| Down Goes Big Papi |
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It’s official: David Ortiz is on the DL. Many fans and fantasy owners worried about injury with Ortiz due to a slow start, but most of the concern was about his legs. It was revealed that the big designated hitter has a partially torn tendon in his left wrist. For all the concerns, Ortiz had been leading the Red Sox in home runs (13) and RBI (43). Surgery is an unlikely option. Manny Ramirez has been filling in at DH with Coco Crisp and Jeff Bailey making starts in the outfield. Crisp will probably benefit the most since the Sox will want to utilize his terrific defensive abilities on most nights. Ramirez homered for the third straight game Thursday, but Boston still lost to Baltimore 6-3. Hideki Okajima blew his fifth save of the year giving up four runs jumping his ERA from 0.72 to 2.10. • Rookie Justin Masterson was called up to fill in for the injured Dice-K and will start Tuesday against Tampa Bay. He has spot started twice already this season against the Royals and Angels, and has been fantastic. Masterson has thrown 12.1 innings and has allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits and 9 strikeouts. His control is not great as he has walked seven batters, but he is still just 23 years old. He is definitely spot start worthy in all but the most shallow fantasy leagues. • Joba Chamberlain will debut in the starting rotation Tuesday, but the Yankees sure could have used him Monday against the Twins. New York twice coughed up leads with Kyle Farnsworth, the new set-up man, giving up three hits, a walk, and the game-winning run. In the same game Delmon Young stroked three doubles, but still has yet to hit a home run which greatly limits his fantasy value. • The Atlanta bullpen is close to becoming whole, but it didn’t work out perfectly Monday night. John Smoltz was activated from the disabled list and pitched with a lead in the ninth, but blew the save giving up two runs on three hits and no strikeouts. A fielding help compounded the problems, but the Braves came back to win in the 10th as Florida closer Kevin Gregg blew a save as well. • Mark Teixeira smacked his fourth homer in five games. He has 11 RBI over that span and has raised his average almost 30 points in the last two weeks. Anticipate a huge second half, and try and pry him loose from opposing owners now citing the slightly lower than expected overall numbers. • Chase Utley is in the midst of the greatest offensive season by a second baseman ever. No player at his position has hit for this kind of power as Utley leads the majors with 21 home runs, and he has twice this season hit home runs in 5 straight games. Amazing. • Superman, err I mean Jay Bruce, went 2-4 with yet another home run and hit third in the lineup. The hype machine is completely out of control with no end in sight. Ken Griffey Jr. got the night off and will have to wait at least another night to get his 600th home run. • The Dodgers finally broke out of a prolonged hitting slump smacking three home runs in a thumping of the Rockies. They had hit just five home runs combined in the previous 14 games. Matt Kemp led the way hitting just his fourth home run of the year, and two doubles. His upside is still sky-high, a great guy to target in keeper/multi-year leagues. Derek Lowe gave up a run in the first inning, but breezed through the injury-depleted Colorado lineup without a blemish for the next seven. • Prince Fielder hit the game winning home run against Arizona, and stole a base for good measure. The lack of power has frustrated fantasy owners all season so hopefully this is a sign of things to come. He is still projected for 33 by AccuScore simulations. That is a decent total, but fantasy players expected more, and he was projected for nearly 50 in the preseason. • The Angels haven’t scored more than four runs since getting 10 on May 18, a span of 13 games. Despite the lack of offense, they have won nine times during this low-scoring streak. Strong pitching with the return of ace John Lackey has helped, and Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders continue their early season success. Santana beat the Mariners on Monday 4-2 scattering 6 hits in 7.2 innings giving up just 2 runs. It was his eighth win of the year and his ERA is now a sparkling 3.02. Trackback(0)
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Jonathan Lee AccuScore Analyst
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