Injuries:

Joe Blanton will start the year on the disabled list and miss 3-6 weeks with an oblique injury. The move opens a spot for Kyle Kendrick in the rotation.  Kendrick has a 1.66 ERA with eight strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings thus far in spring.

Huston Street stopped his throwing program after experiencing some issues on Wednesday which likely puts him out until sometime in May. Franklin Morales is the favorite for saves while Street is out of action.

Marc Rzepczynski fractured a finger on his pitching hand and will possibly miss up to six weeks. Rzepczynski had a 6.10 ERA in 20 2/3 innings with 14 strikeouts.

Brandon Webb still looks to be on track for a return in May after meeting with the team doctor and receiving no bad news in regards to his recent MRI.

Daniel Murphy will miss 2-6 weeks after spraining his knee. Mike Jacobs will fill in at first base with top prospect Ike Davis lurking in the wings. Davis will present an interesting challenge for those in FAAB leagues if he is recalled the first week of the season.

Ian Kinsler is still recovering from his sprained ankle and could begin the season on the disabled list, returning around the middle of April.

Lance Berkman, recovering from recent knee surgery, will begin the season on the disabled list and likely miss the first two weeks of the season.

Brad Lidge will begin the season on the disabled list since his elbow has not responded well from surgery. Ryan Madson will take over as closer in his absence.

Hitters:

It looks like Chris Johnson will see some time at third base against left-handed pitching while Lance Berkman is on the disabled list with Pedro Feliz sliding over to first base. Johnson is hitting .383 in spring with six home runs and 17 RBI in 53 at bats

Willy Taveras looks set to begin the year in a platoon role, hitting against left-handed pitching. That gives him some value in N.L. only leagues with the potential for 200+ at bats and 15-20 stolen bases.

I have a sneaky suspicion that Jim Edmonds ends the season with close to 400 at bats. I originally thought he might split time with Carlos Gomez, but the the way Corey Hart is hitting (.158 batting average), or should I say not hitting, it looks like Edmonds might platoon with him and as the left-handed hitter, he would see the majority of at bats. Edmonds is hitting .360 with 12 RBI in 44 at bats.

The injury to Russell Branyan makes Michael Brantley the starting left fielder for the Cleveland Indians. Brantley should have a solid batting average and could steal anywhere from 15-30 bases depending on how many at bats he gets this season.

Starting Rotations:

The Toronto Blue Jays have awarded the final two spots in their rotation to Dana Eveland and Brian Tallet. Brett Cecil was sent to Triple-A. Eveland has a 1.23 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 22 innings, while Tallet has a 5.06 ERA and 11 K’s in 16 innings.

The Cincinnati Reds won’t need a 5th starter until April 11th but it looks like Mike Leake might have pulled into the lead after his most recent outing. Leake has worked 18 innings with a 3.00 ERA and 10 strikeouts. Travis Wood meanwhile has a 3.50 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 18 innings but with 12 walks. Aroldis Chapman has a 1.69 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings, but has allowed seven walks.

Mat Latos won the 5th starter job with the San Diego Padres. No surprise there as he has the most talent of anyone on their staff. The only downside to him is the possible innings limitation in the 150-170 range. Latos currently has a 1.59 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 17 innings.

2010 Arizona Diamondbacks Projected Batting Order:

1.  SS Stephen Drew (ADP 109)
2.  LF Conor Jackson (ADP 299)
3.  RF Justin Upton (ADP 24)
4.  1B Adam LaRoche (ADP 169)
5.  3B Mark Reynolds (ADP 18 )
6.  C Miguel Montero (ADP 143)
7.  2B Kelly Johnson (ADP 272)
8.  CF Chris Young (ADP 306)

2010 Arizona Diamondbacks Projected Rotation & Bullpen:

1.  Dan Haren (ADP 41)
2.  Edwin Jackson (ADP 168)
3.  Brandon Webb (ADP 145)
4.  Ian Kennedy (ADP 422)
5.  Billy Buckner / Kevin Mulvey (ADP ND / ND)

Closer – Chad Qualls (ADP 209)
Handcuff – Bob Howry

2010 Arizona Diamondbacks Prospects with potential impact this year:

1.  Brandon Allen  – 1B

This is the second part of the 2010 fantasy baseball rankings looking at the  group of starting pitchers ranked 21-40.

21) Clayton Kershaw – much like Yovani Gallardo, had struggles with control and made it through six innings in only 16 of 31 starts. Much better in second half of season when he posted  2.27 ERA and 1.16 WHIP with a 10.9 K/9 ratio. Allowed only seven home runs in 171 innings. Won’t take the next step until he improves his command.

