2012 Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes 5/25

Dan Haren, Los Angeles Angels SP

Each and every day, I’ll be combing over box scores and scouring local beat writers’ reports to make sure you have all the information you need in order to make the right decisions for your fantasy baseball lineup. Make sure you check back at this very spot for Hot/Cold Streaks, Injury News, Closer Updates, Daily Stats, and more so that you can stay one step ahead of the rest of your league.

As always, make sure you’re getting your daily fantasy sports fix by playing the FP911Challenge! Don’t know how to play? Don’t worry…Dan Stack’s got you covered with a tutorial and some Week 8 tips.

Looking Back

Before we get to today’s games, let’s take a spin through last night’s box scores to identify the Studs and Duds from Thursday, May 24th.

5 Good Nights

• Dan Haren: 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 14 K’s, W
• Justin Morneau: 3-5, 3 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI
• Albert Pujols: 3-4, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, 1 steal
• Omar Infante: 4-5, 2 R, 2 steals
• Melky Cabrera: 3-5, 3 R, 4 RBI, 1 steal

Honorable Mention: Drew Stubbs, Angel Pagan, David Freese, Yadier Molina, Alejandro De Aza, Devin Mesoraco, Shane Victorino, Alex Rios, Freddy Galvis, Giancarlo Stanton, Paul Konerko, Ty Wigginton, David Wright, Cameron Maybin, Everth Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Justin Masterson, Eric Stults

5 Bad Nights

• Jake Westbrook: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 4 BB’s, 4 K’s
• Joe Blanton: 4.1 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 5 K’s
• Philip Humber: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB’s, 4 K’s
• Andy Dirks: 0-5
• Matt Adams: 0-4, 3 K’s

Dishonorable Mention: Ronny Cedeno, Hunter Pence, Mark Trumbo, Josh Willingham, Jay Bruce, Addison Reed, Luke Gregerson, Jeremy Hefner, Anibal Sanchez, Randall Delgado

Daily Grab Bag

Check back here for daily updates on injuries, closer battles, player news, and anything else that might affect your fantasy baseball team.

• Don’t panic…there is NOT a closer controversy in Cincinnati. Logan Ondrusek picked up the save for the Reds last night, but that was solely due to the fact that Aroldis Chapman had pitched in three-straight games.
• Emilio Bonifacio‘s thumb injury was worse than originally thought and the Marlins’ speedster underwent surgery on his injured digit yesterday. The procedure reportedly went well, but Bonifacio will still miss the next four to six weeks.
• Austin Jackson (abdominal strain) was officially placed on the 15-day DL (retroactive to May 17th) and will be eligible to return in early June as long as his rehab goes as planned.
• Lance Berkman underwent knee surgery to repair a partial meniscus tear and will miss the next eight to 10 weeks. That’s still not good news, but it’s better than the “out for the season” reports we were hearing earlier this week.
• Brett Gardner (elbow) has experienced a setback in his rehab and his return date remains up in the air. I think he’s worth keeping, but I’ve also dropped him in a few shallower leagues where I needed the roster spot.
• Anthony Rizzo is batting .353 with 16 home runs and 43 RBI in 45 at Triple-A Iowa, and may be called to the Majors within three weeks according to reports. If you’re in need of power/corner infield help, you might want to grab Rizzo and stash him now.
• There are reports that Chris Carpenter (neck) will begin a throwing program soon with hopes of a late-July return. This injury has been very unpredictable thus far, and I’d be surprised if we see Carpenter before August (if at all this season).
• Trout/Harper Watch: With two of baseball’s best prospects being called-up recently, I’m going to dedicate this space to keeping tabs on the youngsters for the near future. Here’s to hoping that you were able to grab one (or both)!
  Bryce Harper: The Nationals did not play yesterday. (.267, 16 R, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 2 Steals on the season).
  Mike Trout: Trout went 1-4 with a run yesterday. (.312, 17 Runs, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 6 Steals on the season).

Looking Ahead

A quick look at some of today’s pitchers to start (3 Up), pitchers to sit (3 Down), pitchers to take a flier on if you need a spot-start (Throwing Darts), and batters with advantageous or disadvantageous matchups (Today’s Swings and Misses).

3 Up

Clayton Kershaw vs. Houston Astros

Cliff Lee at St. Louis Cardinals

Johnny Cueto vs. Colorado Rockies

3 Down

Ross Detwiler at Atlanta Braves

Kyle Lohse vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Bruce Chen at Baltimore Orioles

Throwing Darts

Ivan Nova at Oakland Athletics

A.J. Burnett vs. Chicago Cubs

 Anthony Bass at New York Mets

Today’s Swings and Misses

• Ichiro Suzuki is 28-for-80 (.350) with 10 extra-base hits in his career against today’s starter, Ervin Santana.
• Michael Young is 6-for-15 (.400) in his career against today’s starter, Brandon Morrow.
• Omar Infante is 4-for-11 (.364) in his career against today’s starter, Tim Lincecum.
• B.J. Upton is 10-for-49 (.204) in his career against today’s starter, Jon Lester.
• Mike Napoli is 2-for-14 (.143) in his career against today’s starter, Brandon Morrow.
• Jimmy Rollins is 5-for-27 (.185) in his career against today’s starter, Kyle Lohse.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the great content on FantasyPros911.com, starting with some of our most recent updates:

• Albert Lang previews today’s starting pitchers in the latest edition of Pitch or Ditch.
• Dave Shovein takes a look ahead at Week Nine”s Double Starters.
• Have you ever tried to come up with your own rankings system? Collin Hager has and if you haven’t seen his HVaC rankings, you’re really missing out!
• Matthew Dewoskin does a great job of updating the latest closer news in this week’s Blown Opportunities.
• Albert Lang is back with this week’s Hot N Cold All-Stars (Katy Perry music included)!
• Editor-in-Chief Patrick DiCaprio is back with his patented Closer Identifier Alogrithm and the latest update to his CIA spreadsheet.
• Lenny Melnick takes a look at last night’s action and a whole lot more on today’s episode of his award-winning podcast.
• And of course, don’t forget to check out Patrick DiCaprio and the rest of the crew on this week’s Fantasy Baseball Roundtable Show!

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Nick Raducanu

Nick Raducanu finished 2011 ranked in the top 20 on ESPN’s Fantasy site, and is the mystery man behind the TraderX persona at www.FantasyTrade411.com. You can follow him and ask him for fantasy advice on Twitter @FantasyTrade411.

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