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Here are some thoughts after reviewing Saturday's boxscores:
Yankees starter Javier Vazquez continues to struggle in his return to the AL as he gave up 3 HRs, two to Andruw Jones, and 5 runs in all. He gave up 7 hits and 4 walks and struck out just 2 in his 3 innings of work. Fantasy owners may want to bench Vazquez until he shows he has turned it around.
ESPN's Buster Olney wrote in his Saturday morning blog that he would not be surprised to see the Red Sox cut bait with aging DH David Ortiz. Ortiz responded by hitting two solo homers on Saturday. I wonder if this will be a turning point in his season, or if he continues in his downward spiral at the plate.
White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham is struggling at the plate this season, as he is hitting just .222-.299-.302. He went 0-5 on Saturday and struck out 3 times.
Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo held the Padres to just one run on 6 hits and struck out 11. He lowered his ERA to 3.00 He has struck out 40 batters in 36 innings so far this season.
Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning to save Gallardo's gem on Saturday night. He followed Latroy Hawkins who struck out two in his one inning of work.
The day after I dealt Mark Reynolds for Pirates slugging prospect Pedro Alvarez in the UBA league, he responds with 2 solo HRs and now has 9 on the season. He has just one SB to date, and I am surprised he hasn't run more so far. Everyone knows Reynolds strikes out alot, but he has a .376 OBP so far this season.
Mariners starter Felix Hernandez got knocked around by the Rangers on Saturday, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks. King Felix is going to have trouble winning many games with the lineup behind him on Saturday, as Ichiro Suzuki and Franklin Gutierrez were the only two Mariners with a BA over .300. Jack Wilson and his .242 BA was the next best hitter in the Mariners lineup as Chone Figgins and his .205-.343-.277 line was not what the Mariners were looking for when they signed him this offseason.
Braves first baseman Troy Glaus has been a disappointment to fantasy owners looking for cheap power in 2010. Glaus had his best game of the season on Saturday going 3-5 with 4 RBIs in the Braves 10-1 win over the Astros.
Braves outfielder Jason Heyward homered in his 3rd straight game on Saturday, and now has 7 HRs on the season. Could he hit 30 HRs this year?
Angels catcher Mike Napoli had a rough day behind the plate on Saturday as Adam Everett, Miguel Cabrera and Gerald Laird all stole their first base of the season off of him.
Phillies starter Roy Halladay won his 5th game of the season on Saturday, shutting out the hot Mets 10-0. Halladay held the Mets to 3 hits and a walk in his complete game shutout. Halladay is doing his best to make me look bad, as I stated before the season started that he would not win 20 games.
Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth went 2-3 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI in the Phils win over the Mets. Werth is hitting .338-.417-.588 with 3 HRs, 16 RBIs and just one SB. It appears the Phillies will allow Werth to become a free agent at the end of the season after giving Ryan Howard a 5-year, $125 million contract earlier in the week. The fact that outfield prospect Dominic Brown is hitting well in AA Reading is a factor as well.
Speaking of prospects, the Nationals will promote Stephen Strasburg to AAA Syracuse after his start on Sunday. He follows Drew Storen who was promoted earlier in the week. Both should be with the big club in June if all goes well.
Another top prospect, Marlins outfielder Michael Stanton, hit his 11th HR of the season, and could be promoted in the next month or so as well, especially considering the Marlins outfield of Cameron Maybin, Chris Coghlan and Cody Ross sport the following slugging percentages-.333-.188-.375.
The Rockies are doing their best to get speedy utility guy Eric Young Jr. in their lineup, as he started at 2B for the struggling Clint Barmes on Saturday. Young went 0-4 vs the Giants, but saw 25 pitches in his 4 plate appearances. That's very good for a leadoff hitter. I think EYJr can stick in the Rockies lineup this year, as it appears manager Jim Tracy likes speed at the top of their lineup with Young, Dexter Fowler and Carlos Gonzalez batting in the top thurd of their lineup on Saturday.
The balls were flying out of Camden Yard on Saturday as the Orioles and Red Sox combined to hit 9 HRs, two each by David Ortiz and Ty Wigginton. The Orioles hit 5 HRs off of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield. Nick Markakis hit his 2nd HR of the season and drove in 5 to lead the Orioles 12 run effort.
Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson suffered a groin injury on Saturday running the bases and was placed on the 15 day DL. I will see what Will Carroll from Baseball Prospectus has to say about his injury this week. His Twitter account offered no details or opinions from Will.