Uggla rests hammy

Dan Uggla sat out of Saturday's Marlins-Cubs game after straining a hamstring the day before.

I saw the play in which he was injured. Uggla stretched far off second base on a force play and nearly ended up doing the splits. At first look you could tell he was experiencing discomfort, but he stayed in the game.

Fantasy Impact: It sounds like the injury is a day-to-day situation, so you don't have to bench your power-hitting second baseman. If you have a decent alternative, however, you can leave Uggla on your bench Sunday to guarantee some fantasy points just in case.

Dye injured

Jermaine Dye took a fastball off his left hand during an at bat late in the White Sox game at Texas. Dye looked to be in a lot of pain while he was examined. He then walked off ahead of the medical staff and did not return.

One of the White Sox announers suggested that because his hand was not on the bat when the ball struck Dye might be OK. I've never heard that proposed before, but it might have some merit.

Roughing up Rivera

Mariano Rivera gave up his second homer of the season on Wednesday, a three-run shot to Curtis Granderson. Rivera then recorded the final out in a rare 1/3 inning of work to finish the Yankees 8-6 victory over Detroit. Rivera has allowed two homers this April. The 39-year-old's previous high for home runs in a season as Yankees closer is four. His ERA spiked to 3.12.

Fantasy Impact: We love Mariano Rivera and expect him to be fine from here on out. We also realize that Rivera's age must begin to be a concern at some point, and advise owners in keeper leagues to be aware of his recent struggles. If the home run numbers come up, that could be an indication that time is catching up to the sure-fire Hall of Famer.

Bullpen blues for Piniella

Kevin Gregg walked three straight batters in the eighth against Arizona, including walking in a run. His ERA climbs to 6.23. Don't panic, Gregg owners, because Carlos Marmol's ERA jumped to 6.75 as he walked in two Diamondbacks earlier in the game. Gregg is the Cubs closer, Marmol is the setup man and Jeff Samardzija might be the dark horse to leap both for the closer role. Samardzija struck out two of the three Diamondbacks he faced, although he did give up a 2-RBI double to Justin Upton. Both of the runs were charged to Marmol as the Cubs lose 10-0.

Fantasy Impact: We're not speculating that Samardzija will earn the closer job imminently, but we're thinking Lou Piniella might need to get creative if he wants to solidify his 'pen. Samardzija is an intriguing talent - a hard-throwing stud with movement and a steady demeanor. If Marmol and Gregg continue to implode, Piniella's hand may eventually be forced. Keep an eye on the situation, especially if Samardzija begins to take off in his setup role.

Closer dilemma in Denver

Manny Corpas had the day off anyway, but Huston Street might make it a two-horse back of the bullpen again with his second save of the season. Street struck out three straight Padres en route to a 7-5 Rockies win. Corpas is still the closer, but it's not long before Clint Hurdle re-evaluates the position for a second time this season.

Fantasy Impact: As has been the case in recent seasons, the Rockies bullpen remains a work in progress. Neither Street nor Corpas appears to be a great source for saves in 2009 as each takes away from the other and then gives back what he's taken. Corpas is the better bet while he's in the role, but that can change on the whim of Hurdle.

Hanrahan loses grip on closer role

The Washington Nationals closer is no longer Joel Hanrahan. Manny Acta says he's going with a bullpen by committee for now, as there is not a clear-cut favorite for the position.

Fantasy Impact: There are really no clear closers-in-waiting in Washington, although some believe Garrett Mock is an eventual option. It's hard to feel good about Mock, however, as Acta pulled him from his setup role. The best advice is to consider Joe Beimel, Julian Tavarez and Kip Wells for closer now. Beimel will be the favorite to inherit the job once he comes off the DL, but Tavarez has more experience. Somehow, that always seems to matter.

Wringing hands over Hanley

Hanley Ramirez owners have to be breathing a sigh of relief. The 95-mph fastball that hit him on his wright wrist did not cause a break. Eric Karabell says there's nothing to worry about, maybe. He doesn't like Hanley's slow start, and he's non-committal regarding what it means for the season.

Ramirez, 25, comes off his first 30/30 season, and has a career .307 batting average, so expectations are obviously sky-high. He has three stolen bases, but has also been caught stealing the same number of times. It's still early, but if you used the first pick on the guy, you expected he'd be among the leaders on ESPN's Player Rater. Currently Ramirez is No. 93, and not in the top five among shortstops (behind Jason Bartlett, Michael Young, Derek Jeter, Marco Scutaro and Asdrubal Cabrera). The last thing the slumping Marlins, and fantasy owners, need is an injury.

