Saturday, June 29, 2013

News and Notes: Cueto, Cingrani, Uehara, Hosmer and more.

Here's the latest news from around the league that could impact your fantasy league:
  •  Johnny Cueto is injured again.  He left his start yesterday after aggravating a right lat muscle injury and will likely end up back on the disabled list for the third time this season.  Tony Cingrani will take his spot in the rotation and is definitely worth picking up after pitching will in the few starts he's received this year.  The rookie has an impressive 54 strikeouts in just 43 innings pitched so far. 
  • Corey Hart will have surgery to repair his left knee and will miss the rest of the season.  Obviously, feel free to drop him if you've hung onto him this year.
  •  If your team is in need of some saves, Koji Uehara has picked up a save in three straight games and is still available in almost 50% of Yahoo! leagues.  Unless the Red Sox trade for a proven alternative, Uehara looks to have the job for the rest of the season.  If you still have Andrew Bailey on your roster and are hoping he'll get his job back... don't.
  • Miguel Cabrera is better than anyone on the planet at hitting a baseball.  That is all.
  • Eric Hosmer hit 2 home runs yesterday and has now hit 4 home runs in his last 7 games.  Of course, that brings his total to just 6 home runs for the year, so it's hard to know if he can be trusted to keep it going.  If he wants to keep hitting homers he's going to have to start hitting more fly balls.  His ground ball rate has been climbing each year he's been in the league and now sits at 1.45 per fly ball.  That's not going to get it done if you want to hit it out of the ballpark consistently.  If you're desperate for home runs, give him a try hoping he's made some adjustments.  However, one good week isn't enough for me to trust him after a year and a half of disappointment.
  • J.J. Putz will be activated from the DL today and should get the closer's job back from Heath Bell very soon.  He's still available in 33% of Yahoo! leagues, so there's a chance you can still scoop him up.
  • Nick Swisher went 3 for 8 with a homer and 3 RBIs in Cleveland's doubleheader yesterday.  He's struggled with a sore shoulder for much of the first half, hitting .234 with 8 home runs.  However, if he manages to put his shoulder woes behind him, he could give you double-digit homers with solid Run/RBI totals in the second half.  Swisher doesn't have a noticeable platoon split and qualifies at 1B and OF, so he works great as a bench player who can be plugged into the lineup when necessary.  He's now available in over 40% of Yahoo! leagues, so it might be a good time to take a chance and see if he can get healthy and turn things around.
  • Brian Roberts will be activated from the DL tomorrow.  He's old, and his best days are obviously behind him, but 2B is pretty thin and I'm a fan of his.  If Showalter inserts him near the top of the Orioles powerful lineup, he will score a bunch of runs and he still has enough speed to swipe some bags for you.  He could easily injure himself within a week and be back on the DL, but I think a second half pennant race will get the competitive juices flowing and he might give you a solid couple months of production at a thin position.  Crazier things have happened.

No comments:

Post a Comment