Jonathan Lee - AccuScore Analyst

Eight starts, eight wins.  Might as well hand over the National League Cy Young over to Brandon Webb right now.  The Arizona right-hander threw a complete game against the Phillies giving up just three earned runs while striking out four.  He’s the first pitcher in the NL to win his first eight starts since Pedro Martinez did it back in 1997.  Backed by an excellent offense and bullpen, Webb is the best pitcher in fantasy. 

Don't even try to hit Brandon Webb. 

- Fellow ace Josh Beckett had a dominating outing himself throwing 7 shutout innings against the Tigers and topped the 1,000 K milestone for his career.  Justin Verlander lost again to fall to just 1-6 on the year, and it has not been pretty.  His ERA is now 6.43 for the year.  His stuff seems to be there, and there is no apparent injury.  If he (or the coaching staff) can figure out what’s wrong either mentally or mechanically, he could be a great buy-low candidate.

- Troy Percival blew his first save of the year giving up three runs in the ninth to waste a terrific outing by Edwin Jackson.  It was the first runs allowed by Percival all year, and his last six outings before Thursday all ended in saves.  There’s no reason to worry about Tampa’s closer, words that have never before been typed in the history of fantasy.  Jackson walked just one hitter while scattering six hits over eight innings.  His arm has always been special, and he is still inexperienced pitching-wise.  It just seems as if he’s been around forever; he’s still just 24 years old.

- Like Jackson, Daniel Cabrera has always flashed special talent, but has never been able to put it together consistently.  Fantasy owners know that control is Cabrera’s Achilles heel.  Well, he found it against the Royals throwing a complete game, but more importantly with 7 K’s and just 1 walk.  Cabrera has walked two or fewer batters in half his outings so far so he may be finally figuring it out.  Or he might just be lying in wait to blow up your WHIP.  Nobody knows with this guy, but it certainly something to monitor.  Cabrera is the ultimate fantasy tease. 

- Don’t look now but Ryan Zimmerman is 8-14 over the last three games with 4 runs, and 2 homers.  He has raised his batting average 35 points in just those three contests to .252.  Buy low on him definitely.

- Michael Bourn stole two more bases to push his season total to 15.  He’s on pace for about 75 steals, but he’s batting just .197 so he wouldn’t last in the lineup long enough to swipe that many bags.  However, looking at Houston’s depth chart shows Darin Erstad and Jose Cruz Jr. as the back-up outfielders.  They would be great options to replace Bourn if this were the year 2000.  It’s not, so I guess Bourn will keep playing (but only because he sucks less than the alternatives).  He’s obviously super-fast so if you need the steals, play him and hope he figures out how to get on base better than a .277 clip.  Just goes to show that you can be terrible in real life, but still hold value in fantasy.

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