Cubs losing their legs

Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez left in the fifth inning in St. Louis with a leg problem. Ramirez strained his left calf running the bases.

Then in the bottom of the eighth an erratic Carlos Marmol seemed to plant awkwardly while delivering a pitch and also had to leave. Marmol left under his own power and looked more frustrated than he did in pain.

Cooked quickly

Colorado starter Aaron Cook continues to struggle out of the gate. For the third time in four starts, Cook gives up his first run in the first inning. The Dodgers scored two and had the bases loaded before Cook even got the first out. He stranded those runners on a couple of come-backers to the mound, the second of which he turned into a 1-2-3 double play. To his credit Cook got through the first on just 19 pitches. If he can find his stuff the Rockies offense might get him back in the game.

Cook's issues stem from a problem with his delivery, which has flattened out his sinker.

Fantasy Impact: Cook made the All-Star Game last year thanks to his sinker. It's one of the best in the game when it's right, but it's nowhere closer to where he needs it to be. Until he finds the pitch again, Cook is just an also ran in terms of fantasy play.

Mouth peace

Mouth guards are finding their way into Major League Baseball. The mouth pieces aren't necessarily designed to protect players' teeth as much as they are supposed to actually improve blood-flow to the brain and improve performance. Eric Byrnes and Dustin Pedroia are a couple of players already giving the mouth guard a try.

The Pure Power Mouthguard, which is what Byrnes wears, was developed by Anil Makkar, a Nova Scotia-based dentist who has studied neuromuscular dentistry. He told the Canadian Press last October that the mouthguard doesn't increase strength, but that it can unlock an athlete's potential by enhancing strength, balance, endurance and oxygen flow.

"The jaw joint is actually the focus of power in the body because that is the most used joint in the whole body," Makkar said. "So what we're basically doing is trying to find the most comfortable position of that lower jaw. ... It relaxes all the muscles in the face and allows you (to) use more of your upper and lower body strength."

Harang hangs up the Cubs

Aramis Ramirez hit a line drive just inches over his head and Carlos Zambrano's broken bat missed him by just a couple of feet, but otherwise Aaron Harang enjoyed a great day at Wrigley Field. I was there to see him throw seven solid innings on seven-hit baseball. With the wind blowing out to left, Harang kept the ball down. He struck out just two batters, but did not allow an earned run, lowering his ERA to 2.00. Harang improves to 2-2 after a 7-1 Reds win.Harang winds in the sixth inning.
Harang looks in against Micah Hoffpauir on a perfect day for baseball at Wrigley.

Fantasy Impact: Harang proved to be one of the bigger disappointments last season, recording 17 losses. He's well on his way to righting the ship in 2009. We expect a continued return to past form - double-digit wins and No. 2 starter value in fantasy baseball.

Fast Bobby

Bobby Abreu leads the majors in stolen bases after recording his eighth of the season Thursday night. Abreu stole 40 bases back in 2004.

Fantasy Impact: A member of the Angels now, we should expect this sort of thing from Abreu, who is on pace to shatter his career high in steals, even at the age of 34. Mike Scioscia might be the most aggressive manager out there, so Abreu should get plenty of green lights.

Abreu is a better speed guy than a power hitter as evidenced by his 261 career stolen bases compared to his 198 home runs. His fast start on the base paths leads us to believe 40 more steals are on the horizon in 2009.

Zito shines

Barry Zito made the rare outstanding start, striking out five, walking nobody and yielding six hits over seven innings of shutout work. He didn't get a win, because Padres starter Chris Young matched him with seven shutout innings, but the Giants do win, 1-0 in ten.

Fantasy Impact: We don't trust Barry Zito until he mixes in more than one or two of these for every four or five duds. He's a back-of-the-fantasy-rotation type at best.

Sabathia scuffles, but no cause for concern

CC Sabathia continues to mix good and bad starts in 2009. The Yankees ace threw 112 pitches, just half of them for strikes, without getting through the seventh inning against the A's. He walked four, gave up six hits and a three-run homer to Kurt Suzuki. Sabathia's six earned runs in 6 2/3 innings is messy at best, although he avoided a loss as the Yankees rallied to tie and won the game in 14 innings, 9-7.

Fantasy Impact: This is not the first time Sabathia has struggled. While his ERA ballooned to 4.81, Sabathia has just a 3.65 lifetime ERA. Last season's incredible run with the Brewers, in which he won 11 times in 17 outings while posting a 1.65 ERA, was the best stretch of his career. Those stunning numbers probably had some to do with Sabathia facing a league of hitters that had rarely or never faced him before.

Now he's back in the A.L. with DHs and opponents who know him well. We're going to expect that ERA to return to the mid-threes this year. Sabathia is just one good start away from accomplishing that.

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.

Hard to hit Harden

Rich Harden continues to dominate this season, striking out eight over six innings in a 7-2 victory over Cincinnati. Baseball Musings points out that Harden has allowed just 30 of the 64 batters he's faced to put the ball in play. He walks too many batters and builds up a high pitch count rarely working into the seventh inning, as he failed to do again on Tuesday.

That puts a lot of pressure on the Cubs bullpen, which looks very mediocre at this point of the season.

