Jon Lester has been frustrating his fantasy owners, but I believe that he will bounce back and have many more games like he did on Sunday. Lester allowed just one run over six innings and struck out a season high twelve guys. He still has an ERA over 5.50, but he is a guy that I have confidence that he will get that under 4.00 before the end of the season. Lester was always a high ranking prospect in the Red Sox system, so it isn't like his success last season was a fluke. He is a great buy low candidate for the rest of the year.

Edwin Jackson is starting to turn my head, a few weeks after I think he turned a lot of yours. On Sunday he threw eight shutout innings and struck out seven. Jackson has now only allowed more than three runs in two of his eleven starts. Jackson has been around for a while, and all the way back when he was a Dodgers' prospect he was supposed to be great. It took him a little longer than most to figure it out, but now it looks like Jackson is ready to start realizing the potential that we were promised many years ago.

Phil Hughes was just OK against the Tribe on Sunday, but it doesn't seem like he's going back to the minors any time soon. I have heard on the radio here in New York that Chien-Ming Wang is in the bullpen until manager Joe Girardi wants to move him back to the rotation. Hughes wasn't bad as he gave up four runs over five innings. That isn't great by any stretch, but not terrible either. If you own Hughes, continue to start him. If he is a free agent, I would definitely consider picking him up. Evaluate your team to see if there is anyone you can afford to lose.

Carl Pavano might not have gotten the win, but he did get the better of the Yankees on Sunday. Pavano allowed just three runs over 7.1 innings, and struck out four. For those of you looking for some pitching either short-term or long-term, I would say that Pavano is worth picking up in deeper leagues. For traditional 12 team leagues, I would still only pick him up against weak opponents, but he has allowed three runs or less in six of his last seven starts. He is not an elite strikeout pitcher, but seems to have bounced back from his dismal career in New York.

Jhonny Peralta is still not hitting for any power whatsoever, but at least he drove in a few runs. Those of you who have been emailing me with an issue at shortstop have gotten advice from me to consider Peralta as an option. Thus far he hasn't made me look very good. Hopefully Sunday is the start of the hot streak I have been waiting for. Peralta had three hits (all singles) and drove in three runs including the game winner. The next couple weeks should be telling ones for the future of Peralta who has been playing mostly third base.

Yovani Gallardo continues his great season. He allowed just one earned run and struck out nine in just 5.1 innings. He is definitely showing what all the hype was about coming into the season, and is having a fine season. Gallardo is a great strikeout pitcher on a good team. He should win 15-17 games if he stays healthy, and could strikeout close to 200 batters. Start him every time out regardless of the matchup.

Kris Medlen recorded his first major league win on Sunday, and was pretty impressive in doing it. After being less than average his first two times out, Medlen allowed just one run over six innings and whiffed nine. He also kept his walks under control with just one. Medlen has a ton of talent, so this isn't a huge suprise, but it is still up in the air how consistent he will be. He could have just gotten off to a slow start, but this could also be one good start in a line of subpar outings. I think the next start for Medlen will be a big one. If he can put a good showing out, I will gain some confidence in him. If he's bad again, chances are he will have another line of struggles.

Frank Francisco finally allowed a run today and took a loss, but this is not something to be concerned about. It took until his 18th appearance before he gave up that run, and he has been striking out a batter an inning. It wasn't a blown save, as he came into a tie game, so he is still perfect in that area. He was my sleeper closer heading into the year, and that is one call that is working out. Continue to have Francisco in your lineups, he is a guy that will far outperform his draft status.

Ervin Santana was AWFUL for the second straight start, and I'm sure his owners are starting to sweat.....or at least wondering what is going on. After only lasting one inning in his previous start, Santana allowed eight runs over 5.1 innings, and only a great rally by the Angels stopped him from taking a loss. Before you go dumping Ervin to free agency, remember that he missed the first five or six weeks of the season. He is still working on getting himself back to normal. If he's bad for two or three more starts in a row, then I would start worrying.

Brad Lidge recorded a save for the third straight day, and even more important than that, again it was uneventful (that's a good thing). He didn't allow a hit on Sunday, and only gave up one hit over his last three saves. It now appears that he has gotten over his struggles, and is safe to keep in your lineups.

Injury News

Grady Sizemore landed on the 15 day DL with his elbow issues. I haven't seen a timetable for his return, but hopefully it will just be the fifteen days. Also, hopefully the rest will get his average out of the .220s when he returns.

