Berkman out a night

Lance Berkman sits out the night after suffering a mild calf strain. It doesn't sound like a problem, although Berkman is thinking about the injury.

"It's just tight and sore," he said. "It's probably a small pulled muscle or something like that. I'm just worried about a lingering issue, which I obviously don't want, especially going into a pretty important stretch for us here in the first part of the second half."

Fantasy Impact: Lingering injuries are never a good thing. They not only keep players out of the lineup now and again, they also impact statlines. Berkman might need to be benched until he gets back in the game.

Rebirth of Berkman

Lance Berkman's slow start is appearing to be a thing of the past. The Astros first baseman slugs his 18th home run and extends his hitting streak to 11 games in a 2-4 effort in a 9-4 victory over Washington. Berkman's on pace for right around 100 RBI and 90 runs scored, which is pretty good after his woefully slow start, which included a strikeout rate of more than 30 percent. He's now hitting .277 and looking like he can climb into the .290s by season's end.

Fantasy Impact: Berkman remains one of the game's most consistent performers. His contact hitting has come around dramatically since the end of May. Berkman's struck out just 20 times since June 1st, and he's upped his average 119 points since the end of April. He's a must start, a keepable asset, and one of the top options at first base. It was only a matter of time before he came around.

Berkman's struggles

Lance Berkman provided a solo homer in a 4-1 Astros win over the Reds Monday night. His home run total is up to five on the year, but he's still struggling mightily at the plate with a .174 batting average.

Berkman is not just making outs, he's striking out at an alarming rate. For his career, Berkman has struck out in exactly 20 percent of his at bats. Last season he whiffed 19.5 percent of the time. In his sub-par 2007, the worst batting average year of his career, Berkman struck out 22 percet of the time. In 2009, he's going down on strikes in a whopping 33 percent of his at bats.

Fantasy Impact: These numbers are unprecedented over the course of Berkman's career. Looking back to 2004, Berkman's worst strikeout rate for a stand-alone month of a season is 27 percent (22 in 81 at bats) back in 2004. That season, when Berkman was just 28 years old, he made corrections and ended up with one of the best stat lines of his career. Now 33, he still has the ability to correct his 2009 season, but career highs in strikeouts often signal the beginning of the end. Owners will have to hope this is just a career-low april for the otherwise slugging first baseman, because you're not going to get fair compensation by trading him away now.