Fantasy Mlb Damage Control

According to a report on the Mets MLB.com site, Pedro Martinez should be returning to the hill for his Mets June 3rd. This is good news for the Mets and Pedro's fantasy owners alike. The Mets have been underachieving, but most of that could be chalked up to major injury woes. Assuming Pedro's completely healthy, this adds a quality starter to the mix.

Fantasy-spin-wise, you'll need to realize he's never going to be the Pedro of old again before even considering what your proper expectations should be. After that, though, things are positive. He plays for a team that will start getting back offensive pieces and is capable of winning 85-90 games. He's only 36, which is not overly old by pitching standards. He compiled a 32/7 K/BB last season in only 28 innings along with a 3-1 record.

On the flip-side, he only averaged 5 2/3 innings per start and allowed 33 hits in those 28 innings. That set him up with a poor 1.43 WHIP to counteract his stellar 2.57 ERA. This shows that he still knows how to work his way out of jams most of the time, but he's wearing down in his "old" age.

His recent penchant for being easily injured only makes him more of a gamble.

Verdict: He's gotta be considered a top 50 starting pitcher, but nothing more. In weekly leagues, you can consider him a very good spot starter based upon favorable matchups. If things stay as they currently stand, he'll be facing the light-hitting Giants in pitcher-friendly San Fran with sucky Barry Zito on the hill opposite him. Seems like a damn fine spot to me.

As always, if you have specific lineup questions, email us.

Getting the jump on injured, rehabbing or struggling players can help win your fantasy leagues. Stash tells you what your play is for these guys.

Fans of Curt Schilling -- basically only Red Sox fans at this point since he's become an insufferable, bloggy, loud-mouth -- received some good news late last week when he was able to long toss a bit. Schill's on the 60-Day DL, so he won't be back for a bit ... most reports indicate mid-July at the absolute earliest. More realistic is to see him rejoin the Sox rotation for the last six weeks of the regular season to help with the pennant race.

Can he still help?

The numbers tell you his decline hasn't been severe enough to think he's done. His ERA last year was 3.87, nearly a run better than the league average, and he was still able to rack up a 101/23 K/BB. He won nine games in 24 starts, including one complete game shutout. While several of these numbers are in decline (his K/9 has been in decline for the past three years), again, it's not severe enough to believe he can't aid the cause of both the Red Sox and your fantasy team.

As first reported here on FanHouse by my esteemed collegue, Mullett, Jake Peavy is on the shelf with elbow issues. Yes, pitching arm elbow problems for a man that relies on a nasty bender and smoke along with his impeccable control. He says it's been bothering him "the past three or four starts." Hmmmm ...

The starts where his ERA jumped from 1.20 to 2.91? The ones where his record went from 3-0 to 4-3? This is disturbing on so many levels to fantasy owners of Peavy. He was an elite draft pick for certain, and he stormed out of the gate this year. After a no decision at home against the Rocks on April 17th, Peavy sported the aforementioned sick ERA with that 3-0 record and 27 punchouts in 30 innings.

In his last start he couldn't even get out of the fifth inning -- though to be fair the Cubs have been killing the ball this year -- yielding seven hits and four earned runs. He did strike out eight, but he's enough of a battler to make that happen sometimes. That doesn't change the fact that the Padres would be more careful with Peavy because of his long-term potential. They wouldn't sacrifice that, and they certainly won't sacrifice that if the team continues to hover around a .350 winning percentage.

I'm worried, and you should be too. Studs like Peavy don't just miss a start on a whim, and elbow problems in a pitching arm don't just go away. It's time to shop Peavy to some owner who thinks this is a minor setback and that he's buying low.

As I explicitly stated in the title, I'd be in full-on panic mode with Peavy on my squad.

Damage Control brings the key injuries to watch this week.

The biggest news of the (late) week was that Jimmy Rollins will be placed on the disabled list with an ankle sprain, and since has played recently, it's not a retroactive move. Rollins owners need to seek out another alternative for the next two to three weeks at the shortstop position.

Another former MVP, Chipper Jones, wants to play starting tomorrow but he left Sunday's game with a sore quad. He's hitting too well to reserve him in larger leagues, but if I'm playing in a smaller one, I consider benching him, because I've got another good third base option.

Jose Reyes banged his head against Chase Utley's knee while stealing second over the weekend; it looked like some sort of minor concussion but apparently he's fine now. The triple he lashed on Sunday night seems to indicate so anyway.

Wandy Rodriguez will be out for the next two weeks at least as he's been placed on the disabled list with a groin injury. You can drop him in fantasy unless you're in a very deep league. The Astros, well, they're in trouble.

Manny Ramirez won't play on Monday but don't freak out -- he's just resting.

Alex Rodriguez came up limping during Sunday's game; no word just quite yet on what the Yankees plan to do with him, but I see no reason why you should consider benching Arod unless you have a superb option at third this week. He's definitely a candidate to miss a game or two though, depending on careful Joe Girardi wants to be.

Damage Control is a list of injuries that you need to be thinking about as you're sitting at work, trying to set your fantasy lineup for week two. I'm categorizing the injuries in three pretty obvious slots below (good, worth the risk, don't bother) for your perusal the rest of the afternoon prior to submitting your lineups.

If there is anyone you have a question about, drop a note in the comments or send the Fantasy FanHouse crew an email. Please note that as injury news regarding the upcoming week is released, this list will be updated.

Safe to Roll
Francisco Rodriguez, CL, LAA -- He pitched Sunday, so you kind of have to start him if you own him.
Carlos Guillen, SS, DET -- Supposedly he's questionable, but I see no reason to bench him. He hits too well and is too valuable in terms of positional eligibility to keep on the bench.
Elijah Dukes, OF, WAS -- How you gonna bench me, dawg? (Seriously, if you are so inclined to own/use him, he should be back, dawg.)

For your fantasy assistance, Always Be Closing will occasionally stop in and take a look at some relief gigs that are worth monitoring, should the current closer falter. Finding saves is a cheap and dirty business. And there are always a few jobs that are murky, especially early in the season. Thinking ahead never hurt anyone.

Is there any particular reason that we think Trevor Hoffman should be absolutely dominant this year? He's the all time saves leader and that's nice, sure, but he is also 40 years old, and age takes its toll on baseball players pretty quickly after they hit the forty spot. Hoffman is currently sitting at 0-2 with four saves. The number of saves, though, is more of a byproduct of the Padres being involved in a ton of close games than it is Hoffman's dominance -- in just under six innings he's struck out six batters, allowed eight hits, walked four and has a 9.53 ERA and a 2.12 WHIP while allowing batters to hit .320 off of him. And I don't care how long you stand in the corner and scream small sample size; Hoffman is old.

Damage Control is a list of injuries that you need to be thinking about as you're sitting at work, trying to set your fantasy lineup for week two. I'm listing the injuries and then giving them quasi-accurate status of "probable", etc. to give you a better idea of chances of them playing. Think football, with 25%, 50%, 75%.

If there is anyone you have a question about, drop a note in the comments. Please note that as injury news regarding the upcoming week is released, this list will be updated.

Lance Berkman, Neck Spasms, Questionable -- He saw time off Sunday but I think he plays most of the week. In a smaller league, if I had another decent first base option, I'd bench him, but for the most part, I think you have to start him.

Pedro Martinez, Hamstring, DL (Six weeks) -- Do not start. Clearly.

Carlos Zambrano, Forearm, "Probable"

David DeJesus, Ankle, DL -- Out

J.J. Putz, Ribcage, DL -- Out

Miguel Cabrera, Thigh, Probable -- You have to start him. He's clearly too good.