Friday's Roto Roundup: Big Z and His Big Meltdown

Well, aren't the Cubbies having some fun now? If you haven't seen the highlights of the meltdown by now, you should definitely check them out. The guys over at Bleed Cubbie Blue have their thoughts on what to do next for the Cubs, but what fantasy impact does this have for you?

I think that if he's still available in your league, you need to look at picking up Tom Gorzelanny, especially if you have the unfortunate luck of owning Carlos Zambrano. They say he has been suspended indefinitely, and Gorzelanny really didn't do anything to earn the demotion to the bullpen other than make less money than Big Z. As a result, he could end up back in the starting rotation for Zambrano's next turn.

Amazingly, Edwin Jackson also threw a no-hitter, the 4th one of the season. Also it was clearly the ugliest of the season as well, as he walked 8. EIGHT! So, for those keeping score at home (which is what we do to some extent), that was still a WHIP of 0.89 for a NO-HITTER! I saw him get picked up in a couple of my leagues where he had been unowned, but I'm still not sold. Seeing some of the highlights, he really didn't look all that sharp to me either. I'm still not buying Jackson.

Also in the Rays-Diamondbacks game, Carl Crawford pinch ran late in the game, and was caught trying to steal 2nd base. They then proceeded to replace him in the lineup when the team went back on defense. I benched him in a daily league, and it looks like they're not wanting to put Crawford on the disabled list just yet. You're going to have to watch the news and see if anything changes with him unfortunately.

Zack Greinke recorded his 3rd win of the season yesterday, striking out 6 over 8 innings and only allowed 9 baserunners. I think you're going to be lucky if he gets back to 16 wins this season, but he could still provide excellent ratios and solid strikeouts. I'm not sold he's going to be in the top 5 starters for me when our rankings for that position come out.

A pitcher I may have to consider for my top 10 is Jered Weaver of the Angels. He got a no-decision yesterday, but struck out 11 and only gave up 2 earned runs over 7 innings. He now has 118 strikeouts in 101.2 innings pitched, and a 3.01 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. His FIP was even lower than his ERA when he went out to the mound tonight. Be happy if you've got him, and he could be a top-5 starter by the end of the season.

Dustin Pedroia left the game early yesterday after fouling a ball off the side of his foot. The Red Sox have reported that the x-rays were negative, but that he was still having a hard time putting pressure on the foot. I would not be surprised if this ended up as a DL stint, which would be too bad for the extremely hot hitting Pedroia.

Poll

How long will your fantasy team be without the services of Carlos Zambrano?

78%

Don't own him now, thankfully. I'm alright.

36 votes

17%

At least 2 starts, maybe more. Oy.

8 votes

4%

Just 1 start. That'll teach him not to do that!

2 votes

46 votes | Poll has closed