Fantasy

Yesterday, I took a look at 10 thus-far successful pitchers whose impressive starts I attributed to luck and declared that they would be unable to maintain their good fortunes for the rest of the season (click here for that article).

While I admittedly got some schadenfreude out of it, it was kind of depressing; as one commenter observed, the list was "almost every breakout pitcher this season."

In the interest of fairness (and not seeming like a complete rain

A recent report out of Major League Baseball indicates that the sport's All-Star Game will undergo minor changes beginning in 2010. These changes include:

It’s been a very bad week for these power players. When their teams counted on them, they left helmets on the field instead of driving in runs. It’s dark in the basement; maybe they can find the light switch.

1. OF Curtis Granderson NYY

In one of the most anticipated roster moves of 2010, the Texas Rangers promoted highly-touted prospect Justin Smoak last Friday. In six games since being called up, the switch-hitting first baseman is 1-for-15 with two runs and one RBI. He does, however, have seven walks.

Despite Smoak’s rough start, fantasy owners should take notice of the 23-year-old’s promotion.

Continuing our 162-game journey, Fantasy Baseball Insiders Tonight got a close look at Nationals’ starter Luis Atilano on Wednesday.

" Who the heck is Luis Atilano," you ask? Let’s find out...

Game No. 19 —Washington Nationals vs. Chicago Cubs

Here’s a look at some unheralded players who played well yesterday.

David Eckstein, San Diego Padres

Eckstein went 1-for-5 with a run and three RBI. He’s hitting .274 but isn’t much of a fantasy factor.

Chris Young, Arizona Diamondbacks (pictured)

Young continued his impressive 2010 campaign by going 2-for-4 with a HR (five) and five RBI. He’s hitting .298 with 21 RBI.

Dexter Fowler, Colorado Rockies

One of the easiest mistakes a fantasy baseball player can make is to overreact to a small sample size.

When an established star has a slow April or a no-name waiver pickup gets off to a fast start, it's tempting to sacrifice long-term talent to play the hot hand now.

In addition to the fact that even the best players go through cold spells, small sample sizes are extremely susceptible to the taint or boost of miserable or incredible luck.

Smart owners don't give in to the temptation; rather, they trade away their fortunate flukes and buy low on slow-starting superstars.

To help you enginee

Three closers continued to put their jobs in serious jeopardy.  Jon Lester finally pitched up to expectations.  Tim Lincecum did what he always does.  Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

Pitchers:

Robinson Cano still is on fire and is having his best season to date. Cano connected on his sixth home run of the season and is currently batting .390.

Of course he can’t continue at this pace, especially on the batting average front, but Cano has hit well over .300 multiple times in his career, so this is not coming out of nowhere. He might not quite reach the 25 home runs he did in 2009, but I do think he will be close.