Fantasy Baseball

Kansas City Royals’ pitcher Bruce Chen tossed his third consecutive quality start on Tuesday, limiting the Indians to just two runs on six hits in seven innings. He also walked three and struck out five.

Week 3

April 4th - April 10th 

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.

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

Week three of this big thing of a season should be another whirlwind tour of the hard-hitting storm called Major League Baseball in the United States, circa 2011. 

If you followed my advice from earlier in this series, then pitchers and hitters like Starlin Castro, Lance Berkman, Josh Beckett, Mariano Rivera and Pedro Sandoval panned out for you so far.

I'll keep the hits, WHIPS, RBI, strikeouts, runs, steals, saves and low ERA coming for you all season long.  Stay tuned for more secret advice to get your opponents in the flux.

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

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.

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

Baltimore Orioles @ Cleveland Indians

Travis Hafner went 2-for-3 with a home run. Fausto Carmona gave up one earned run on five hits in seven innings for the win.

Pittsburgh Pirates @ Cincinnati Reds

Miguel Cairo went 3-for-4 with a home run. Paul Janish went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Garrett Jones went 2-for-4 with a home run.