With no apparent broken bones, Ramirez might miss a few games, and this potentially large story shouldn't be a big deal. Then again, we've seen what wrist injuries have done to power hitters in the recent past, notably the production of Hideki Matsui and Derrek Lee. Ramirez is much younger and more talented -- he was, after all, the first player taken in most drafts -- but any decrease in power is going to affect a whole lot of fantasy owners. As it is, Ramirez is someone who was being watched to start with, and an injury can't help.

Fantasy Impact: Let's actually take a stab at the signifcance of all this. If the wrist is ok and heals quickly, there's no reason to think Ramirez is going to have a sub-standard season. He's slumped in the past. In fact, he slumped for about a month after last season's All-Star game and still put up some of the best numbers of his career. That included 125 runs, the most of any player in the big leagues in 2008. While he's got more pressure on him hitting in the middle of the Marlins order, Ramirez is only 25 years old, meaning the best years of his career are in front of him, not behind him in the most likely case. That means this year should be as good or better than last year, and if it's not, it's still going to be a good year for a shortstop in most regards. Don't freak. Ramirez is a star.

Talk about inappropriate

MLB-TV's Matt Vasgersian tried to make light of a scary injury to Brad Hawpe, and it backfired badly. File this one under: "trying too hard to create an 'anchor moment.'" Just a foolish thing to do.

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.

Soria throws

Royals closer Joakim Soria threw a light session on Sunday as he tries to get back from recent shoulder woes. There's no definite schedule for his return, although Soria is not on the DL.

Fantasy Impact: He should be benched until Kansas City gives him the go-head. Shoulder troubles are not that uncommon in April, but this is a touch worrisome for a young pitcher who's logged a lot of innings in his relief role the past two seasons.

Jacoby jacks home

The good Jacoby Ellsbury showed up Sunday night against the Yankees. The Red Sox speedy center fielder reached twice and stole a pair of bases -- including home plate -- in a 4-1 sweep-sealing victory. Ellsbury has been plagued by inconsistency this season, but his recent hot streak has him hitting .289.

Fantasy Impact: Fantasy owners might have to be resigned to the fact that Ellsbury may never shake his streaky nature. He suffered through a massive slump at the plate and on the bases in 2008, and just 10 days ago he was hitting .194. Ellsbury is up to 10 steals already in 2009, so it's hard to keep him out of the lineup, especially now. Ride the wave. You might be benching him again shortly.

Shell-shocked Lindstrom gets night off

Marlins manager Freddie Gonzalez gave closer Matt Lindstrom the night off on Saturday. Gonzalez says he still has faith in his young right-hander despite his 38-pitch, seven-run ninth inning on Friday.

Gonzalez said he would be giving Lindstrom the day off Saturday because he threw 38 pitches in Friday's nightmare outing.

But there is a good chance if the Marlins have the lead late in Sunday's game, Lindstrom will be back out there. If he is, Lindstrom said, he will definitely take a different approach than the one he did Friday, when he waited until the fifth batter he faced to throw something other than his 96-mile-per-hour fastball.

''I know what I have to do now to have more success -- and that's mix my pitches better and stop getting behind hitters, giving them a hitter's count,'' said Lindstrom, whose ERA jumped to 10.80 from 1.50 after giving up seven earned runs in two-thirds of an inning Friday.

Fantasy Impact: You'll have to hope Lindstrom can bounce back. On Friday Lindstrom seemed to think this is the worst he'd ever pitched. We don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Only time moving forward will tell.

KC closer by committee

With Joakim Soria nursing a sore shoulder, Kansas City will turn to a closer-by-committee approach until their All-Star reliever can return in three to five days. Soria had an MRI that came back negative.

Bombs away for Branyan... for now

Russell Branyan continues to be one of the most annoying players in fantasy baseball history. The Mariners first baseman homered in the first inning of tonight's victory over the Angels, giving him four long balls on the season. He finished with a 3-5 night with two runs scored and four RBI.

Branyan seems to have one hot streak in him every season, and when it comes, it's insane. He's hitting .341 through 12 games in 2009. This streak, however, just like all the rest, is sure to come to an end.

Fantasy Impact: Branyan's played eight stints with six different teams over five seasons. He hasn't collected 200 at bats since 2005, and he's 33 this season. Having never held down a first base job, it's hard to believe he'll keep things up for an entire season. Branyan owns a .231 career bating average and strikes out a ton. He's ownable while he's red hot but not at all once he cools off.

Webb of misfortune

Brandon Webb will not pitch for at least six more weeks due to what is considered a strained muscle in the back of his throwing shoulder.

Fantasy Impact: This is about as bad as the news could get for Webb. Nobody expected him to require surgery after a negative MRI on the shoulder, but he hasn't thrown since opening day, and now he's gone until at least June. Yusmeiro Petit will start in his absence for the time being.

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.