Carlos Marmol / Kevin Gregg / Chicago Cubs (Closer Situation) - The boxscore doesn't always tell the full story. While Carlos Marmol did earn the save on Friday night (his second of the season), it doesn't mean Kevin Gregg is out as closer on the north-side. In a tied-game in the 8th inning, while Carlos Marmol was warming-up in the bullpen, the Cubs took the lead. So, rather than sit Marmol and quickly warm-up Gregg simply because it was now a save situation, manager Lou Piniella opted for Carlos Marmol in the 9th. It wasn't exactly a perfect inning by Marmol either, but he did close-the-door on the Cardinals and earned the save. Gregg remains the "official" closer for now, despite his own early-season troubles.
Emilio Bonifacio (2B - Marlins) - Is the fantasy honeymoon over for Bonifacio owners? Given that he plays 2B, probably not just yet. But after a torrid start to the season and one of the Week 1 hot tickets in fantasy, Bonifacio has had an equally bad Week 2. In the first 5 games of the season, Bonifacio hit .583 (14-for-24) with 9 runs, 5 RBI, 4 SB, and a HR (inside-the-park). In his subsequent 5 games, Bonifacio is hitting .143 (3-for-21) with 3 runs, 0 RBI, 0 SB, and no extra basehits. one of the great things about baseball is watching the "averaging-out" of statistics (regression to the mean) over a long period of time. For Bonifacio, it happened in 2 weeks. Keep him around since he plays 2B and his anchored in a lineup that is scoring plenty of runs right now.
Ricky Nolasco (SP - Marlins) - What happened? I thought Nolasco was supposed to be this year's NL Cy Young? Well, he is definitely having a slow start to the season and has not been able to replicate the magic we saw in the latter-half of 2008. He has yet to hurl a quality start in his 3 trips to the mound and is posting a 6.60 ERA and 1.60 WHIP. I take a little solice in his 12 K's and just 3 BB in 15 IP, meaning his stuff and control is there, but he hasn't been able to put it all together at once. Hang tight for a few more starts, especially since he'll have a favorable matchup against the Pirates next week. No better way to break a slump than to draw the Pirates on the schedule.
Ryan Ludwick (OF - Cardinals) - Looks safe to say that Ludwick is here to stay. He hit 2 more HR on Friday against Carlos Zambrano, bringing his season total to 5 in just 37 AB. Now if only Tony LaRussa would stop sitting him against "tougher" righty pitchers.... I'm not sure what else a guy has to do to prove himself to the manager that he deserves to be in the lineup EVERY day.
JJ Hardy (SS - Brewers) - JJ Hardy was back in the Brewers lineup on Friday after being benched on Wednesday with some back stiffness. The rest didn't help him too much, as he went 0-for-4 against theMets, dropping his season average to .139 (5-for-36). Two of those 5 hits are HRs, which makes Hardy a valuable SS regardless of average. In the last two years, Hardy has hit a total of 50 HRs , for an average HR/AB of 23.2. His .821 OPS in 2008 is a career-high and with plenty of lineup support around him, he should be able to break the .800 OPS level again in 2009. It is frustrating to see any of your fantasy struggle for a couple of weeks, but give him some time to break-out and you should be rewarded with a 20+ HR guy out of a shallow SS position.
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