Sometimes you may not notice certain things about certain players because you don’t pay attention to their every at bat, inning pitched, or whatever. Even in this wonderful age, where so much information is at our fingertips at virtually all times, things can slip past and go unnoticed to the baseball-loving masses. I mean, sure, if it is a “superstar” that is struggling mightily or a mighty struggler producing like a “superstar” then, yeah, the media and talking heads will notice and sort of force feed this information down our proverbial throats. However, for the majority of players, you know the tweeners or those on the cusp of stardom or, for that matter, mediocrity, certain statistics or information can be widely missed. All of this, as you should have guessed from the title, brings to me to the ever talented, Yovani Gallardo.

First, let me set the scene, even though many of you reading this are probably familiar with YoGa’s tale. Yovanni Gallardo broke into the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007, with ace-like potential. A young stud ready to become the Brewers’ ace of the future. Well, Yovani has never quite made the jump from very good to superstardom. Gallardo has been very solid in his almost six (he missed almost all of 2008) major league seasons with Milwaukee. Gallardo has not posted an ERA over four since coming onto the scene, however he also has not posted an ERA below 3.52 in the majors. Okay, well, YoGa did have an ERA of 1.88 in ’08, but that was in only four starts, so I am not really going to count that, if you don’t mind. Of course, as you may also know, I don’t hold complete faith in the statistic that is ERA, so to really paint you a picture, his SIERA has fallen between 3.22 and 4.08 in those seasons. Surprisingly, that 4.08 SIERA was during that extremely short ’08 season, so again, I don’t hold much stock in that year’s numbers. Regardless, you can kind of see that Gallardo was decent, solid, or any number of synonyms for decent or solid, but never quite made the leap to stardom. Many probably thought of Yovani as an ace coming into 2013 and, to be fair, he is the Brewer’s ace. Gallardo, definitely was thought of as a guy who was very close to becoming that breakout stud picther. Gallardo has been better than a great deal of starting pitchers in his career, that is for darned sure. Gallardo’s, ERAs, WHIPs, FIPs and K/9s have regularly been a good deal ahead of the league averages each season that he has pitched. Still, Yovani was not quite in that first tier of starting pitchers and there were still folks waiting for a big breakout season from the Brewers’ ace.

The Brewers tried to stack the cards in their favor, by adding Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum to their rotation, which would definitely take some pressure off of young Gallardo, where he would not be expected to carry the rotation on his back. Now those guys are gone and the “ace” label was now, without question, affixed to Gallardo in Milwaukee. So would this be the breakout season? Sure, Yovani does have control issues and little lapses at times, but every picther does, at least every now and then, right? Well, fast forward to today. Gallardo, possibly poised to take the next step, has struggled a bit in this young 2013 season.  Gallardo’s current ERA is 4.25, with a WHIP of 1.47, which of course will not tell us the whole story. The SIERA at 4.48 does give one pause here though. Seems like his ERA is pretty much an accurate depiction of Gallard’s season thus far. Now, it is early in the season, so generally I would not be ready to push the panic button on Yovani just yet. However, here is the thing, regardless of those fluctuating ERAs or WHIPs, bits of wildness here and there, or anything else that could be simply attributed to a slow start, my main concern falls more with Gallardo’s strikeouts, or lack thereof.

See, a lot of mistakes can me covered up/ fixed by a good strikeout picture and this tried and true mantra has certainly applied to YoGa throughout his career. Yovani Gallardo is a strikeout pitcher. Well, perhaps it should be was? Yovani Gallardo, was a strikeout pitcher. Below are YoGa’s K/9 numbers for his career coming into 2013:

2007- 8.24

2008- 7.50*

2009- 9.89

2010- 9.73

2011- 8.99

2012- 9.00

So basically throught his career Gallardo could generally be counted on to strikeout roughly a batter per inning pitched. That, right there, is a good strikeout pitcher, folks! So, what the heck (pardon my French) is happening now?

