Johan Santana (SP - Mets) - Delivering this news is not easy, but its best to do it like a band-aid. Johan Santana will miss his start today with elbow issues and will visit the team doctor to get a diagnosis. There is a serious possibility that the Mets could shut down Santana for the remainder of the season (and might even have elbow surgery), leaving your fantasy team with a glaring hole for the remaining couple weeks of the fantasy season (and the playoffs). There really is no reason for the Mets to push it with Santana, considering they are out of playoff contention and every other star on their team is currently injured. Wait to hear for the offiicial announcement, but its not looking good.
John Smoltz (SP - Cardinals) - Tipping his pitches? That's what Smoltz claimed was the reason he stunk-it-up in Boston. Some fellow starters on the Cardinals informed Smoltz that he was tipping his pitches and supposedly he adjusted his approach before his stellar game against the Padres. Smoltz also cited a few mechanical issues that were keeping him from finishing his motion, but it certainly looked like he fixed whatever was keeping him from being effective. This bit of news definitely gives him an arrow-up and if he can follow-up his weekend performance with another strong outing this week, the Cardinals and fantasy owners may have caught lightning in a bottle.
Ryan Howard (1B - Phillies) - Ryan Howard is on a big-time power surge, hitting another 2 HR yesterday to give him a total of 34 for the season. If yuo break down his by-season totals, his HR totals this season are actually trending as one of his "worst" seasons since his rookie year. Dating back to 2005, Howard is averaging a HR for every 14.2 AB in '05, 10.0 in '06, 11.3 in '07, and 12.7 in '08. This season, he's currently at 13.9. Still incredibly impressive, but still slightly slower than his previous few years. Digging a little deeper just to make sure, I also took a quick peek at HR/PA (just to make sure it wasn't a walk issue) and it proved the same thing. From 2005 through 2008, he is average the following plate appearances for every HR he hits: 15.8, 14.6, 13.8, 12.1, and 15.8 this year. So actually, he hit the most HR per times at the plate last season than in any other season.
Chris Young (OF - Diamondbacks) - It looks like Young is in no-man's land right now. He domiantes at Triple-A, but can't quite put it together in the big leagues. Since being demoted to Triple-A, Young is hitting .333 with 2 SB, 1 HR, and 6 RBI. He's still striking out a ton, even in the minor leagues, with 12 K's in 42 AB's. He'll be promoted to the big leagues again in September when the rosters expand, but Young will likely be splitting time and really can't be a reliable starter for even NL-only leagues for the remainder of 2009.
Ryan Braun (Of - Brewers) - Just a 1-for-5 for Braun on Monday, but the "1" was a HR to give him 27 for the year and 6 for the month of August. Its hard to believe this is only Braun's 3rd year in the big leagues, but he already has 98 HR for his career. In terms of his power rate, this has been his slowest. His HR/AB in 2007 was 13.3 (the year he was brought up and he went off). In 2008, his first full season in the big leagues, Braun averaged a 16.5. This year, the decline has continued to 17.8, but another big month could put him back in-line with last year's rate. In the end, he's still going to post his 3rd straight 30+ HR season which makes him one of the elite fantasy OF.
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