Joakim Soria is traveling with the team as they go to face the Rays, and he could be activated at any time. I would think about activating him for the upcoming week, as he is one of the best closers in fantasy.

Josh Hamilton is about to undergo an MRI on his sore groin that he suffered running into the wall a few days back. He was able to pinch hit, and apparently isn't headed for the DL, but I just don't like the idea of him going for the MRI. I have him in a weekly league, and I am SERIOUSLY considering sitting him for the week.

Mailing List

For those of you who are regular readers, or even new to the site, I would like to offer a new service. I am starting a mailing list. Sometimes I see news during the day, but I wait until this nightly article to pass it along to you guys. Prospects coming up, injury news, closer movement, etc. Just send me an email to fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com with “Mailing List” in the subject line and I will add you to the list. Then, whenever I find news that I feel is breaking and important, I will send it to you as soon as I find out about it. Hopefully this is something that you all will find valuable to make a possible move before your competition.

Also, you can now follow me on Twitter for more updates. Go to www.twitter.com/fightingchance.

Got another mention on Steve Gardner's Fantasy Windup blog again on the USA Today site. You can check out the post here. It is a great blog, and they also have some good contests for you to check out. I know some of you have already started to participate in some of them and are enjoying it.

Attention League Commissioners! If you are looking to spice up your league some, go and visit Fantasy Sports Trophies. Tom Harkins has put together a great site with all kinds of different trophies to give the winner of your league something besides just bragging rights. There are trophies for fantasy baseball, football (check out the Beer League Fantasy Football Trophy), basketball, hockey, and auto racing. I invite you to take a look at the site and try them out.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the “Fantasy Baseball Tonight” podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the news, free agent pickups, minor leaguers, and injuries. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.

Now this is what we expected from David Price when he came to the majors. Price was much more helpful to your team on Saturday as he allowed just one run over 5.2 innings, walked just two, and struck out eleven. Not much more to be said about Price. His owners exhaled after today's game after his less than stellar first outing. He still threw a lot of pitches, but the walks were much more under control.

It took four games for Fernando Martinez to record his first major league hit, and he followed it up with another in the same game. I was just about to lose hope that Fernando would be doing anything during this callup, so now I have a slight glimmer of hope. Of course, he did strike out in the ninth with two guys on, but overall it was a good day for him. Hopefully he was just very nervous his first few days in the majors and he will settle in now. I'm not buying that yet, but you can hope.

Matt Wieters was seventh in the Orioles lineup today, and he did much better in his second game. He had both a double and a triple, giving those of you who held on to him for nearly eight weeks waiting for this day some hope. Hope that having an empty spot on your roster for that time was worth it. All signs point to there being many more days like today than yesterday, when he failed to record a hit.

The lucky horseshoe has finally been removed from Shairon Martis' behind. He finally took a loss after a horrible outing, something he has been able to avoid his last few times out. But there was no way out of taking the first loss on the season this time, as Martis gave up two whoppers to Ryan Howard on his way to allowing seven runs over just four innings. He also walked more than he struck out again, and I don't see any reason at all to have this guy on your team. If he is, remedy that situation after you finish reading this. Well, maybe do it now and then come back.

Matt Palmer got another start for the Angels, and he made the most of the opportunity. This is almost definitely his last one barring an injury, as Kelvim Escobar isn't too far away. Palmer threw seven shutout innings, didn't walk a batter, and struck out five. Outside of a couple hiccups, Palmer was great as a fill in starter as he racked up a 5-0 record. It would have been his sixth win tonight except for the handy work of Brian Fuentes blowing the save. If there is another need for a starter for the Angels, you would think that Palmer has shown enough this year to earn those starts. But for now, it's to the bullpen for him.

Francisco Liriano has tested his owners' patience perhaps for the last time. Liriano was bad again, and took his seventh loss of the year through two months. It took him 93 pitches to get through just four innings, gave up four runs, walked three, and struck out three. I am torn. I think at this point you should let him go, but at the same time if he was available in any league that I played in, I would probably pick him up unless my pitching staff was very good. If you can afford to camp him on your bench and not start him, that would probably be what I do. If not, I would probably look for better options.