Gallardo, went into Monday night’s start not only having been very hittable in his first five starts, but posting a K/9 of 5.28. In fact in four of his first five starts, Gallardo struck out three or fewer batters. Could this be a cause for concern? Well, kind of depends on why this is happening, I suppose. First place I look, when I notice a big strikeout drop is  velocity. in 2010, Gallardo’s average fastball was clocked at 92.6. It was the exact same in 2011. In 2012, it dropped almost a mile per hour, to 91.7. This year? Another drop of about a mile per hour on his average fastball, to 90.6. All of his other pitches have also dropped roughly the same amount in velocity. I am not sure this drop should be a huge concern just yet, as it is still early in the season and YoGa may need to still work the arm out a bit. I am not entirely sure, in that regards, but here is another interesting nugget, Gallardo’s four seam fastball percentage thus far in 2013 is 31.9%, which is almost ten precent less than his percentage last year. Gallardo has instead been going to the two seamer much more than he has in the past, 25.4% in ’13 as opposed to 14.5% in ’12.  So, is it possible, that Gallardo is not as confident in the four seamer and or is not fooling many hitters with his two seamers? Or maybe he is just not fooling hitters, much at all? With any of his pitches? Batters are making contact on just about 75% of Yovani’s pitches they chase out of the zone. Now, I don’t have any data with how hard these balls have been hit, but considering this percentage was 65% last year and has only been higher than that once in his previous six seasons, I think we can make the general assumption that Yovani is just not baffling hitters nearly as much as he has been in the past.

Now, again, it is early and maybe this is absolutely something that can be worked on and adjusted. Heck (there’s that potty mouth of mine again), maybe it is just an early season slump that is not indicative of how the season will pan out for Gallardo. The sample size is very small and it is always dangerous to read much into early season numbers, but I think you can see some things that may bear monitoring with Gallardo as the season progresses. Gallardo did put together a very good outing on Monday, against the Pirates, and while I don’t see updated pitch data from that game, it should be pointed out that in his previous start against the Padres, his average fastball was the fastest it has been all season, at 91.4%. Interestingly, in the Padres start, Gallardo threw far more changeups than any other previous 2013 start, but also only struckout two batters, while walking five, so not sure what is really going on with Yoga. Hopefully Monday’s outing, in which he finished by striking out three of the last five batters he faced, will be more indicative of things to come for Gallardo, even if those three batters were Gaby Sanchez, Clint Barmes and Jonathan Sanchez.

As a baseball fan watching Kansas City suffer for years, I have to wonder if they are actually a good contender this season for the playoffs, or if this is just their 15 minutes of fame.

There is certainly something for Royals’ fans to get excited about right now. At this point in the year, Kansas City is 17-10, when last season at this time they were only 10-20. A dramatic difference. Pitching, in particular, seems to be carrying most of the team, but their offense is not far behind.

Royal Pitching

Veterans like Ervin Santana and Jeremy Guthrie are having stellar seasons. They have combined for 7 Wins to date, both with having an ERA under 2.50 and WHIP just above 1.00. According to ESPN, while Santana is owned in 97% of fantasy leagues, Guthrie is only owned in 50%. Guthrie brings a commendable work ethic to the team and I think would be a valuable pick-up if he is still available in your league. The right-hander excels at mixing all of his pitches to keep hitters off balance, and he recently threw his first major league shut-out.

The Royals’ starting rotation has been rounded out with the new additions of Wade Davis and James Shields. While Davis is has been struggling since joining Kansas City with a 4.75 ERA, he hopefully can get back down to that 2.43 ERA he finished with in 2012. And Shields may soon become the ace of the team, filling the void that Zack Greinke left. Both Davis and Shields are 2-2 this season.

The Royals’ bullpen has been strengthened with former-starting-pitchers-now-relievers, Bruce Chen and Luke Hochevar. Chen has not allowed an earned run yet this year in 5 appearances, and Hochevar has only given up 1 earned run in 7 appearances. Greg Holland is settling in nicely as a solid anchor for the bullpen. He has 7 saves so far this year and only 1 blown.

Royal Batting

Kansas City’s pitching has started off hot, but the fans are still waiting to see the promise the line-up showed during Spring Training this year. There are only three batters with an average above .300 right now, Jarrod Dyson is one of them and he only has 20 plate appearances so far.

The power is not quite there yet from their top hitters. It somehow got lost in the transition between Spring Training and the regular season. If this team can get their bats going and keep the pitching consistent, they can be a force for the entire summer.

Fantasy owners might want to watch players like Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, and Mike Moustakas. They have all been showing signs of improving in their last 15 games, and might just break out of their slumps soon. Moustakas is only 39% owned in fantasy leagues which is obviously due to his struggle at the plate. If he can start making solid contact again, he will prove he deserves a position on your fantasy roster.

