Stephen Strasburg was placed on the disabled list with a strained forearm, and I have to imagine that he's going to be shut down. If you can still stash him in a DL spot for a couple of more days until an announcement is made whether he will pitch again this season. If you have to have the spot, I would drop him though.
Well, we have our first 40 homer hitter of the season, and it's Jose Bautista. He hit his 39th and 40th homers of the season against the Yankees yesterday, and I am really not sure how he should be ranked for 2011. The power seems legitimate, and he's probably going to end up in the top 50 for sure.
James Shields had a nice start yesterday, getting the win and striking out 10 in the victory. He gave up only 2 earned runs, and only 1 walk. Shields is one of those pitchers that for some reason I can't ever seem to trust, probably I've just been burned one too many times by him, and that's what causes that. But he could have some upside the rest of the year, but it just won't be for me.
Brandon Morrow is another pitcher that I have a hard time trusting, as he can be really great (12 strikeouts in last night's game), or really bad sometimes. The difference between him and Shields to me though is the upside. We've seen that Morrow has 17+ strikeout upside, whereas I can't see Shields getting too much higher than the 10 he had last night at any point.
John Lackey has really been having a down season, but had a very nice start against the Mariners yesterday. He struck out 10 and allowed just 2 earned runs in the victory. His ERA for the season is now down to 4.51, but I still am not sure I think he ever is the pitcher he was in Anaheim.
The oft-injured Rich Harden was lifted yesterday in the midst of a no-hitter, which ended as a 1-hitter after a Joe Mauer single in the 9th inning. Harden had thrown over 110 pitches, and walked 5 batters in the time, and to me it was probably the right decision for the pitcher. Harden has missed a large portion of the season, and hopefully he will be just fine for his next start as well.
Johnny Damon went 2 for 4 yesterday, and it could very well be his last game as a Tiger. He was claimed on waivers by the Red Sox, and it really comes down to whether or not he will waive his no-trade clause to go there. I have to imagine he's going to go, and I think his value might increase slightly there, but I don't see it being a particularly large impact.
Joe Blanton went 7 innings, allowed 1 earned run and struck out 9 in a no-decision yesterday. He's only owned in 28% of ESPN's leagues, and could be a nice play if you need pitching badly for the stretch run.
Jon Jay continues to hit well in his playing time for the Cardinals, going 2 for 5 yesterday with his 20th run batted in of the season. He's now hitting .363/.413/.520, and while he can't realistically keep that up, but he was a .300 hitter in the minors and I think he could very well hit .280-.290 pretty easily in the Majors. It may be a slightly