I know this isn't exactly timely, but Miguel Tejada is having a much better season than I expected....by a mile. With his two hits on Saturday, Tejada is now batting .347 with five homers and 28 RBI. If I didn't declare him done in the blog before the season started, I certainly thought it, but he has proven me wrong so far. That being said there is still four months left in the year, plenty of time for him to cool down, but in leagues that require a MI spot, he is definitely worth the roster spot.

Tonight is the perfect reason why if two pitchers are similar, you want the guy on the better team. Cole Hamels got a win tonight that he didn't deserve. When you give up six runs in six innings, you generally don't get the win. But Hamels did indeed get his third win of the year. So if you are thinking of picking up Tim Wakefield or Zach Duke (hypothetically speaking), this is the reason you pick Wakefield.

Aaron Harang has been good most of the time, but when he's bad BOY is he bad. Harang gave up eight runs over 4.1 innings, but on a positive note he didn't issue a walk and struck out five. This was his eleventh start. In four of them he has allowed five runs or more. In the other seven he allowed more than two runs only once. Keep starting him, and hope that the bad outings he has won't kill your week.

Injury News

Brandon Phillips returned to the Reds lineup on Saturday, and picked up right where he left off and connected on his eighth homer of the season. Phillips is attempting to play through a hairline fracture in his thumb, and so far, so good. Get Phillips back in your lineups tomorrow, or today depending on when you are reading this.

Joey Votto was placed on the 15 day DL, but apparently according to reports it isn't related to the ear infection he has been dealing with. This absence is due to "personal reasons" that they aren't going to disclose. Hopefully over this time Votto will be able to deal with whatever this issue is, as well as get his illness under control. He is eligible to return on June 14th.

Mailing List

For those of you who are regular readers, or even new to the site, I would like to offer a new service. I am starting a mailing list. Sometimes I see news during the day, but I wait until this nightly article to pass it along to you guys. Prospects coming up, injury news, closer movement, etc. Just send me an email to fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com with “Mailing List” in the subject line and I will add you to the list. Then, whenever I find news that I feel is breaking and important, I will send it to you as soon as I find out about it. Hopefully this is something that you all will find valuable to make a possible move before your competition.

Also, you can now follow me on Twitter for more updates. Go to www.twitter.com/fightingchance.

Attention League Commissioners! If you are looking to spice up your league some, go and visit Fantasy Sports Trophies. Tom Harkins has put together a great site with all kinds of different trophies to give the winner of your league something besides just bragging rights. There are trophies for fantasy baseball, football (check out the Beer League Fantasy Football Trophy), basketball, hockey, and auto racing. I invite you to take a look at the site and try them out.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the “Fantasy Baseball Tonight” podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the news, free agent pickups, minor leaguers, and injuries. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.

Alexei Ramirez had three more hits tonight, and has now raised his batting average 36 points over the last ten days. He also drove in two more runs, bringing his season total to 22. I would say if his owner was impatient (and chances are he was), and he is available in your league, I would pick him up. He might not reach last year's numbers, but it looks like that awful slump is over.

Matt Wieters made his long awaited major league debut tonight, and let's just say they haven't started his bust for Cooperstown just yet. He has been the most hyped prospect of the year, and through one game he is 0-4 with a strikeout. But don't freak out over one game, Wieters should be a stud, just be patient. I know all of you who recently traded away are secretly (or not so secretly) laughing up your sleeves.

Luke Scott hit another two home runs on Friday, and now has ten on the season. I've already gotten an email wondering if Scott should be picked up. Allow me to say this. If you are dropping someone who is severly slacking or have an injury, I would definitely pick up Scott. He should easily top 20 home runs. However, this particular email was referring to Nolan Reimold. I would not do that. I would not drop someone like Brad Hawpe. Like I said, Scott has ten homers on the year. Well, five of them have come in the last three days. That means he hit five in the other 28 games he has played. He is a good player, just don't fall in love with a hot streak.

Dontrelle Willis got knocked around some on Friday, tarnishing some of the great story that is his comeback. Unfortunately, I think there will be many more days like this upcoming for Mr. Willis. Like we talked about on the Tuesday podcast of Fantasy Baseball Tonight with Jeff Mans and myself, we agreed that we needed to see much more success from Dontrelle before we declared him back, or even picked him up on our rosters. Unless you are in a deep league, or in dire need of pitching, I would not want to pick up Willis.

