OF Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies: In his 2009 debut, the former #1 prospect of the Arizona Diamondbacks went oh-fer with two strikeouts. At 23, he has a couple of seasons to go before he becomes a failed prospect. Look how long it's taken teammate Ian Stewart whose 11 HRs and middle-infield eligibility hide his .231 AVG.
OF Tony Gwynn, Jr., San Diego Padres: 2-2 with three walks and a SB make the Hall-of-Famer's son look like a legitimate lead-off option for a team with just opportunity to offer. He's always flashed speed. If his walks hold-up, he should be a valuable outfielder in NL-Only leagues.
DH David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox: Big Papi hit his 2nd HR of the season. Is it enough to send fantasy owners rushing to the waiver wire?
SP Edwin Jackson, Detroit Tigers: 6-3 with a 2.16 ERA following yesterday's complete game win. Matt Joyce needs to be a 20/90/.280 hitter with a good glove to off-set a #1/#2 level starter, and even then, it is just my generousity that calls that parity.
SP John Lannan, Washington Nationals: The second-year starter took his ERA to 3.68 with a compelte game effort yesterday. For the season his K/BB is a worrisome 36/29 over 71 innings, but a 2.03 GO/FO and a similar effort over 182 innings last season mitigates that. With Steven Strasburg on the way, the Nats are a Delmon Young/Elijah Dukes clubhouse cleaning a la Tampa Bay Rays away from serious contention in the NL East.
RP Matt Lindstrom, Florida Marlins: Yanked from a save chance, Lindstrom registered his first Hold. With 19 walks in 23.1 innings, he is not long for the job. He does have a good 1.62 GO/FO but a closer not-named John Franco doesn't get a lot of rope with a WHIP approaching 2.00.
OF Scott Podsednick, Chicago White Sox: After being written off for dead, Podsednick is hitting 298/338/379 with 7 SBs. I have a hard time believing he loses the full-time White Sox job. Grab him if you need SBs and an everyday player in mixed leagues.
RP Brad Lidge, Philadelphia Phillies: Lidge blew an astounding 6th save yesterday. Three-year/$37.5 million contract or no, Lidge isn't long for the closer's role in Philly.
8th Inning Set-Up: John Grabow PIT (9), Carlos Villanueva MLW (8), Matt Lindstrom FLA (1), Matt Thorton CHW (10), Ryan Madson PHI (13)
Saves: Heath Bell SD (16), Matt Capps PIT (13), David Aardsma SEA (9), Trevor Hoffman MLW (15), Leo Nunez FLA (2), Bobby Jenks CWS (13), Randy Choate TB (3)
Blown Saves: Brad Lidge PHI (6)