Saturday, April 18, 2009

Guerrero DL stint good for Wood?

As expected, Vlad Guerrero hit the disabled list Friday with a torn pectoral muscle and will miss at least a month. Speculation has Brandon Wood the likely call-up. His power bat might fit nicely in the middle-end of the Angels lineup.

Fantasy Impact: Guerrero's not a factor for at least a month or beyond. DL him asap. Wood looks like the obvious call-up candidate with his power abilities. He strikes out a ton, however, so in leagues that penalize whiffs, you might have second thoughts.

Sheffield's 500th

Gary Sheffield hit his 500th home run Friday night in a 5-4 Mets win over San Diego. Sheffield pinch hit in the seventh inning, his fifth at bat and first hit of the season. He's the 25th major leaguer to hit 25 home runs.

Fantasy Impact: Mets Manager Jerry Manuel says he wants Sheffield in shape to play the outfield, and that time needs to come sooner rather than later for fantasy owners. For now, Sheffield is nothing more than a one at bat wonder each and every day.

Webb's successful game of catch

After the most anticipated game of catch in the world Friday, April 17th, Brandon Webb said his arm is feeling better.
They threw for about 10 minutes, with manager Bob Melvin and pitching coach Bryan Price watching, but Webb said he needed almost no time to realize how much better he was feeling.

"I was a little apprehensive letting it go right off the bat, but as soon as I started throwing I was like, 'This feels totally different from what it did (before),' " he said.
Fantasy Impact: This is obviously one small step for Webb in the recovery process. He's going to have to clear a couple more hurdles before he even considers pitching in a game again.

Kudos to Kubel on cycle

Jason Kubel's grand slam capped off a cycle against the Angels and a spectacular night for the Twins outfielder. Kubel goes 4-5 with five RBI and two runs in a 10-8 Twins win at the Metrodome.

Fantasy Impact: Kubel is considered part of a platoon in the Twins outfield with Delmon Young, and he's earning quite a few of the at bats. He's good for maybe 450 this season, but if he continues to break out, Kubel will become a full-fledged starter.

Benching Bonifacio

After he struck out seven times in 10 at bats, the Florida Marlins kept Emilio Bonifacio out of the starting lineup Friday night. They're trying to get the youngster to change his approach at the plate. Namely, chasing high fastballs.

Fantasy Impact: Certainly Bonifacio's amazing breakout to start the season was going to cool considerably at some point this season, but to see him go from such a peak to such a valley smacks of a youthful player still becoming accustomed to an every day role as a big leaguer. He'll continue to produce and sputter in waves this season. You'll have to hope for more periods of production than otherwise.