Eric Mack

Another week of anticipation for Kershaw...

-- Brett Myers booed off mound in Philly. Prefers to close, but needs to correct himself before he wrecks himself.
-- John Lackey returned spectacularly. It's like he never left. He is a must-start two-start pitcher.
-- Red Sox No. 5 starter with Clay Buchholz out? Colon or Masterson
-- Dodgers No. 5? Kershaw might get call May 27 ...
-- Homer Bailey could also arrive as teams tend to follow top prospects up the chain around June 1 before the draft

Two-start pitcher to use
Mike Mussina NYY
(05/20) vs. BAL Daniel Cabrera 
(05/25) vs. SEA Carlos Silva
64 percent owned 45 percent started

Two-start pitcher to sit
Daniel Cabrera BAL
(05/20) @ NYY Mike Mussina 
(05/25) @ TB James Shields
67 percent owned 36 percent starting

Two-start sleepers
Luke Hochevar KC
(05/19) @ BOS TBA 
(05/24) @ TOR Jesse Litsch
26 percent owned 13 percent started

Manny Parra MIL
(05/20) @ PIT Paul Maholm 
(05/25) @ WAS Tim Redding
24 percent owned 11 percent starting

One of these two will get two starts:
Mike Pelfrey NYM
(05/20) @ ATL Tom Glavine
(05/25) @ COL Jorge De La Rosa
23 percent owned 10 percent starting

Claudio Vargas NYM
(05/20) @ ATL Chuck James
(05/25) @ COL Jorge De La Rosa
14 percent owned 7 percent starting

With the DL assignment of the struggling Clay Buchholz, the Red Sox need a No. 5 starter. Bartolo Colon won't be ready, so early next week it could be Justin Masterson coming back to the majors.

Masterson has struggled back in Double-A, but his one-start audition was very impressive. He was throwing frisbee sliders and earned himself the designation as the defacto No. 6 starter. Take a flier on Masterson in all deeper leagues.

Another prospect note on an elite pitching prospect: Clayton Kershaw's promotion might be delayed after his shaky start in Double-A on Monday. The Dodgers need a No. 5 starter Saturday, May 17, but then they can skip the No. 5 spot again until May 27.

So, May 27 is a more likely date of Kershaw's call-up at this point, according to MiLB.com.

Interesting May 27 ... in time for a two-start week and just before June 1 -- when we expect the next big wave of prospects to be called up.

Jay Bruce and Homer Bailey should also arrive before June 1 at this point.

-- Thomas Hanson was promoted to Double-A and dazzled again. He could make a serious impact with the rotation-needy Braves in the second half. Or even before?

-- A less prospect-heavy note: Mike Hessman has 17 homers in Triple-A. The minor league journeyman has pop and could help the Tigers in a pinch at some point soon.

Emack.

Another installment of the John Dewan Stat of the Week, reprinted with permission:

Who are baseball's top defenders so far this year?

May 13, 2008

Based on the Plus/Minus System from The Fielding Bible, here are this year's leading defenders by position in Major League Baseball:

First Base  Daric Barton, Oak   +8 
Second Base  Mark Ellis, Oak/Chase Utley, Phi  +8 
Third Base  Troy Glaus, StL +12 
Shortstop  Orlando Cabrera, CWS  +9 
Left Field  Matt Holliday, Col  +8 
Center Field  Carlos Gomez, Min  +5
Right Field  Alex Rios, Tor/Bobby Abreu, NYY/Jeremy Hermida, Fla  +3

Note: A plus number in the Plus/Minus System signifies the number of additional plays made by the fielder compared to an average defender at his position.

Some comments:

Former catcher Daric Barton has done well so far at first base. Chase Utley wants to take over Albert Pujols' mantle as the best hitter in baseball and best fielder at his position as well. The injuries that plagued Troy Glaus are no longer an issue for him defensively. The loss of Torii Hunter hasn't hurt Minnesota with Carlos Gomez' stellar play so far.

An unrelated note: Pitcher Micah Owings has a 1.106 OPS thus far this year. That's better than every regular position player in baseball except Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones. Utley and Pujols are right there as well at 1.089 and 1.083. Owings was a tremendous hitter in college, hit .371 in the minors, .333 in the majors last year with a ton of power, and .417 so far this year. Can anyone say Babe Ruth?

The Plus/Minus numbers above are from the Online Fielding Bible which debuts today at www.billjamesonline.com. It's a subscription service ($3 per month).

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Copyright © 2008 by John Dewan.
Permission to reprint or broadcast this information is granted only if used in conjunction with the following citation: "Used with permission from John Dewan's Stat of the Week™, www.statoftheweek.com."

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Not a whole lot of Fantasy pertinence here, because we don't care about defense, but it is interesting stuff.

Emack.

A few readers emailed after I posted the Week 7 Pitching Planner:

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Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 9:49 PM
To: @DM Fantasy Baseball
Subject: Attn: Pitching Planner

I'm in a 12 team H2H league and John Lackey is about to come off the DL and I have to drop a Starting Pitcher in order to activate him.  My current pitching staff consists of Justin Verlander, Dan Haren, Daisuke Matsuzaka, John Maine, James Shields,