Beyond the Boxscore - Fantasy MLB News and Notes 06/10/08

Article written by Ryan Hallam of www.fightingchancefantasy.com.

We have been tracking the progress of White Sox 2B Alexei Ramirez and telling you to keep an eye on him. Well, it is time to take some action unless your middle infield is completely set. Ramirez has been playing everyday now for Chicago and has been hitting and running up a storm. It seems that Ozzie Guillen is committed to him now, and he has the talent to do some damage. If you have Rickie Weeks who just went on the DL or another player who is making you want to pull your hair out, Ramirez is a great alternative.

It is also possible that Placido Polanco was dropped in your league. Now Polanco isn’t going to steal bases for you, and he isn’t going to hit 20 homers, but at a weak power position like 2B, sometimes a great average and a little bit of pop is enough. Polanco has raised his average 60 points since the beginning of May, and is on the cusp of surpassing the .300 mark.

While the headlines will go to C.C. Sabathia, who threw another shutout tonight, looking a little further will show that Twins’ pitcher Scott Baker threw a gem as well. Baker had his second straight quality start, as he went seven innings and allowed only one run. Baker has never really had any success in his major league career, so I would suggest to not jump on Baker’s bandwagon after this good start.

Ok, for the very few of you who are still holding on to Dontrelle Willis remembering the good old days, it is time to let go! After yesterday’s horrendous performance, the D-Train was sent all the way down to Class-A. It will be quite a while before he is seen in Detroit again.

Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit got back to his home run hitting on Tuesday as he blasted two out in just his fourth game back from the disabled list. If you are struggling at catcher, Doumit is a great option to have as a free agent addition. He could hit 20-22 HRs this year and drive in 70 runs.

It appears to have become customary for the Blue Jays’ starters to pitch the whole game. Tonight, Dustin McGowan threw the ninth complete game by a Toronto starter, as he almost blanked Mariners 3-1. Owning any of the five Blue Jays starters are a great option to have on your staff, and McGowan is following up his good 2007 with another solid campaign.

Tonight, the Reds’ prospect Homer Bailey officially fell off my cool list. His name has been passed around as the next big thing for three of four years now, and so far I haven’t seen squat! Bailey allowed five runs in 3.2 innings and walked four. Bailey has shown consistency that few young pitchers do. He has been consistently awful! Wait for him to throw multiple great starts before you think about adding him to your roster.

Clayton Kershaw is showing some improvements from his first couple shaky starts, although his control is still an issue. Kershaw went 5.1 innings, allowed two earned and struck out five. He did walk four batters, however, but his transition to the majors has been pretty decent. Continue to keep him on your roster if you picked him up.

Albert Pujols left tonight’s game with a strained calf that forced teammates to have to carry him from the field. Pujols had already been nursing this injury, but now it seems that it may have been injured more seriously. No word yet if he is DL-bound, but he was going to be sent back to St. Louis for tests, so expect him to at least miss the next few games, but it looked like it might be much worse.

After two really good starts, Brett Myers went right back to his inconsistent self and threw a bomb. Myers allowed five earned in 5.1 innings and walked four and gave up three home runs. You have to keep throwing Myers because of his potential, but just make sure you have the Tums by the computer when checking the boxscore.

Article written by Ryan Hallam of www.fightingchancefantasy.com.