Washburn sinking in

Hello, Jarrod Washburn. The Seattle southpaw, an afterthought in the fantasy baseball world, lifted his left arm to the heavens on Thursday night, and each time that arm came down a sinking fastball floated around and under the bats of miffed Minnesota batters. Washburn's new pitch got him through eight innings of five-hit baseball and earned the Seattle Mariners a 2-0 win.

Fantasy Impact: Sinkerballers pose an intriguing value in fantasy play. Typically guys like Chien-Ming Wang and Aaron Cook keep their teams in the game and maintain low ERAs, but they're not going to strike people out. Washburn never did, and in Seattle he's unlikely to win. That said, a pitcher who can get people out and pitch deep into games as Washburn did Thursday always has a chance. That means this old lefty with a new pitch can pay dividends at the back end of most fantasy staffs.