Bautista is home run boss - this year

Jose Bautista hits his 50th home run, putting him nine up on Albert Pujols for the MLB lead. He probably doesn't need to slug another homer in 2010 to win the race by a fairly wide margin.

Fantasy Impact: Career year or breakout season? That's what fantasy owners of Bautista must be wondering now with just over a week to go. Now with 34 more homers than in any of his previous four full-time MLB seasons, Bautista doesn't have much of a track record to expect future presence in the ranks of baseball's top power hitters. He does, however, have a decent-enough base of work to believe this isn't entirely a fluke. Brady Anderson was a guy who hit 50 homers in 1996 but failed to top 20 homers but two other times in a 15-season MLB career. That's not to suggest that Bautista is Anderson, but Bautista's previous four seasons comprised of a slash line of .242/.334/.412, suggesting he's going to come back to earth quite a bit in 2011. Let's argue against an epiphany for this journeyman ballplayer who is already with his fifth organization at the age of 29. He's a good sell-high candidate in the offseason, and maybe before the preseason, as a lesser spring followed by a little bad press will sabotage value on a return.

Damn, Damon

Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon continues to hit well-above his head power-wise. Damon slugs his 10th homer of the 2009 season in the 10th inning for a walk-off win over Minnesota. He's hitting .324 from the No. 2 hole in New York's star-studded lineup.

Fantasy Impact: Can this hold up? Maybe. While Damon is 34 and hasn't hit more than 24 home runs in a single season, he's certainly showing more pop in his bat later in his career. New Yankee Stadium is seeing baseballs fly into the stands with alarming regularity, but it's not necessarily going to last. Damon's production will be expected to slow, but we think he's capable of hitting 25-30 homers thanks to his blistering pace. That makes him a great trade piece to a team needing another outfielder.

Oh, Myers!

The Phillies Brett Myers is well on his way to making home run history in 2009. Myers gave up three home runs against the Colorado Rockies Saturday night, equaling the three blasts he served up to Atlanta on opening night. That's six home runs in two starts, which multiplies out to 90 homers over 30 starts, shattering both Jose Lima's National League record of 48 homers allowed in a single season and Bert Blyleven's Major League single-season record of 50 homers allowed.

Of course Myers is on pace to make at least 32 starts as the Phillies opening day starter, which means he could push 100 homers if he keeps up the pace!

Update: The Phillies win the game, 8-4 as Myers has never lost to Colorado.

Fantasy Impact: Myers is a power pitcher with streaks of both good and bad. He's a decent third option in a fantasy rotation who will provide as much risk as reward.

Double double

Felipe Lopez and Tony Clark each hit home runs from both sides of the plate on opening day, the first time that's ever been done by two players on the same team.