Roy Oswalt made his much anticipated debut in Texas last night and grabbed his first win, pitching 6.2 innings and striking out 9 Rockies. He surrendered 9 hits and had to throw 110 pitches, but otherwise looked solid. Oswalt cruised through the first 6 innings — his fastball was topping out in the low 90s and his slow curve looked especially nasty. Roy ran into trouble in the 7th and after giving up back-to-back hits to Dexter Fowler and Marco Scutaro, he was pulled. But Adrian Beltre continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-3 with a 2-run HR, and Mike Napoli homered as well to provide the support needed for Roy’s first win of 2012. It’s good to be a Ranger. Really, the Rangers are the ideal situation for Roy Oswalt. Great offense, great bullpen, and he’s close to home, which is important for Oswalt. Sure, the AL isn’t as forgiving as the NL East, and the Ballpark in Arlington isn’t the most pitcher-friendly of parks, but I think the pros outweigh the cons. If he’s still out there on the waiver wire, (he’s probably just sitting on his waiver wire porch in Mississippi, chewing on a piece of wheat, playing his harmonica) go pick him up. I think Roy Oswalt is an instant add everywhere. The strikeout and win potential make him a more than serviceable option in all leagues.
Here’s what else happened in fantasy baseball Friday night:
A.J. Burnett — 6.0 IP, 2 H, 4 Ks and his 8th win. A.J. is the fourth starter for my initialed players team. If he’s the 4th starter for your fantasy team, you’re probably not doing so hot. Nevertheless, the win was his seventh in a row and Burnett has found a nice little groove for himself. Pitching outside the AL East, he looks like a different pitcher. If he’s still sitting on waivers somewhere, I’d scoop him up.
Andrew McCutchen — 3-for-4, now batting a cool .346. If the Dread Pirate hit a homer tonight, I’d say he was “batting a sizzling .346!” But I still love you, Andrew.
Anibal Sanchez — 3.1 IP, 6 ER. The Animal was tamed in a big way tonight vs. the Blue Jays. This just proves Birds > Animals. What’s that you say — birds ARE animals? Pfft. I am no zoologist. But I can tell you with certainty, I know my fish, and the Marlins just can’t seem to do anything right lately.
Jose Bautista — 2-for-3, 3 runs, 3 RBIs, and his 23rd home run. Joey Bats is considering changing his nickname to the even more appropriate Joey Hits Home Runs.
Brett Lawrie — 3-for-5 with 4 runs and a SB. In the last 11 games, Lawrie has 17 hits, 3 HRs, and 2 SBs. Yeah, we know you drafted him too early, but Brett is starting to show us why. This kid’s gonna be a star! Ha-cha-cha!
Giancarlo Stanton — 1-for-5 with a HR. “Don’t Call Me Mike” Stanton has now hit homers in back-to-back games. I’m seriously considering changing my name to Giancarlo.
Zack Greinke — 9.0 IP, 3 H, o ER, 4 Ks, and his 8th win. Do you like pitchers’ duels? Because this game would have you on the edge of your se–zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. It was probably the Greinksters best road start of the year, which is huge for him because he pitches at least…(/calculating), half his games on the road! ANALYSIS! This is why they pay me the big bucks, folks.
Chris Sale — 8.0 IP, o ER, 7 Ks. Chris was on the other side of the above-mentioned pitchers’ duel and he really breezed through the Brewers lineup. Oh, dang! I should have said “sailed” through. Nothing worse than a missed pun opportunity.
Rickie Weeks — 2-for-4 with a RBI. He’s got 10 hits in his last 6 games. But still. Let’s put it this way, if you are desperate for help at second base, I won’t tell anybody if you pick up Weeks.
Ubaldo Jiminez — 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 BBs, 8 Ks. Has the 2010 Jiminez returned? Ub-LOL-do! Not quite, and, in likely his best start of the year, those walks still reared their ugly WHIP-killing heads. I would stay away from his start next week at Yankee Stadium, but otherwise he’s someone I’d own (I’m a sucker for the Ks.) As a mean girl would say, “Oh, you would own him.” Yes, I would. But I’m not proud of this.
