Fantasy: Covering the Bases

10. August 2008  - Published by Dan Clasgens

STUDS OF THE WEEK
At least Carlos Lee's owners were treated to an amazing week before possibly losing their star slugger for the season to a broken pinkie. He mustered 12 hits in his 23 at bats leading up to the injury on Saturday, including 3 HRs and 11 RBIs. Daisuke Matsuzaka threw his longest outing of the season on Saturday night to beat the White Sox. Over his past two starts he is 2-0 with 14 IP, 1.93 ERA, and 0.93 WHIP. Add to that 15 K's and Dice-K made his owners very happy!

DUDS OF THE WEEK
The All-Star game seems much longer than a month ago, at least for Aaron Cook. The Rockies' starter got shelled again on Saturday night, allowing allowed six runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Cook has a 7.36 ERA in his last three starts and looks like himself again. So much for Adam Dunn stepping up with Griffey out. In his first full week of playing without Junior in his career, Dunn batted .154 and struck out 9 times in 28 plate appearences while failing to drive in a single run.


KEY INJURIES
Carlos Lee (finger) - might be out for the season
Ryan Braun (back) - day-to-day; did not play again on SUN
Orlando Hudson (wrist) - had season-ending surgery
Joba Chamberlain (shoulder) - best case is a late-August return
Carl Crawford (hand) - placed on 15-day DL on Sunday
Tim Wakefield (shoulder) - expected to be headed to DL
Billy Wagner (forearm) - eligbible to return on 8/18
Brad Lidge (shoulder) - risky play for Fantasy Week 20
Rick Ankiel (abdominal) - has been unable to play field
Evan Longoria (wrist) - didn't see action on Sunday and a bit of a risk

TWICE AS NICE
Here are some two-start pitchers to consider this week:

AL
Must-starts:
Josh Beckett - @CHW (John Danks), TOR (Shaun Marcum)
Scott Kazmir - @OAK (Gio Gonzalez), @TEX (Tommy Hunter)
Justin Verlander – TOR (Shaun Marcum), BAL (Dennis Sarfate)

Sleeper Picks:
Javier Vazquez – KC (Brian Bannister), @OAK (Gio Gonzalez)
Glen Perkins – NYY (Sidney Ponson), SEA (R.A. Dickey)

NL
Must-Starts:
Johan Santana – @WAS (Odalis Perez), @PIT (Jeff Karstens)
Tim Lincecum - @HOU (Roy Oswalt), @ATL (Chuck James)
Cole Hamels - @LAD (Clayton Kershaw), @SD (Cha Baek)

Sleeper Picks:
Chris Volstad – STL (Kyle Lohse), CHC (Rich Harden)
Anibal Sanchez – STL (Joel Pineiro), CHC (Ryan Dempster)

WAIVER WATCH (from leagues played at CBSSports.com)
Five most added:
SP Jeff Karstens (+43% roster change)
SP Eddie Guardado (+40%)
OF Denard Span (+21%)
SP Kerry Wood (+21%)
SP Clayton Kershaw (+21%)

Five most dropped (non-injured):
SP Dana Eveland (-19%)
RP Brandon Morrow (-12%)
1B Jeff Baker (-12%)
RP Huston Street (-8%)
SP Clay Buchholz(-8%)

GAMES PLAYED
Let's take a look at how many games each team will be playing this week:

AL
7: BAL, BOS, CHW, CLE, DET, TOR
6: KC, MIN, NYY, OAK, TB, TEX
5: LAA, SEA

NL
7: FLA, HOU, LAD, MIL, NYM, PHI, PIT, SF, STL, WAS
6: ARI, ATL, CHC, CIN, COL, SD

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