Saturday, April 25, 2009

Bombs away for Branyan... for now

Russell Branyan continues to be one of the most annoying players in fantasy baseball history. The Mariners first baseman homered in the first inning of tonight's victory over the Angels, giving him four long balls on the season. He finished with a 3-5 night with two runs scored and four RBI.

Branyan seems to have one hot streak in him every season, and when it comes, it's insane. He's hitting .341 through 12 games in 2009. This streak, however, just like all the rest, is sure to come to an end.

Fantasy Impact: Branyan's played eight stints with six different teams over five seasons. He hasn't collected 200 at bats since 2005, and he's 33 this season. Having never held down a first base job, it's hard to believe he'll keep things up for an entire season. Branyan owns a .231 career bating average and strikes out a ton. He's ownable while he's red hot but not at all once he cools off.

Webb of misfortune

Brandon Webb will not pitch for at least six more weeks due to what is considered a strained muscle in the back of his throwing shoulder.

Fantasy Impact: This is about as bad as the news could get for Webb. Nobody expected him to require surgery after a negative MRI on the shoulder, but he hasn't thrown since opening day, and now he's gone until at least June. Yusmeiro Petit will start in his absence for the time being.