Nicasio nice in first effort

Newly recalled Rockies starter Juan Nicasio dominates the Caridinals with seven shoutout innings on his way to a 15-4 win in his MLB debut. Nicasio walked two and yielded just six hits on the day. He profiles as a project, but with that high-end fastball Nicasio is capable of big things in his career, especially if he improves that slider.

Fantasy Impact: With Aaron Cook expected back with the big league team after a broken pitching hand derailed the start of hi season, it appears this may have been one and done for Nicasio. If that's indeed the case, it might be a good thing for fantasy owners tempted to scoop up the young fireballer. Nicasio has pitched just this season above A-ball, which means he's still working his way through the minor league system. This one-off start was likely a reward for his good work at Double-A (2.22 ERA, 62 K in 56 2/3 innings). That said, the back end of the Rockies rotation (Cook and Clayton Mortensen) is less than inspiring. We fully expect Nicasio to head back to the minors and continue to work on harnessing his impressive stuff. Unless the Rockies are big gamblers, there's only an outside chance we see Nicasio again.

Oh, Contreras!

White Sox starter Jose Contreras returned from a near month-long stint in the minors and 1-hit the Tigers over 8 innings. He picks up his first win in almost a year after a ruptured Achilles tendon cost him half of 2008. The Sox win, 6-1.

Fantasy impact: Contreras entered the year as a sleeper candidate thanks to coming back in great shape from his strenuous rehab. He didn't pitch well enough to stay in the big leagues, however, and now needs to string together a few quality starts before he can be trusted on a regular basis.

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.

Haren needs some help

Dan Haren now has three runs of support through four starts in 2009. Tuesday he got two of those three, and it proved plenty as Haren shutout the Colorado Rockies for seven innings on the way to a 2-0 Diamondbacks win. Haren struck out nine and walked two while giving up just six hits. His ERA falls to 1.38.

Fantasy Impact: Last year we touted Haren as a fantasy ace who didn't get the respect he deserved. Now, like Matt Cain, he's not getting the run support. Haren improved his record to 1-3, so the Diamondbacks offense hurt Haren owners in two potential fantasy categories. It's not Haren's fault, although you're saddled with his support as long as he's in Arizona. We'll call him a frontline ace, but not an ideal number one like Tim Lincecum or Johan Santana.

Martis leads Nats to first win

Washington is finally a winner. Behind a solid outing from rookie starter Shairon Martis, the Nationals pounded out eight runs on 13 hits to beat Joe Blanton and the Phillies, 8-2. Washington improves to 1-7 while dropping the Phils to 4-4.

Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, Elijah Dukes and Alberto Gonzalez all went deep for the Nats, and the bullpen tossed 2 2/3 innings of no-hit ball.

Fantasy Impact: Martis' name was bantered about in fantasy circles this preseason. He put together fairly good numbers in the minors, but walks have been his biggest problem. He only walked two on this night, and if he can keep the ball in the zone, Martis might be a modest sleeper candidate pitching for a bad team.