22) Javier Vazquez – current fantasy baseball ADP has him much higher as the 11th starting pitcher. People I guess are not adjusting his numbers with the move back to the much tougher American League East. I guess people also forgot what his line was the last time he pitched in New York, when he posted a 4.91 ERA with a 1.29 WHIP. Still will be good for strikeouts and wins, but ERA and WHIP will will be much higher than it was last year.

23) Ricky Nolasco – Tumultuous first half that saw him sent down to the minor leagues for awhile. Much better after the All-Star break with a 4.39 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. Improved strikeout rate to 10 per nine innings in the second half.

24) Chad Billingsley – first half was vintage Billingsley with 3.38 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. Numbers blew up in July and September to skew the final totals. Expect a rebound back to 2008 levels.

25) Wandy Rodriguez – was dominant at home, posting a 2.08 ERA and 1.06 WHIP versus 4.05 and 1.44 on the road, which was similar to his 2008 season as well. Really underrated in fantasy baseball terms as he’s passed over in fantasy baseball drafts for people with more name recognition. Good chance you will be able to land him a round or two later than you should.

26) Brandon Webb – underwent shoulder surgery in August. Started throwing in November and has not reported any problems or setbacks.  As more news comes out in spring training, I would expect him to start slowly moving up owners’ draft boards.

27) Jair Jurrjens – despite his great 2009 campaign, a few smalls signs of concern. Ground ball rate dropped by nine percentage points, walk rate is still a little high at three batters per game and his ERA will be higher in 2010. On the positive side, he improved against right-handed hitters, limiting batters to a .212 batting average, which was an improvement of 48 points from 2008.

28) Ryan Dempster – numbers regressed slightly in 2009 as batters started to figure him out a little more in his second season as a starter. Improved his walk rate for a fourth straight season. ERA should be around the same in 2010 but WHIP ratio should go down a few ticks.

29) Brett Anderson – just 21 last season and showed improvement the second half of the year. Had practically the same number of innings pitched both halves; boosted his strikeouts by 22 in the second half and almost cut his home run rate in half. Keeps going higher in mock drafts ever week so a guy that started out as a potential sleeper pick is now to the point of being almost  overrated with how much owners are moving him up their draft boards.

30) James Shields – became easier to hit in 2009 giving up an extra 23 points in batting average. First half of the season he had a 3.77 ERA and 1.28 WHIP ratio. Became prone to the long ball after the All-Star break, allowing 17 home runs in 90 2/3 innings and ERA rose to 4.67.

31) Jered Weaver – Was not able to maintain his excellent first half as he was hit hard after the All-Star break. Batting average against was 53 points higher in half two. Needs to build up endurance to be able to make it through 200 innings without impacting his performance later in the season.

32) John Lackey – not a lock for 200 innings after missing a month and half the last two seasons with injuries. His 2008 and 2009 seasons were pretty similar stat wise. Just know that wins and strikeouts have downside with the injury risk he carries.

33) Matt Garza – made some gains in 2009, boosting his strikeout rate by 2.2 per nine innings. Needs to improve his numbers on the road and outside of the division to make the next jump. ERA and WHIP at Tropicana Field were 3.24 and 1.20 versus 4.85 and 1.34 on the road. Went 6-3 against the American League East and was 2-9 versus the rest of the league.

34) Scott Baker – maintained his strikeout rate from 2008. Unlucky in first half with a low strand rate that accounted for the high ERA. Second half was much better with a 3.28 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. WHIP should always be solid with his ability to limit walks.

35) Gavin Floyd – ERA and WHIP were pretty close in 2008 and 2009. Downside was the loss of six wins going from 17 down to 11. That’s what happens when you lose almost 2.5 runs per game of support. Did make a noticeable step forward in strikeouts. Bumped up his swing and miss percent of strikes by three percentage points in ’09.

36) Max Scherzer – move to American League means some of the gains he would of made in ERA and WHIP in second full season may now appear flat numbers wise. Will get his share of strikeouts; just needs to be a little more consistent from start to start to get to the next level.

37) A.J. Burnett – piles up strikeouts and will get wins with the New York Yankees, but the rising WHIP ratio hurts a fantasy staff. Despite being healthy the last two seasons, still has some injury risk to him after missing two months in 2006 and again in 2007.

38) Roy Oswalt – battled through back problems in 2009 and the stats suffered. Passed on surgery and opted for a new workout routine to strengthen his core muscles. Watch for news in spring training to see if he is fully healthy.

39) John Danks – ERA and WHIP were similar in both halves of the 2009 season, but strikeouts fell way of in second half as K rate per nine dropped by 2.4. Have to figure that the blister and circulatory problem he had in July affected him the rest of the year.