Fantasy Impact: It's the same story for Harden: great pitcher with bad luck. He's a number three starter in fantasy with the upside of a number one and the downside of an injury-risk crash. We wouldn't invest too much in him, but we'd still like him on our roster.

Mulder interest

Oft-injured free agent pitcher Mark Mulder is getting interest from several MLB clubs, but not from the pitching-strapped Angels. The Dodgers, A's and Nationals seem most interested at this time.

Miguel Cabrera deal unlikely

Tom Fornelli over at Fanhouse points out that even if the Tigers want to trade Miguel Cabrera's huge salary away this season, dealing him might cost them even more money.

Cabrera is in the second year of a $153-million contract that pays him $15 million this year.

Putting up for Dukes

Elijah Dukes can't catch a break. Even when he does good, he gets in trouble. Somebody tell the Washington Nationals how to run a baseball team, please. Kudos to the little leaguers for the nice gesture to pay Dukes' fine.

Cuban Missle's slow start

Alexei Ramirez went 2-4 with a stolen basen Tuesday in Baltimore, raising his paltry average to .159 in 44 at bats. He's scuffling along, but some believe a night like Tuesday is the kind of performance that will get him started.

Fantasy Impact: Ramirez started woefully slow in 2008, leading some to believe the eventual A.L. Rookie of the Year runner-up was a mistake signing by the White Sox. Ramirez hit just .138 in 29 April at bats last year. After 90 at bats in 2008, Ramirez improved to .234. He batted .295 in May. We're forecasting gradual improvement as the weather heats up.

Bergesen strong in first start

Spitting Seeds' concerns regarding Orioles rookie starter Brad Bergesen waned a bit after seeing him pitch well Tuesday night for his first major league win. The 23-year-old commands incredible stuff, pitches that bend and dip violently on their way to home plate. Imagine whiffle balls darting and dodging White Sox bats and you get the picture.

Fantasy Impact: Bergesen worked into the sixth, going 5 2/3 innings and striking out four. He's not a strikeout pitcher, according to his minor league stats. He is, however, very poised on the mound as he worked through some difficult circumstances to beat Chicago, 10-3.

We'd recommend taking a flier on him. Actually, we believe a bit more in Baltimore's minor league pitcher of the year. We think Bergesen can stick in the majors. Add him to your pitching staff if you can, and reap the benefits of major league teams having never seen him before.

Broken bat injures ump

Umpire Kerwin Danley was struck on the right side of the head when Hank Blalock's bat shattered during a fifth-inning at bat. Danley would leave the game on a stretcher.

While maple bats have come under scrutiny in the past year due to their seemingly high rate of shattering, Blalock was using an ash bat.

Darn it, Doumit

Ryan Doumit's fractured wrist will keep him out at least eight weeks and up to ten.

Fantasy Impact: This is a bad time for a bad break. Doumit is one of the few major producers at catcher, and now that we're a couple of weeks into the season many of the solid waiver options are off the board.

Some suggestions on catchers you might be able to catch on waivers:

Kelly Shoppach - The Indians backstop is getting part-time at bats
Dioner Navarro - He hit .295 in 2008 and is availble in half of Yahoo! leagues
Nick Hundley - Off to a great start, but not a top prospect
Gerald Laird - Steady and boring
John Buck - Hot start but shares time with Miguel Olivo
Miguel Olivo - See John Buck

Isringhausen rehabbing

Jason Isringhausen is on a rehab stint, and the first outing went well. Isringhausen will contribute to a crowded Rays bullpen upon his arrival in Tampa. Troy Percival, the current closer, is under pressure from setup men Grant Balfour and Dan Wheeler. All four pitchers can end up earning saves.

Fantasy Impact: When he gets back to the majors, Isringhausen will be a setup man at best. He certainly maintains upside as a possible closer down the road but is best left on the waiver wire for now.

A-Rod getting closer

A-Rod says he feels good as he continues to progress with fielding drills in his rehab work. He still hasn't run the bases yet.

Bergesen debuts Monday night

Paul White of USA Today takes a look at prospects cracking the surface in MLB. Brad Bergesen makes his debut for the Orioles tonight against the White Sox. Bergesen, the Orioles minor league pitcher of the year, needs to be deceptive to get batters out.

Fantasy Impact: Bergesen went 15-6 with a 3.22 ERA in Double-A last year, but he only struck out 72 batters in 148 innings. He's an interesting prospect, but not necessarily a guy you'd expect to dominate in the big leagues.

Take a flier if you can, but this is fairly high risk-reward.

Own-able Ohlendorf

Ross Ohlendorf began to make a name for himself by two-hitting the Florida Marlins for seven innings Monday night. Ohlendorf, who wrote his thesis on the value of signing bonuses while at Princeton, has a nice makeup. He's known as a minor league innings-eater, which might translate well to the big leagues.

Fantasy Impact: It's hard to say many ace-like performances lie ahead, but if you're hurting for starting pitching in your fantasy league, Ohlendorf is quite possibly worth the risk. He's not likely to post a ton of victories, but if the big right hander can keep his ERA in the fours and continue to work a nice K/BB rate, he's worth a pickup as a low-end starting option at this time.