Tuesday's action was highlighted by Jon Lester's six inning, one hit, 9 strikeout performance against the first place Rays. He did walk 5, but still won his 5th game of the season to help the Sox win their 4th game in a row and 7th in their last 10.
Here are the rest of my thoughts after reviewing Tuesday's boxscores:
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo must be giddy after hearing what Bryce Harper did last weekend. All Harper did was hit for the cycle on Friday night, and hit 4 HRs on Saturday night. Rizzo announced, without naming names, that he has made a decision as to who he will draft come Monday June 7th. I expect him to be speaking with Harper's agent Scott Boras in the very near future.
The Orioles announced that they will call up pitching prospect Chris Tillman to start on Saturday vs the Blue Jays. Tillman has a solid 47/12 K/BB ratio in 57+ innings in AAA this season. He may not be an option for mixed leagues, but is a solid grab in AL-only and keeper leagues.
Red Sox DH David Ortiz continues to get big hits as he drove in both runs in Lester's win over the Rays on Tuesday. Are you buying his bounceback?
Reds starter Mike Leake just throws up quality start after quality start for the Reds, but he was a hardluck loser on Tuesday, as he gave up just one run on 10 hits, and lowered his ERA to 2.70. I just traded Leake in a package deal for a $5 Jason Heyward in the UBA league.
Mets SS Jose Reyes finally had the game fantasy owners have been looking for on Tuesday night. He went 3-5 with 3 runs scored and 2 SBs. He now has 11 SBs for the season and is on pace for 40+.
How soon before the Astros push light-hitting third baseman Pedro Feliz to the bench and call up AAA third baseman Chris Johnson? Johnson is hitting .373 with 4 HRs and 17 RBIs in 59 at bats. Once the Astros deal Lance Berkman, I could see Johnson being handed the third base job.
The Brewers used "closer" Carlos Villaneuva to pitch the 8th inning of a 6-0 game on Tuesday. Villaneuva gave up one hit and struck out one in his scoreless inning. Will we see Trevor Hoffman closing soon?
Carlos Santana Watch: Indians catcher Lou Marson went 0-3 with an RBI on Tuesday and is hitting just .206-.268-.245 for the season. June 1st is right around the corner, and Santana is one of the best hitters in the minors. Hey, Casey Blake was worth trading his for, right??
The Indians are having a bad season, but a few bright spots are starter Mitch Talbot, who won his 6th game of the season on Tuesday, holding the White Sox to two runs on 6 hits in 7 innings. The other is outfielder Shin Soo Choo who went 2-4 with his 7th HR of the season. Choo is hitting .304-.412-.488 for the season.
Cubs starter Ryan Dempster out-dueled Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw, by shutting out the Dodgers for 8 innings on 3 hits and a walk, while striking out 7. He lowered his ERA to 3.31 for the season. He is one of the few bright spots for the Cubs so far in 2010.
There have to be plenty of American League GMs kicking themselves for not signing Vlad Guerrero this past offseason. Vlad had a huge night on Tuesday going 3-5, with 2 HRs and 5 RBIs. Vlad is now hitting .347-.377-.597 with 12 HRs and 42 RBIs for the season.