While he hasn't been bad by any stretch, Ted Lilly had his first real strong outing in a while. I do like Lilly to be a part of your rotation, as long as he isn't one of the top couple pitchers on your staff. Lilly allowed just one run and struck out five over seven innings, running his record to 6-4 on the year. He is one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball. He always gives you good innings, rarely is hurt, has a good strikeout rate, and usually has a better than average ERA.

Edwin Maysonet has been filling in for the injured Kaz Matsui at second for the Astros, and has been doing quite well. In fact, tonight he went 4-4 with a homer and two doubles. He was mostly an average player in the minors who showed good speed in the lower levels. Matsui should be back within a few days, so this isn't someone you should be following.

Someone who has NOT picked it up is the Rangers' Chris Davis. He was 0-7 in the doubleheader today, and struck out six times. He now has 32 hits and an unbelievable 77 strikeouts to go along with a .194 batting average. He has three hits in his last eleven games. What am I trying to say? I think it might be time to look for a replacement for Davis. Things have gotten really bad.

Brad Lidge picked up a save tonight, and that is now two in a row without incident. Lidge didn't even send his owners looking for sharp objects tonight, as he retired the Nationals in order with two strikeouts. For the sake of those of you who have him, hopefully that "rough patch" is behind him.

Clayton Richard was solid again for the White Sox and is looking more and more like a viable fantasy option. He isn't a dominant strikeout pitcher, but is pretty efficient. He was 12-6 with a 2.46 ERA in 20 starts in the minors last season, so this good pitching isn't a fluke. He is already 25, so not a young prospect, but you can't argue with his results. I would consider adding him in the right situation.

Josh Outman continues his great season under the radar, as he allowed three runs over 6.2 innings and whiffed nine. He continues to improve. He has been going deeper into games, he has been striking out more guys, his ERA for the year is just 3.06, while his WHIP is 1.19. He had a pretty decent minor league career too. I am also starting to suggest him as a bottom of the rotation kind of pitcher, and definitely an injury replacement. The only problem is the A's aren't that good, and he won't get a ton of run support.

Injury News

Joey Votto left the game early again tonight, and this ear infection or whatever is wrong with him is causing havoc on his breakout year. It is so hard to suggest what to do with him at this point. You want to play him, but you can't afford to have him to continue to do this. The safe play is to hold him out of your lineups until you see him play back to back games.

Brett Myers will need surgery on that torn labrum in his hip, and could miss the entire season. No date has been set for the surgery, but he is looking at anywhere between 13-18 weeks for a full recovery. Therefore, it is time to let go of Myers.

Ryan Ludwick returned to the Cardinals lineup on Friday and didn't record a hit in his first two at bats. Get him back into your lineups immediately. He was having a great start to the season, and his return will hopefully also kickstart Albert Pujols back into the ultimate fantasy player. He has also suffered from the loss of Ludwick.

Hideki Kuroda will return to the Dodgers' rotation on Monday against the Diamondbacks. I'm not the biggest fan of Kuroda, but he is a useful fantasy pitcher as the last man in your rotation. If you are waiting for him to come off the Disabled List to carry your pitching staff, you will be sorely disappointed.

Jorge Posada returned to the Yankees' lineup tonight and was 2-3 with a double off of Cliff Lee. If he was dropped during his time out, I would definitely pick him up unless you have an elite catcher. Posada was doing great before his latest injury, and his first game back was encouraging that he could jump right back on the horse.

Mailing List

For those of you who are regular readers, or even new to the site, I would like to offer a new service. I am starting a mailing list. Sometimes I see news during the day, but I wait until this nightly article to pass it along to you guys. Prospects coming up, injury news, closer movement, etc. Just send me an email to fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com with “Mailing List” in the subject line and I will add you to the list. Then, whenever I find news that I feel is breaking and important, I will send it to you as soon as I find out about it. Hopefully this is something that you all will find valuable to make a possible move before your competition.

Also, you can now follow me on Twitter for more updates. Go to www.twitter.com/fightingchance.

Attention League Commissioners! If you are looking to spice up your league some, go and visit Fantasy Sports Trophies. Tom Harkins has put together a great site with all kinds of different trophies to give the winner of your league something besides just bragging rights. There are trophies for fantasy baseball, football (check out the Beer League Fantasy Football Trophy), basketball, hockey, and auto racing. I invite you to take a look at the site and try them out.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the “Fantasy Baseball Tonight” podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the news, free agent pickups, minor leaguers, and injuries. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.