Baseball

The start of the 2011 season has been filled with surprises, particularly in terms of blown saves. The Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals’ bullpens have been especially unpredictable recently. Here’s the latest:

White Sox

The White Sox’s bullpen is a mess. Matt Thornton has blown all four of his save opportunities thus far, and has allowed 11 runs (five earned) on 12 hits in 5.2 innings.

When the New York Yankees signed Russell Martin to a one-year contract during the offseason, they were hoping simply for Martin to provide spring training competition to youngsters Francisco Cervelli and Jesus Montero.

After a solid spring, Martin earned the starters job and has hit the ground running so far this season.

Pedro Alvarez was given a day off on Monday as he continues to falter in the opening weeks of the 2011 season. At a shallow position, Alvarez was supposed to give owners a little bit of thump. Instead, all he has done is fallen with a resounding thud.

Now, the question is if it is time to give up hope or do we still think he can turn things around?

Clearly, the numbers from his first 15 games have been ugly:

Some reasonably available players to assist you in the strikeouts category. Realize that some of these will come with high ERAs and WHIPs because if a pitcher has low numbers in those categories and a good K total, they’re already spoken for.

Here’s a look at the unheralded fantasy baseball players who played well yesterday:

Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox

Jed Lowrie went 4-for-5 with two runs, a home run and four RBI. J.D. Drew went 2-for-4 with a run. Dice-K gave up one hit in seven scoreless innings for the win as Boston dominated on Patriots’ Day.

Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay Rays

All championship teams have this in common; can you guess what it is? I’ll bet my baseball heads can. 

The answer is a reliable closer—one who consistently gets the job done, especially in crunch time. 

After witnessing Big Adam Wainwright close out the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 World Series, many people in Cardinals Nation are starting to question whether or not Ryan Franklin is the man for the job.

The slumbering Boston Red Sox are now wide awake.  

Either that or they're faking it really well.

The Red Sox pounded out three straight wins over the Toronto Blue Jays behind excellent starting pitching, a barrage of hot hitting and a bullpen that has suddenly remembered how to not suck.

About time!

Here’s a breakdown of the two-start pitchers for the fourth week of the baseball season. 

Five Stars

Roy Halladay: vs. MIL, @SD
Cliff Lee: vs. MIL , @SD 

Four Stars

Brett Anderson: vs. BOS, @SEA
Tim Hudson: @LAD, @SF
Josh Johnson: vs. PIT, vs. COL
Tim Lincecum: @COL, ATL
Ricky Romero: @BOS, vs. TB 

Three Stars

Tony La Russa has gotten away with using Ryan Franklin as the Cardinals' closer for two years, and today should be the day he makes a change that is two years overdue. Franklin is nothing more than a replacement level pitcher who has benefited from high strand rate (85.7 percent in 2009), low BABIP (.249 in 2009 and .267 in 2010), and home run-to-fly ball ratios (3.2 percent in 2009 and 8.2 percent in 2010) during his reign as closer.

This weekly column focuses on guys who are out there to be had for nothing in most leagues that can help your team, even if only as a short-term fill in.

If you have injuries, like that of an owner who will go unnamed, which includes Josh Hamilton, Matt Holliday, Zack Greinke, Ryan Zimmerman and Joe Mauer, and you have not quit yet, then these are some guys who may help to ease the pain.