4/2 Recap

I got to enjoy freezing for hours while watching the Cubs be killed by the Brewers. Those Brewers, very likable. Not that you care, or can even name the Cubs shortstop. On to the important stuff.

Royals 4, Tigers 0
Where to start here? Brian Bannister had a pretty quiet good year last year, but I'm guessing after this start, many leagues will have him picked up, as he should be. An ERA around 4 and 10 wins is reasonable. Grudzielanek continues his hot start, and it's nice to see Joey Gathright in for AL Only Roto enemy David DeJesus, even if it's against a lefty. Renteria had all the hits for the Tigers. I thought he was overrated going into the draft, but leading off he has considerably more damange. Not that this Tiger team will score any runs. You have to be encouraged by Rogers' start. Nothing brilliant, but all around good. He should be owned in every league. More pen trouble for the Tigers, which is much more concerning than the lack of offense. Spring stud Pudge is hitting .125 on the young season, further discrediting spring stats.

Boston 5, Oakland 0
It's never been a question of whether Rich Harden was a stud. He did the same thing last year though, I just don't have any faith in him. Sell high, but I still don't think you'll get full value on him. Not to be outdone, Jon Lester shuts the A's out for 6.2 innings. Pitching has been spectacular this year. Steroids redux? Street gave up another run, I don't feel great about him this year either. For the Sox, Crisp plays over Ellsbury again. I really didn't see this coming. Not really sure if they're playing him to increase his value, especially in front of a team that has been rumored to be intersted in him or what. Either way, this platoon definitely doesn't help Ellsbury. David Ortiz was 2-4 with a bomb after the worst start to his career. No worries about Papi.

Blue Jays 5, Yankees 2
You know there's got to be something up when Mike Mussina is turning in almost respectable outings. Arod finally hit a homer in the second game of the year. Looks like the Jays are going to be running this year, with that speedster Scutaro getting caught. Vernon Wells hits a bomb, I really don't know what to think of him this year. This is a good sign though. I'm surprised Giambi is getting so much play time, and hitting 5 behind Arod. That's an intentional walk if I ever saw one. Also, I'm a big Shannon Stewart fan. He won't be a stud or anything, but he can put up similar numbers to Melky Cabrera, who went much higher than him in drafts. Monitor his play time. Accardo got the save, so owners enjoy it, because I think Ryan is getting the vast majority of them.

O's 9, Rays 6
Finally, some bad pitching. Garza, who was really hot all spring, faced the hapless O's and got shelled. I still like him a lot from here on out though. Cliff Floyd hits a bomb and futher kills Jonny Gomes' chances of fantasy impact. Also, Pena owners must be feeling a little relieved after he hit one out. I don't think he was a fluke. Aubrey Huff was falling pretty far in lot of drafts, but he had a strong second half and should be a solid player this year too. In the Adam Jones watch, he steals his first base. George Sherrill picks up the save, but walks two to go along with the two Ks. Not the best start, but I can't see anyone replacing him.

Indians 7, White Sox 2
Vazquez is one of the guys I really wanted this year but didn't get. Don't panic. Carmona picked up where he left off, although the 4 BBs is a lot for him, especially against the Sox. Ozzie stuck with Ramirez, who had a hit and a walk, so maybe he will actually give him a good look. I think everyone is curious to what he can do. I like Hafner a lot as a strong bounce back candidate, he easily has top 5 numbers in him, not really sure what happened last year. Grady has another great game, he's pretty clear cut the #4 player in fantasy at this point.

Angels 1, Twins 0
More great pitching. I have to say, I'm pretty happy about this one. Saunders was one of my late round sleepers and I started him against the Twins, who are one of those teams that if you have a decent option, I'd start him. This will probably be Saunders' best start of the year, so bask in the glory if you started him. I am. He needs to be owned, he's going to be in the rotation all year and good for 12 wins. Nick Blackburn was equally impressive, the 6 K's stick out. He wasn't a huge K guy in the minors, but I'd keep an eye on him. I seriosuly considered dropping Guthrie for him, but I'm not convinced yet. Good to see Torri Hunter finally get some hits. No worries about him either. Looks like Monroe will get all the lefty at bats while Kubel gets the righties. Monroe is known for bashing lefties, but really I'd rather have Kubel in there full time. Not much else to say about the Twins, who were shut down, other than Gomez continues his hot start with another hit, although the two strikeouts could be a sign of things to come. I think a .280 average is his upside, with a .260 more likely.

Mariners 4, Rangers 1
Big news out of Seattle is Putz is going on the DL with some unpronoucable side injury. So the question is who gets the saves? Everyone is betting on Mark Lowe, who wasn't available tonight, so I was expecting Sean Green to get the chance. Wrong! None other than Miguel Batista picks it up, their 5th starter. That was a shocker. Once upon a time, he had closing experience. I can't imagine them sticking with him, but you never know. At this time, Lowe should be grabbed, and maybe even Batista? Watch Green, but it seems like if they were going to use him, it would have been tonight. Jason Jennings put in a pretty typical Jennings outing, I don't have high hopes for him. Carlos Silva earns his $48 million in what will probably be his best start of the year too. Not a bad end of the rotation option. Sleeper Broussard hits a bomb, I really like him going forward. He's going to have very similar numbers to Casey Kotchman, lower average, more power though.

Update: I picked up Miguel Batista at the expense of Sean Green. I really don't know if he's going to get any more save opps, but if Green was, it was going to be tonight. The M's could aways turn to Cha-Seung Baek in the rotation. That would be exciting for other teams.