Even though the Kansas City line-up is not producing the way they are capable of, they can still be tough to beat in the American League Central. But if history is any indication, this poor team does not have a chance. If someone were to walk into the baseball world right now and not know anything about the Royals’ past, they would never know that they are usually toward the bottom of the AL Central division.

First place Detroit Tigers better take notice that Kansas City is only a half game back. Can they keep this up? Is this just a flash in the pan? If the starting pitching can continue eating up innings, their bullpen will be able to stay fresh for the long season. And if their bats start producing, then I would say that the Royals can shed the pretender branding and will be a contender in 2013.

One of my favorite things about baseball is that you never know what could happen on a given night. You could see a perfect game, a 15-14 slugfest, an inside-the-park home run, or other feats too numerous to list here. You could even see an extra-inning marathon that would go into the record book for all time. On Tuesday, May 8, 1984, that is exactly what the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox provided for fans.

Like so many epic baseball happenings, this one started out as just another early-season game. The White Sox, defending champions of the American League West division, were trying to regain the form they showed the previous season. The Brewers, like the rest of the American League East, were staring up at the scorching Detroit Tigers. Chicago sent 23-year-old lefty Bob Fallon to the mound, while the Brewers countered with grizzled 39-year-old righty Don Sutton.

The two very different starters put up matching zeroes on the scoreboard until the bottom of the sixth inning. White Sox first baseman Greg Walker hit a one-out single, stole second, then Sutton walked Harold Baines. Tom Paciorek, who had replaced Ron Kittle (1983’s Rookie of the Year) in the 4^th inning, lined a single to left to score Walker.

In the top of the 7^th, Fallon walked Randy Ready and manager Tony LaRussa went to the bullpen for right-hander Salome Barojas to face right-handed hitting catcher Jim Sundberg. The percentage move backfired, as Sundberg and Robin Yount both singled to tie the game 1-1. As would prove to be his career-long tendency, LaRussa immediately went back to the pen and summoned lefty Britt Burns, who escaped the 7^th with no further damage done.

The game remained tied until the 9^th, when Yount again factored in the scoring. He doubled to left, then stole third and scored thanks to an errant throw from Burns. Ted Simmons immediately singled and advanced to 2^nd on a wild pitch. Ben Ogilvie’s single scored Simmons and the Brewers led 3-1. With Rollie Fingers (another future Hall of Famer) coming in, the game should have been over.

Instead, catcher/right fielder (never see that combination anymore, do you?) Charlie Moore botched a Paciorek fly ball that resulted in a two-base error. Fingers retired the next two batters. Then shortstop Julio Cruz, who sports a lifetime slugging percentage of .299, doubled to left to score Paciorek. Rudy Law (who stole 77 bases in 1983) followed with a single. Cruz beat Ogilvie’s throw home to tie the score 3-3. It was time for free baseball.

Little did the fans know how at the time just much free baseball they would get.

The game rolled on and on, remaining tied at 3 through 17 innings. In those eight innings, only the White Sox mounted a serious threat to score, leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the 14^th. Finally, at 1:05 am, the umpires had to suspend the game due to the AL’s curfew rule. The teams had played for six hours, used 10 pitchers and – in Chicago’s case – used nearly every player on the bench (which would become a factor). Yet nothing was decided.

When the game resumed the next day, the White Sox immediately threatened in the bottom of the 18^th. Brewers pitcher Chuck Porter wiggled out of the jam by striking out Carlton Fisk with the bases loaded, however, and the game continued.

In the top of the 21^st inning, 41-year-old right-hander Ron Reed relieved Juan Agosto. All Agosto did in this game is toss seven shutout innings. After retiring backup catcher Bill Schroder and Yount, Reed surrendered a single to Cecil Cooper and a walk to Simmons before Ogilvie smacked a three-run home run to put Milwaukee in front 6-3. At that stage of the game, Baseball Reference listed the Brewers’ win percentage at 96%.

The remaining 4% is what happened next.

