Tuesday afternoon there was a rumor from Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll that another major league player had been caught using PEDs, a "semi-big" named player. Why should that shock anyone? Then the news started trickling in that it was an NL pitcher. I traded emails with a few owners in two separate leagues wondering who it was.
The Mets have six wins and Mike Pelfrey has been involved in four of them after shutting out the Cubs for 7 innings. He gave up three hits and three walks while striking out six. Pelfrey is 3-0 with a save and a 0.86 ERA. Is he for real?
Mets SS Jose Reyes came back after taking Monday night off going 4-5 with two RBI and his second stolen base of the season. He is slowly getting back to the old Reyes it appears.
The Rangers stole nine bases off of Victor Martinez on Tuesday night. Elvis Andrus and Nelson Cruz each stole 3 bases, Vlad Guerrero stole 2 bases and the .100 BA Julio Borbon stole 1 base. So much for playing good defense if you can't throw anyone out. Apparently the Red Sox can't get anyone out either, as Tim Wakefield gave up six runs in six innings of work.
Ryan Madson blew the save and a gem pitched by Kyle Kendrick. Kendrick shutout the Braves for 8 innings on four hits and two walks. Madson gave up homers to Troy Glaus and Jason Heyward to blow a three run lead in the 9th inning. The Phillies had planned on having Brad Lidge ease back into the closer's role, but I am wondering if they will move to plan B and allow him to close as soon as his rehab has completed.
I wonder if Dodgers GM Ned Colletti is second guessing himself for not dealing Chad Billingsley for Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee last season? Billz gave up 7 runs, 4 earned, in 3 innings of work on Tuesday. His ERA is now over 7.00 and I wonder if a demotion to AAA is in the cards for Billz. It would not surprise me in the least. Hey, it worked for Ricky Nolasco last season.
More after the jump:
Rafael Furcal has 2 hits and stole 2 more bases on Tuesday giving him 6 for the season. It appears Furcal is healthy again. Can he steal 25 bases in 2010?
Dodger’s outfielder Matt Kemp blasted a game-tying three-run home run in the 8th inning last night, his 6th of the season. He now has 18 RBI to along with his .333-.375-.719 slash line.
Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki hit his first HR of the season on Tuesday. Fantasy owners can breathe now.
ESPN's Jason Grey penned an article on Tuesday saying fantasy owners should be patient with Cardinals young outfielder Colby Rasmus, who is struggling to hit in the early going of the 2010 season. He also mentioned that Rasmus would be stealing more bases as soon as he starts hitting better. Rasmus must have read the article, as he has attempted two SBs as of this writing (10:45PM).
The Red Sox placed outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron on the DL on Tuesday with Cameron more than likely out anywhere from 3-8 weeks. Josh Reddick and Darnell McDonald were called up from the minors to replace Ellsbury and Cameron. Reddick started in CF for the Red Sox and had a hit and 2 RBI.
Cubs starter Ted Lilly threw 7 innings in his rehab start on Monday night and will be activated to start this weekend against
Pirates right fielder Garrett Jones is hitting .196-.333-.413 so far this season. He had a hot first week of the season, but since has resorted to the hitter he was in the minors. It won't be long before Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez are recalled from AAA Indianapolis.
Dave Bush shutout the Pirates on 3 hits and 4 walks in his 7 innings of work on Tuesday. Bush's ERA stands at a very good 2.41. Is this the Dave Bush fantasy owners have been waiting for, or just a few quality starts to open the 2010 season?
Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells continued his hot hitting, going 3-4 and his 7th HR of the season on Tuesday. He is not hitting .364-.453-.855 on the season.
Twins starter Kevin Slowey held the Indians to one run in 8 innings on Tuesday, giving up just 5 hits, no walks and 9 strikeouts. Slowey lowered his ERA to 2.45.