Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Isringhausen rehabbing

Jason Isringhausen is on a rehab stint, and the first outing went well. Isringhausen will contribute to a crowded Rays bullpen upon his arrival in Tampa. Troy Percival, the current closer, is under pressure from setup men Grant Balfour and Dan Wheeler. All four pitchers can end up earning saves.

Fantasy Impact: When he gets back to the majors, Isringhausen will be a setup man at best. He certainly maintains upside as a possible closer down the road but is best left on the waiver wire for now.

A-Rod getting closer

A-Rod says he feels good as he continues to progress with fielding drills in his rehab work. He still hasn't run the bases yet.

Bergesen debuts Monday night

Paul White of USA Today takes a look at prospects cracking the surface in MLB. Brad Bergesen makes his debut for the Orioles tonight against the White Sox. Bergesen, the Orioles minor league pitcher of the year, needs to be deceptive to get batters out.

Fantasy Impact: Bergesen went 15-6 with a 3.22 ERA in Double-A last year, but he only struck out 72 batters in 148 innings. He's an interesting prospect, but not necessarily a guy you'd expect to dominate in the big leagues.

Take a flier if you can, but this is fairly high risk-reward.

Own-able Ohlendorf

Ross Ohlendorf began to make a name for himself by two-hitting the Florida Marlins for seven innings Monday night. Ohlendorf, who wrote his thesis on the value of signing bonuses while at Princeton, has a nice makeup. He's known as a minor league innings-eater, which might translate well to the big leagues.

Fantasy Impact: It's hard to say many ace-like performances lie ahead, but if you're hurting for starting pitching in your fantasy league, Ohlendorf is quite possibly worth the risk. He's not likely to post a ton of victories, but if the big right hander can keep his ERA in the fours and continue to work a nice K/BB rate, he's worth a pickup as a low-end starting option at this time.

Nationals trust Hanrahan

Joel Hanrahan received a vote of confidence from manager Manny Acta on Monday, who said Hanrahan is firmly entrenched as the team's closer despite saving just one game in three chances. Acta called up three middle relievers on Sunday, including saves candidate Garrett Mock, but stressed that Hanrahan still owns the job of closer.
Acta said, Hanrahan is not on a short leash.

"No, not at all," Acta said. "There's no such thing as a short leash for two blown saves. I think even the great Mariano Rivera has blown saves back-to-back in the past."
Joe Beimel is still considered the team's setup man, so the young guns will fall in line somewhere between the day's starter and the seventh inning.

Fantasy Impact: Hanrahan is not our idea of a stable closer, but if he's getting the nod from his manager, it's his role to lose. Consider him a low end option that won't get many chances due to the Nationals losing ways.