40) David Price – came alive after the All-Star break, with a 4.27 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP ratio. But what happened to the strikeouts? His 5.9 K/9 rate the second half was a far cry from his 9.0 rate in the minor leagues. Command dramatically improved in the second half going from seven walks per nine innings down to just 2.7.

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Next up in the series for the 2010 fantasy baseball rankings will be starting pitchers 41-60.

Here are some news and notes regarding injuries as you set your lineup today for the upcoming week. Closer Joakim Soria tested his sore shoulder on Sunday and the Kansas City Royals hope he will be available by mid week. If you own Juan Cruz, this would be the week to play him in attempts to pick up a save or two…..Keep an eye on the Seattle Mariners bullpen as closer Brandon Morrow has some shoulder stiffness. David Aardsma should be active for next week as he could see a save opportunity…..Shawn Hill of the San Diego Padres was placed on the 15-day disabled list with an inflamed elbow. Josh Greer will get the start in his place this week. Because Greer was used in relief of Hill on Saturday, Chad Gaudin could be recalled from Triple-A to start on Tuesday….Chicago White Sox second baseman Chris Getz could land on the disabled list with a fractured bone in his finger so keep him reserved for this upcoming week…..Stephen Drew of the Arizona Diamondbacks was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained hamstring. Augie Ojeda will fill in for Drew…..Milwaukee Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman was activated from the disabled list and should return to the closer role immediately so it should be safe to activate him for this week…..Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained finger. Ramon Vazquez should see time there along with recent call up Brian Bixler…..Shortstop Julio Lugo of the Boston Red Sox will be activated from the disabled list in time to play on Monday and should return to the starting lineup…..Phil Hughes will get the start on Tuesday for the New York Yankees in place of Chien-Ming Wang against the Detroit Tigers…..Although it does not impact games for next week, Diamondbacks starter Brandon Webb will miss at the minimum six more weeks of action worth a right shoulder strain…..In other fantasy baseball news from around the diamond on Sunday…

National League:

Shane Victorino went 2 for 5 with 4 RBI to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 13-2 win over the Florida Marlins. Jamie Moyer allowed one run in six innings with six strikeouts to pick up his third victory of the season…..Jay Bruce hit two home runs and drive in four runs to power the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-2 win over the Atlanta Braves. Joey Votto added two doubles and three RBI. Micah Owings allowed one run in seven innings with six strikeouts for his first victory of the season…..Rookie Jordan Zimmermann allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings with five strikeouts to help the Washington Nationals defeat the New York Mets 8-1. Jesus Flores hit his second home run of the season and drove in three runs. Austin Kearns added his third long ball of the year. Oliver Perez allowed seven runs in 4 1/3 innings for the Mets and his rotation spot may be in jeopardy…..Ivan Rodriguez hit a solo home run to give the Houston Astros a 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Manny Parra took the loss for Milwaukee and is now 0-3…..Rich Harden allowed two runs in six innings and struck out nine to pitch the Chicago Cubs past the St. Louis Cardinals 10-3. Kosuke Fukudome hit his fourth home run of the season and is now batting .371. Alfonso Soriano added his third stolen base of the year. Rick Ankiel and Yadier Molina each hit their second home run of the season for the Cardinals…..Ryan Spillborghs hit his first home run of the season and drove in three runs in the Colorado Rockies 10-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Clint Barmes added his third home run of the year for the Rockies. Clayton Kershaw was hit hard in his second consecutive start, allowing nine runs in 4 2/3 innings…..Adam LaRoche hit two home runs with 4 RBI to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-3 victory over the San Diego Padres. Ross Ohlendorf allowed three runs in seven innings to pick up the victory. Jake Peavy had his second straight sub par performance for the Padres, allowing five runs in five innings. Adrian Gonzalez hit his seventh home run of the year for San Diego…..Matt Cain allowed one run in seven innings for the San Francisco Giants, but saw his win blown by closer Brian Wilson who allowed three runs in the ninth innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Pablo Sandoval went 4 for 4 with 3 RBI and his first home run of the year.Justin Upton hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning to send the game to extra frames for the D-Backs.

American League:

