those numbers just over the last few weeks.
We tend to focus on the best players on the best teams, this makes sense, with wins come numbers. But just for fun, let’s take a look at some of the bottom-feeders. Okay, maybe it is not that fun, but I need to find a way to talk about the A’s.
Oakland A's – The pitching staff has been decimated, the only survivor is Trevor Cahill and his pitching abilities look to like they are on the disabiled list. Still, he is a young pitcher and they typically have their ups and downs. The A's are not going anywhere, but Cahill has ability and it might be time to buy low on this guy. As for a positional player, pick anyone in the A's starting outfield, because they will not be playing for the A's after the trade deadline. Think of how Andy Dufresne felt as he emerged from the bowls of Shawshank – that is how Coco Crisp will feel when he is playing for a contender.
Minnesota Twins – Francisco Liriano still has the ability to throw a no-hitter every time he steps on the mound, as he almost threw another this week. When and if he comes back, Joe Mauer is a stud. Unfortunately for the Twins, all their young building blocks have proven to be extremely frail, as Justin Morneau is making another trip to the DL.
Houston Astros – Hunter Pence is legit with a .320 avg, 9 HR and 50 RBI. Enough said.
San Diego Padres – Heath Bell is auditioning for greener pastures, possibly the Bronx? Aside from that, Chris Denorfia, Ryan Ludwick? Um, I guess the “pad squad” is pretty good with the t-shirt cannon. When Bud Black looks at the field he must feel the same way Lebron and D. Wade feel when they looked at their bench, namely, it made them want to cry.
Written by Chris Summers exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com
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(June 14, 2011 – Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images North America)