My concerns about Houston closer Brad Lidge were allayed with last night's save against the Dodgers. More interesting, though, was the Dodgers' three-hole hitter, Matt Kemp. He hit his 7th HR and has his SLG at .500. The struggles from last year have been solved. Even his splits look great - 317/340/515 versus RHP and 314/386/.471 versus LHP. He is going to be a very trendy sleeper at next year's drafts.
Matt Garza was the lucky recipient of the Twins' spectactularly rare offensive output in an 11-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners. For the season, Garza has just two Wins, but his ERA of 2.05, WHIP of 1.25 and 37 Ks in 44 IP have him joining Matt Kemp as a trendy 2008 sleeper.
Jose Vidro went 2-2 in that loss to Garza and the Twins. He is now hitting .319 with 45 RBIs. Is that the type of production that will prevent the M's from repeating a similar action in the coming off-season?
C.J. Wilson closed out last night's 5-3 over the Kyle Davies-led Kansas City Royals. He also did in over an inning and a third. There should be no doubt Wilson has seized the closer's role in Texas. However, expect him to be at the top of the 2008 Closers Likely to Lose Their Job list. Whether he is Armando Benitez or Todd Jones is yet to be seen.
Speaking of that list, Tampa Bay closer Al Reyes blew his first save opportunity since being activated from the D.L. - on July 18th! With the recent claim on former Indian closer-in-waiting Fernando Cabrera, I wouldn't be surprised if the Reyes Closer Death Watch began right now. 7 ER in 9.2 IP since being activated would do that.
Fantasy Sports with Eric Karabell at 11AM.
MLB with Steve Phillips at noon
Baseball America's Jim Callis at 2PM
Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein at 2PM.
FBB with Ron Shandler at 3PM.
NFL with Scouts' Gary Horton ay 4PM.