Opinion

The Cincinnati Reds have taken just about everybody by surprise this year.  Going into the season, they were not a team that was expected to be involved in the playoff race at this time of the year, much less own the best record in the National League and be a lock to make the playoffs barring a 2007 New York Mets-style collapse in the final month of the season.

The NL-Central boasts a few great pickups this week and one real surprise Sit ‘Em candidate.  While there is great outfield help abound, a couple could use some rest on your bench. 

Low-percentage owned pitchers rounds out the help in this week’s fantasy baseball forecast.  Congratulations to those of you who followed last week’s advice in starting Neil Walker and sitting Dexter Fowler.

Start ‘Em

Jonny Gomes | Cincinnati Reds | 36.1 percent

Going into tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Boston Red Sox find themselves seven and a half games behind Tampa for the wild card spot in the American League. Barring an unforeseeable collapse by the Rays, the Red Sox season is essentially over.

When September comes, teams out of the playoff race call up prospects for a taste of Major League action. I don’t think the Red Sox thought they would be one of those teams at the beginning of the season, but the reality of the situation is, they are.

Derek Jeter is a household name.

In case you didn't know, Jeter is the starting shortstop and Captain of the New York Yankees.

He has five World Series rings, four Silver Slugger Awards, and  four Golden Gloves along with countless other awards. Some of them recognized Jeter the player, others Derek the person.

Jeter is the ultimate Captain. Find me a professional athlete, fan, manager or coach that would disagree.

When the White Sox drafted Chris Sale with the 13th pick in the first round they knew they could use him in the bullpen immediately.

The reason the Sox were so sure of this was the fact that he already had two major league caliber pitches and a third one (his slider) that wasn't far behind.

Clearly GM Kenny Williams and his scouts were right about Sale; he's put up a 0.82 ERA since his call-up and has looked like Matt Thornton's underfed twin.

Since May 31st, the Atlanta Braves have been all alone in first place atop the NL East.

The Braves have seen their lead rise to as much as seven games this season, but now they find themselves only one game ahead of Philadelphia with just two weeks left to play in the regular season.

With that said, who is really the team to beat in the National League East?

Is it Bobby Cox's Braves in the legendary manager's final season or the reigning champions of the National League?

What makes a premier closer in Major League Baseball?

Let's start with a simple, but elusive attribute. Control. As entertaining as Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn was in the movie Major League, a guy that fails to pin point his pitches is murder on the nerves of fans. A Mr. Francisco Rodriguez comes to mind here.

Most closers only have two pitches. Having the ability to control where those pitches wind up is paramount to success.

Brian Wilson leads the National League in saves at 39. He has been one of the most consistent closers in all of baseball. 

Consistent you ask?

Well Brian's version of closing in consistent in a different way than you think. 

Giants fans are witnesses to this.

Almost every time he is asked to save a game, he starts off by putting men on base. Whether he walks them, or gives up a hit, he is always making Giants fans nervous. 

New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain has been one of the most overrated prospects over the past couple of years.

He all made us say "wow" when he came out of nowhere in the 2007 season, pitching the year with a ridiculous ERA of 0.38.

Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman didn't know what to do with him except to keep his innings limit. 

The Marlins have had quite the string of injuries these season but all have come because of some event that lead to the injury whether baseball related or plays outside the baseball diamonds. These injuries coupled with the shaky bullpen of the Marlins have hurt their playoff chances for this season.