Lucas Harrell — 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 9 Ks. Easily his best start of the year. I know I said I’m a sucker for Ks, but I’m not ready to buy in on Harrell just yet, even for a streamer. But maybe you’re ready? For deeper and NL-only leagues, Harrell gets the Padres next week, so if you’re going to stream him, now’s your chance!
Carlos Beltran — 2-for-5 with 4 RBIs. The Cardinals tallied 17 hits as the Beltrain keeps rolling.
Jon Niese — 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Ks. In this first game of the Subway series, Niese looked pretty fresh, despite giving up homers to A-Rod and Andruw Jones.
Jason Hammel — 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 10 Ks, and his 8th win. Apparently Hammel didn’t get the memo to the entire team from Orioles management about coming back down to Earth. His second straight shutout performance, and he gets the Indians next week. I like those odds!
Bryce Harper — 0-for-4. Every ESPN analyst everywhere: “But he struck out like a champ!”
Jair Jurrjens — 7.2 IP, 3 H, 4 Ks. To borrow the classic Fry meme: Not sure if Jurrjens was real good, or the Red Sox were that bad.
Jon Lester — 7.0 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 5 Ks. Despite the line, Lester pitched really well, but the Braves lefties, namely Freeman, McCann, and Heyward were all over him tonight. If you can use this game to buy low from an owner, I believe good things are coming for Lester. Good things.
Ben Revere — 4-for-4 with 2 SBs. Stealing bases just like Paul Revere stole all the glory from Israel Bissell! Google him and learn something! Huzzah!
Scott Rolen — 3-for-4 with a 2-run HR. The 12-year-old me loves to see Rockin’ Rolen have a throwback game like this. No, I wouldn’t pick him up. But still nice to see.
Joe Saunders — Scratched from last night’s start after having “difficulty warming up.” This could be great news for the “Trevor Bauer Countdown.” I’m not saying they’re going to call him up, and I’m not one to speculate. But if they do? OMG! OMG! OMG!
Justin Upton — 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI. Oh, who am I kidding. I can’t stay mad at you J-Ups. Come here!! /hugs lamp
Jason Kubel — 1-for-3 with a 2-run homer. Now hit homers in back-to-back games. Ride this hot schmotato while he’s a…um, hot schmotato.
Franklin Gutierrez — 3-for-4 with a HR. The Big Fragu probably hasn’t seen a nightly recap page in a while, so I thought I’d give him some love.
Tim Lincecum — 6.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 8 Ks. All the damage was done in the first inning as he gave up 3 runs. Timmy appears to have regained some velocity and even though it was the lowly A’s, it was his most encouraging start in a while. I’ll take it!
Jarrod Parker — 6.0, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 Ks. J-Rod now has a 2.70 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Grey told you to BUY him yesterday, he gets the Mariners next week, so grab him while you can.
Coco Crisp — 1-for-5 with 2 SBs. Grey told you to buy him yesterday, too. SAGNOF! Tastes great, even in milk!
Brandon Belt — 1-for-2 with a 2-run double in the ninth off Ryan Cook to tie the game, along with a stolen base. Another guy Grey told you to BUY. That’s a pretty good night for the BUYs. Maybe you should pick him up? Don’t make me take off MY belt and make you.
Dan Haren — 5.0, 9 H, 5 ER, 5 Ks. Got the win but it was ugly. Maybe if his name was Dan Herring, he’d pitch a lot better. I mean, it’s working for that other guy, whatshisname? Oh yeah…!
Mike Trout — 1-for-3 with 2 runs and his 7th HR. My man crush for Trout grows unhealthier by the day. I wrote him a small poem (4 pages) simply titled “27 Scales of Trout,” but apparently the content was too “explicit” and deemed “kind of creepy” and “inappropriate” for the family-friendly Razzball readers. Whatever. Love knows no bounds, my fantasy friends. Don’t worry, Mike, we’ll always have Rio.
