by Todd Lammi
Very sad news today in the world of sports today as Los Angeles Angels rookie starting pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a car accident Thursday morning. Adenhart, 22, was the starting pitcher against the Oakland Athletics last night and had thrown six shutout innings.
In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Wednesday…
American League:
Derek Jeter went yard for the New York Yankees who are still looking for their first win of the season. Koji Uehara was solid in his first start for the Baltimore Orioles, but where are the strikeouts?….Zach Miner got the win for the Detroit Tigers thanks in part to Brandon Inge, who hit his third home run of the season. Did I mention that he hits better as an infielder? Miguel Cabrera hit two home runs for the Tigers. I expect a monster season from Cabrera this season as he should league the American League in rbi…..Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria both went deep for the Tampa Bay Rays. Nice to see Rocco Baldeill make it back, as he started in right field for the Boston Red Sox…..Fausto Carmona, err, not a good start with the Cleveland Indians. Nelson Cruz for the Texas Rangers hit two home runs and stole a base. Elvis Andrus even chipped in with a home run; that is pure gravy if you own him….Kevin Slowey got the win for the Minnesota Twins, although his line was not that pretty. Denard Span has put his awful spring behind him and is off to a good start in week one, slugging his first home run of the season…..Zack Greinke looked sharp for the Kansas City Royals as did Gavin Floyd for the Chicago White Sox. Note on Gavin Floyd, his strikeouts were up in spring training and in his first start, this may be the season he kicks up his strikeout rate up a notch.
National League:
The Florida Marlins continued to roll. Emilio Bonifacio stole his fourth base of the season. Chris Volstad struck out 7 in 5 innings of work. Closer Matt Lindstrom looked shaky, loading the bases with one out before getting out of the jam. Elijah Dukes got his first start of the year in center field over Lastings Milledge for the Washington Nationals…..If you had game three in the Chipper Jones injury pool, you are a winner as Chipper sat with a bruised left thumb. Jordan Schafer hit his second home run of the season. Don’t get too excited thinking he is going to hit 30+ home runs, his career high in the minor leagues was 10. Dexter Fowler got the start in center field for the Colorado Rockies and hit his first home run in the major leagues. Manager Clint Hurdle said Fowler will see time against left-handed pitching and some right handers so I see Fowler getting 300-350 at bats…..New year, different result for Edison Volquez as he struggled against the New York Mets. I see some downside to Volquez who had a stellar year last year. Downside as in not likely to repeat last year’s numbers because they were just too good. There is always some regression to the mean…..Alfonso Soriano stole his frst base of the year for the Chicago Cubs. Jeff Keppinger got the start at 3b for the Houston Astros. He is a good free agent pickup in NL only leagues as he should see time against left-handed starters. How bad is the Astros staff that Russ Ortiz is on it?….David Freese got the start at 3b for the St. Louis Cardinals as manager Tony La Russa tries to set a major league record for having a different starting third basemen for every game of the season. Zach Duke who had a respectable spring for the Pittsburgh Pirates had a good first start…..Rule 5 pick Everth Cabrera got the start at shortstop for the San Diego Padres. I like Cabrera in NL only leagues as he has a chance to steal 15-20 bases this season in a reserve role. The best reliever in the National League (sorry K-Rod) Jonathan Broxton got his second save of the season for the Los Angeles Dodgers…..Yovani Gallardo (love him!) got the first win of the year for the Milwaukee Brewers. Gallardo should be good for close to 200 strikeouts this season health permitting.
