Saturday, May 9, 2009

Soria's sore shoulder

Joakim Soria's shoulder woes won't go away. The Royals closer continues to feel stiffness in his throwing shoulder despite medical work showing no actual injury.
"We probably don't have Jack [Soria]," manager Trey Hillman said before Saturday night's game against the Angels. "He was a little sore yesterday -- too sore for my liking to feel real comfortable. We'll probably go day-to-day."

Other than Soria's right shoulder being stiff, Hillman said he had no further information and that all medical tests had checked out OK.

"It's kind of new territory for me," Hillman said. "I felt he was a little bit behind to start [the season] and I'm still hopeful that that's what it is. I just don't know. Anything beyond that would be speculation on my part."
Fantasy Impact: This situation sounds similar to Brandon Webb's non-injury that turned into a two-month DL stay. Anytime a pitcher suffers shoulder troubles it's a big deal. Soria logged a lot of innings the past two seasons as a young pitcher, logging 69 and 67 1/3 innings at the ages of 23 and 24. It would be unfortunate that all the early success in his career begins to derail him.

It's hard to recommend a stop-gap option as Trey Hillman prefers a closer-by-committee approach if Soria is not available. Soria is not yet headed to the disabled list, so there is no reason to jump to the conclusion that he'll be unavailable for an extended period. You'll have to ride this one out.

Aramis Ramirez disabled

Aramis Ramirez separated his non-throwing shoulder diving for a ball in Milwaukee Saturday night. He's expected out four to six weeks.

Fantasy Impact: While it's not his right shoulder, we're still expecting Ramirez to be gone for the latter half of that estimate. A separated shoulder is not a good injury to have as it can impact a player's swing even when he's capable of playing again.

Look for Mike Fontenot to get the lion's share at third. He's already third-base eligible in a number of leagues, and this development should get him the starts he needs in most leagues. Ryan Freel, recently acquired from Baltimore, might be the leadoff man the Cubs craved at second base. Keep an eye on Freel.

Barry very steady

Barry Zito might have won just his first game of 2009 on May 8th, but his overall body of work is looking very solid.

Zito worked six innings of one-run baseball against the Dodgers on Friday night, allowing eight hits while walking two. He struck out five. While the WHIP total is a bit high, Zito got out of jams and lowered his ERA for the fourth straight performance. It's down to 3.57 now.

Fantasy Impact: Zito is still a risky start, but he's not nearly as bad as the beating he takes in the press. We suggest picking him up if he's still available on the waiver wire. Pitch him when the matchups are right against weaker and lefty-dominated lineups.