The sent LHP Rich Hill to AAA after he walked four batter without finishing the 1st inning of his Friday night start. While he certainly seemed to get on the bad side of manager Lou Piniella, can fantasy players sent him packing too or should they keep him on their bench in the hopes the 180-K version of Hill returns later this season.
Speking of fantasy players expected to be very good this year, Rockies' SS Troy Tulowitzki out for two months with a torn left quadriceps. Clint Barmes gets the first shot to lock down the starting SS gig. More interesting, Jeff Baker finally gets the full-time opportunity to show those HR-hitting days at Clemson Univeristy can translate to the major leagues as the Rockies' 2B. With Tulo's 25 HRs gone from the middle infield, the Rockies need Baker to make-up that power. A middle infield tandem of Barmes/Omar Quintanilla combined with below-AVG Power at 1B, none from CF Willy Tavares and nothing from C Yorvit Torrealba makes the Rockies' offense too punchless to climb back into the play-off hunt.
Am I the only person who is concerned about the quickness Braves' ace John Smoltz showed when he declared himself a bullpen pitcher? While the natural reaction to that news is to assume he will close and make every other pitcher in that 'pen nearly-worthless for fantasy purposes, I wouldn't be so quick to cut loose Rafael Soriano or Manny Acosta. Smoltz's self-declared bullpen role could be a signal he knows his shoulder is shot.
If you were told Detroit Tigers' CF Curtis Granderson would have four HRs and 12 Runs scored on May 4th, would you think he missed the first 20 games of the season? No. Hopefully, you bought low following his broken hand at the end of Spring Training because there no longer exists the opportunity to get Granderson for anything less than the 3rd round value he had pre-injury.