Fantasy Baseball: Friday’s Roto Roundup
The Mets stay hot and beat the Phillies in Philadelphia on Friday night behind lefty Jonathan Niese. And Cliff Lee was throwing bee-bees at the time of this writing. I wonder if GM Ruben Amaro has second-guessed himself for dealing Lee in the offseason?
Here are my thoughts after reviewing Friday's boxscores:
Brewers' first baseman Prince Fielder is slugging .385 in 2010. .385!! That will change soon.
Padres starter Clayton Richard held the Brewers to 4 hits and 3 walks in 6 innings while striking out 8. He lowered his ERA to 3.00. He should be available in mjxed leagues.
In his first outing since returning from the DL, Mariners' starter Cliff Lee gave up 3 hits in 7 innings while striking out 8 vs. the Rangers. Not bad. The Phillies gave him up for Phillipe Aumont and Tyson Gillies.
Rockies outfielder/infielder Eric Young stole his 3rd base on Friday night. The Rockies will use him all over the field as long as he can get on base. He is currently getting on base at a .533 clip which won't last, but he provides spark at the top of the Rockies lineup, and should take over at 2B for Clint Barmes in due time.
Chase Utley is hitting .275 with 6 HRs, 15 RBIs and just 1 SB. How many fantasy owners expected Utley to steal more bases this season?
Mets lefty Jonathan Niese held the Phillies to 4 hits and a walk in 7 innings while striking out 7. He lowered his ERA to 3.10 while winning his first game of the season. Are the Phillies going to be vulnerable to mediocre lefties all season?
Indians outfielder went 2-5 with 3 strikeouts on Friday and is hitting just .205-.276-.308 on the season. How many fantasy owners expected more from Sizemore at this point?
In his return from a hamstring injury, Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman went 3-4 with 2 HRs off of Ricky Nolasco, and drove in 3 runs. Zimmerman is good.
Nationals starter Scott Olsen won his second straight start, holding the Marlins to 5 hits in 6 shutout innings. Has he become ownable in NL-only leagues?
Rays starter Jeff Nieman held the Royals to 1 run in 7+ innings. He gave up 3 hits, 4 walks and struck out 3 in lowering his ERA to 2.76. Do starting pitchers grow on trees in Tampa?
The Brewers used reliever Carlos Villaneuva in a game they were losing 3-0. Would he be a candidate to close should the Brewers make a change? Not so sure now. I guess Latroy Hawkins would be first in line, but ESPN's Keith Law thinks Manny Parra could fill the role capably. His stats out of the bullpen look better than they do as a starter.
