Mauer the mauler

Joe Mauer may be on a tear like no one else right now, but he's going to have to keep it going full-throttle if he wants to hit .400. The Twins catcher batted .524 over his recent 15-game hitting streak, but he's 1-7 over his last two games. That's a .486 mark over his last 17 games. Baseball Musings projects Mauer must hit at least .451 the rest of the way to reach .400 for the season.

Fantasy Impact: There's no doubt Mauer is the best hitting catcher in baseball. His remarkable power surge (.648 SLG pct. in 2009 is 141 points over last season's mark) makes a good thing that much better. Mauer is such a complete hitter than a run at .400 is not out of the question, even if it's highly unlikely.

Doumit dominates Reds

Ryan Doumit lifted a ninth-inning grand slam off of Reds pitcher Mike Lincoln for his first home run of the 2009 season. Doumit goes 3-5 on the afternoon to go along with the run scored and four RBI, lifting his paltry average to .238. The Pirates pounded the Reds, 10-2.

Fantasy Impact: Doumit played in just 116 games in 2008 thanks to breaking his thumb mid-season. He's one of those rare plus-average, plus-power catchers. Consider him a lesser Brian McCann; a backstop capable of climbing into the top five at his position as he warms up.

Cubs lose Soto for a few days

The Cubs may be without starting catcher Geovany Soto for a few days. He felt pain in his throwing shoulder while gunning down Kaz Matsui on a steal attempt in the third inning of the Astros 3-2 win over the Cubs Tuesday night.

"I kind of over-exposed my shoulder a little bit," Soto said. "There was a little discomfort in my shoulder. I felt some weakness in it, and I felt I didn't have a shot if somebody else [tried to steal]. I need to keep up my exercises, and we'll see how it is in a couple days."

Soto said he had the same problem in Spring Training and doesn't expect to miss much time.

"You never know," he said when asked how long he'd be sidelined. "I just have to stay on top of my exercises, and I'll be all right in a couple days. As long as I stay in good shape and do my exercises, it won't happen again all year."

Fantasy Impact: Koyie Hill is Soto's backup this year. He beat out Paul Bako for maybe one start each week to spell Soto. That means he's a true backup catcher unexpected to pay dividends in fantasy baseball. Hill did hit 17 homers at Triple-A Iowa last year, which is very impressive considering the accident that nearly ended his baseball career.