Fantasy Baseball Tonight, Jun. 21: Happy Father’s Day!

A special Happy Father’s Day goes out to all of the readers who have children, hopefully your wife/girlfriend/kids spoiled you today.

I had a very nice day today with a nice new shirt/tie combo for work, along with a book that I have been wanting. My wife was also generous enough to take me and the kids to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner for a nice meal of spicy fried foods and beer.

What else can a Dad ask for?

We also had a nice meal with my parents last night, as they were going to be out of town today. My father has been an incredible influence in my life, as well as a fantastic father.

He is truly the reason that I am doing this today, as he instilled both a love of sports and competitiveness in me from an early age. But, even more than that, the support that he has given me throughout my life can never be paid back (or the $$$$, sorry Dad), and I am forever grateful to have such a man in my life.

If I am able to be half the father that he has been, I will be very proud of myself.

I love you Dad, and I could never thank you enough!

C.C. Sabathia left his start with tightness in his biceps in the second inning on Sunday. He was examined during warmups, got one guy out, but, after allowing a hit, he was removed from the game.

The team has termed him day to day, and they say there are no tests planned. When you give a guy $20+ million and he comes out of the game, I’d be willing to bet that there are some tests in Sabathia’s future.

Ryan Howard was released from the hospital after spending consecutive nights there with flu symptoms. Howard was able to provide a pinch hit homer in last night’s game, but did not play today.

The Phils have an off day on Monday, and you would think that he should be back in the lineup by Tuesday.

Casey McGehee is still playing in place of Rickie Weeks, and the kid is hitting. He hit his second homer of the year and has 17 hits in his last nine games.

I suppose as long as he keeps producing, he will keep playing. McGehee was not a top ranking prospect, so I’m sure there is a stat correction coming in his future.

But, if you need some middle infield help in the short term, McGehee appears to be worth a look.

Mark Buehrle is having another one of those ho-hum Mark Buehrle kind of years. He threw seven shutout innings on Sunday against the Reds, and raised his record to 7-2.

Now there are two reasons, in my opinion, that Buehrle never gets fantasy love.

One is he will never win 20 games. His career high is 19, but that was a long time ago. He usually wins between 12-15 games.

The second is that he doesn’t get a lot of strikeouts. Last season, he had just 140 in 218 innings, and he is on a similar pace this year.

However, while a lot of us love the lure of the rookies and the potential of the next big thing, a guy like Buehrle at the end of your rotation is likely more help.

But hey, when is Neftali Feliz coming up?

I’ll pick him up!

Brandon Phillips left the game early yesterday with pain in his fractured thumb, but was able to play today. Phillips has a hairline fracture in his thumb, but never hit the Disabled List.

He did not get a hit today, but did drive in a run with a sacrifice fly. I was worried that he might be out a few games again, but it appears that he is tough as nails and is safe to put back into your lineups.

Ricky Romero had his fourth straight good start after coming back from the DL, and he is looking like someone that you can count on each time out. Romero’s minor league statistics were nothing to get excited about, so if he starts to go south, don’t be surprised and have a backup plan ready.

However, the more and more he pitches, the more confidence that I gain in him.

Jeremy Guthrie was great on Sunday, allowing just one run over seven innings against the Phillies. It seems that Guthrie generally pitches well, even against good competition.

Somehow though, his statistics just aren’t very good. Even with the win on Sunday, his record is 5-7, his ERA is 5.09, and his WHIP is 1.37.

He isn’t even getting many strikeouts, as he has just 55 Ks in 86 innings. He isn’t a bad option at the end of your rotation, but I just have never been a big fan of Guthrie.

Khalil Greene homered for the third straight game, was hit with a pitch, and had to leave. He was 4/7 since coming back from the Disabled List due to social anxiety, but was hit on the ankle with a pitch the at bat after hitting the homer.

Greene has long been a guy with plenty of power potential, but couldn’t hit for any kind of average whatsoever. Even if he is able to play tomorrow against the Mets, I still wouldn’t be picking Greene up unless you are desperate for help at either shortstop or third base.

With his two home runs on Sunday, Albert Pujols now has 26 homers to go with 27 strikeouts!

Who is the best hitter in the game right now?

Is there even a question?

Just when you started to feel good about Gil Meche, he goes out and does this. Meche got tattooed by Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals. There is no shame in getting crushed by Pujols, as you can see above, most pitchers have been for years.

But nine runs over 3.1 innings?

After six straight starts of two runs or less, you had to figure that something like this was possible. The next start is the important one for Meche. Hopefully, he can get right back on track and pitch effectively again.

But Gil Meche isn’t Johan Santana, and my guess is the next one or two outings aren’t that great. I’m not saying nine runs again, but he won’t see the seventh inning.

Who in the world does Michael Cuddyer think he is?

After 64 games of the season, he is nearly halfway to his career high of 24 homers when he connected on No. 11 on Sunday. He has driven in three runs in his last four games, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see him get up to 90 RBI.

As long as he can stay healthy, Cuddyer is looking like a solid fourth outfielder, and he could move up farther from that.

Cubs’ power hitting prospect Jake Fox is back in the majors, and they actually trusted him with a starting spot today. Fox played third base, and the good news is he drove in three runs with a double.

The even better news is that he didn’t commit an error. If Fox can prove that his glove is up to the task, perhaps he will see more starts.

Even though he lost, Dallas Braden has now allowed three runs or less in seven straight starts. He might not have a great record (5-6), but he generally has been good all year, with a 3.26 ERA.

The low strikeout numbers are probably what is holding him back from full fantasy ownership, but, if you catch an injury or have someone you want to drop, give Braden a look to see if he fits what you need.

Kevin Kouzmanoff continues to drive in runs, even if he can’t really get his batting average to a respectable place. Kouzmanoff hit his ninth homer of the season on Sunday, and has driven in 14 runs in his last ten games.

I am still not quite believing that he is going to keep this up, but it is possible. He was a pretty highly touted prospect, showed great power in the minors, and his batting average was always in the .300 range. He is a guy that I had a lot of hope in for three years ago, perhaps it is going to come to fruition now.

I wouldn’t bet on it just yet, but keep an eye on him.

Alex Rios got my hit streak back on track on the USA Today’s 56 Game Hit Streak. I am very close to paydirt as that extended my streak to two.

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