Aaron Laffey allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings to pitch he Cleveland Indians past the Minnesota Twins 4-1. Carlos Gomez continues to disappoint for the Minnesota Twins, going 0 for 2 on Sunday, dropping his average to .195. Gomez has not stolen a base since he stole two back on April 11…..The top three hitters atop the Baltimore Orioles lineup remain on fire as they combined for 6 RBI in the Baltimore Orioles 8-5 defeat of the Texas Rangers. Brian Roberts (.372) hit his second home run of the season and Adam  Jones (.348) added his third with 3 RBI. Nick Markakis (.389) added two RBI giving him 21 for the season. Chris Davis and Hank Blalock each hit home run number five for the Rangers…..Roy Halladay picked up his 4th win of the season in the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox. Halladay allowed three runs in seven innings with six strikeouts. Scott Downs picked up his second save of the season. Alexei Ramirez stole his third base of the year for the White Sox…..Armando Galarraga allowed one run in six innings with seven strikeouts in the Detroit Tigers 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals. Brandon Inge hit his seventh home run of the season and Josh Anderson stole his sixth base of the year for the Tigers. Mike Aviles hit his first home run of the year for the Royals…..Jered Weaver hurled seven scoreless innings to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 8-0 shutout of the Seattle Mariners. Howie Kendrick went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI and his second home run of the season and Juan Rivera added his first long ball of the year  for the Angels. Dana Eveland allowed one run in five innings in the Oakland Athletics 7-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Catcher Kurt Suzuki drove in three runs for the A’s. Andy Sonnanstine allowed seven runs in four innings for the Rays and could be in danger of losing his rotation spot once David Price is recalled from Triple-A.

The marquee matchup in the National League lived up to its billing on Sunday. Josh Johnson out dueled John Santana as the Florida Marlins beat the New York Mets 2-1. Johnson struck out seven in nine innings. Santana fanned 13 in seven innings, allowing two unearned runs. In other fantasy baseball news of significance, Arizona Diamondbacks starter Brandon Webb was placed on the disabled list after feeling soreness playing catch on Sunday. Now on to the rest of major league baseball from Sunday’s action…

National League:

Three names serve as a reminder early on why it is not worth using a high draft pick on a pitcher in a fantasy baseball league draft. Brandon Webb, Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum. Lincecum was not good again on Sunday as allowed 13 runners in 5 1/3 innings against the San Diego Padres. On the flip side, Chris Young, who was brutal in spring, tossed seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts for his second win of the year. Nick Hundley went 4 for 4 for the Padres and Chase Headley hit his second home run of the year. Randy Winn stole his third base of the season for the San Francisco Giants…..Aaron Harang looked more like his 2007 self, throwing a nine inning shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates, while striking out nine. Brandon Phillips hit his first home run for the Cincinnati Reds and Willy Taveras stole his first base of the season…..The Washington Nationals fell to 0-6 on the season after an 8-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves. Rafael Soriano picked up the save for the Braves. Tom Glavine left his minor league start in AA after two innings with shoulder discomfort…..St. Louis Cardinals Kyle Lohse threw a complete game shutout against the Houston Astros. Shortstop Khalil Greene went 3 for 4 for the Cardinals with a stolen base.  It could be a long season for the Astros who are now 1-5. I went to the Round Rock Express game today, Houston’s AAA team, and there is no immediate help on the way…..The Philadelphia Phillis rallied for four runs in the final two innings to defeat the Colorado Rockies 7-5.  Manny Corpas and Huston Street both gave up two run home runs in their innings of work to contribute to the loss. Rookie Dexter Fowler hit his second home run for the Rockies. With Seth Smith struggling to hit, Fowler could be in line for more playing time. Chase Utley hit his first home run for the Phillies and stole his second base of the year. Utley is now hitting .476 on the season…..Randy Wolf allowed one run in seven innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1. Juan Pierre stole his first base of the season for the Dodgers. Justin Upton sat the bench for the D-Backs again and could be in danger of being sent to AAA. Upton has five strikeouts in his nine at bats this season.

American League:

Travis Hafner hit his third home run of the season as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 8-4. Kevin Millwood of the Texas Rangers turned in his second strong outing of the year, tossing seven shutout innings with six strikeouts. He was denied the win when the Detroit Tigers rallied for six runs in the eight innings, sparked by Brandon Inge who hit his 4th home run of the season….. Evan Longoria hit his 5th home run of the year and stole his first base to help lead the Tampa Bay Rays to an 11-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Akinori Iwamura stole his third base of the year for the Rays…..Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye hit home runs to lead the Chicago White Sox over the Minnesota Twins. Mark Buerhle got his first win of the year, allowing one run in 6 1/3 innings…..Joba Chamberlain made his debut for the New York Yankees, allowing one run in six innings with five strikeouts in a 6-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals. Brett Gardner stole his second base of the year for the Yankees. John Buck went 3 for 4 for the Roals with a home run and 3 RBI. Yankess first basemen Mark Teixeira sat out his second consecutive game with a sore left wrist…..Vladimir Guerrero hit his first home run and Chone Figgins stole his fifth base of the season as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Boston Red Sox 5-4. Dustin Pedroia stole his second base for the Boston Red Sox…..Erik Bedard threw 8 1/3 shutout innings with seven strikeouts in a 1-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics. Davis Aardsma got his second save of the season. Rookie Trevor Cahill was much better in his second start allowing one run and two hits in seven innings.