It started with an error by third baseman Ready, against the red-hot Rudy Law. Next, Fisk redeemed himself for his bases-loaded strikeout three innings earlier by singling in Law. Marc Hill followed that with another single. After whiffing Dave Stegman, Baines walked to load the bases. Porter remained on the hill for Milwaukee. Having used five pitchers the previous night and with that night’s regularly-scheduled game still to go, it appeared Brewers manager Rene Lachemann was sticking with Porter, regardless of the outcome. Paciorek stroked a single to center, scoring Fisk and pinch-runner Richard Dotson to knot the game once again, 6-6.

As the 22^nd inning began, some unusual changes took place on the field for the White Sox. Thanks to LaRussa’s decision to have Dotson, a starting pitcher, pinch run for first baseman Marc Hill, Paciorek had move from left field to first (their fourth first baseman of the game). Then Stegman, the designated hitter, had to go in and play left. Under the AL rules, when a player serving as the DH goes in to play the field, that team loses the ability to have a DH and the pitcher has to bat. Note: This was 13 years before interleague play started, so American League pitchers never batted during a game.

The Brewers, on the other hand, made minimal changes compared to the White Sox. Rick Manning replaced center fielder Bobby Clark in the 12^th, Schroeder replaced Sundberg at catcher in the 13th, and Dion James and Mark Brouhard played right after Charlie Moore after his 9^th-inning gaffe opened the door for the White Sox to tie game the first time. That’s it for personnel moves for the Brewers. Their DH, Cecil Cooper, racked up a game-high 11 at-bats.

In the 22^nd, Ron Reed kept the Brewers off the scoreboard, then had to bat 3^rd in the bottom of the inning. At least it wasn’t a foreign concept to him – he had spent his entire career prior to 1984 in the National League. He grounded meekly to the pitcher to end the inning.

In the 23^rd, the White Sox threatened Reed again, as Cooper singled and Simmons walked. LaRussa pulled Reed for Floyd Bannister, another starter. He retired Ogilvie to end the threat. During the bottom half of the inning, the White Sox had two on and nobody out against Porter, but ran themselves out of the inning with some spotty baserunning. The score remained 6-6.

The 24^th was uneventful, other than Bannister’s first major-league at-bat since 1978, when he was with the Houston Astros. He grounded out to short.

The 25^th inning saw 39-year-old Tom Seaver, in his initial season in the AL, take the mound for Chicago. Seaver was three seasons removed from a 14-2 season for Cincinnati and a second-place finish in the Cy Young voting. He also was the scheduled starter for that night’s regularly-scheduled game. What would LaRussa have done for a starter in that game if the current one had gone another 5-10 innings? As it was, the only White Sox player or pitcher who didn’t appear in the game was starter Lamarr Hoyt, who had pitched the game before this epic. LaRussa had to be wondering the same thing. In any event, Seaver worked around a leadoff single by getting Yount to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play.

As that half of the inning ended, it marked a first in baseball history: the first game that lasted eight hours. Fortunately, for both teams, it wouldn’t be much longer. Mercifully, in the bottom of the 25^th, Harold Baines launched a one-out solo home run off Porter to end the game and give Chicago a 7-6 victory. Seaver was credited with the win. Porter, who did yeoman’s work by pitching 7 1/3 innings in preserving the Brewers’ bullpen, took the loss.

After the game, LaRussa was quoted as saying, “Hallelujah! Nice game. I don’t know.” I think he can be forgiven for being speechless at such a game.

Epilogue

Baines’ home run answered the question of who would start the scheduled May 9 game. Seaver not only started, but pitched 8 1/3 innings and – in a first in Tom Terrific’s career – won his 2^nd game of the day.

The day the game started, Tigers first baseman (and former Brewer) Prince Fielder was born.

Rene Lachemann only lasted one season as Brewers manager and would not manage again until the expansion Florida Marlins debuted in 1993.

Tony LaRussa was fired by the White Sox in the middle of the 1986 season. In an unusual move, the Oakland Athletics scooped him up a few weeks later and he led them to a 45-34 finish that season. He would go on to manage the A’s through 1995, reaching three consecutive World Series between 1988-90 (winning it all in 1989). His greatest success came with the St. Louis Cardinals; there, LaRussa would win the 2006 and 2011 World Series and reach the postseason nine times in his 16 seasons as manager. LaRussa and Sparky Anderson are the only managers to win a World Series title in each league.

Ironically, Anderson would achieve this feat in 1984 by leading the Detroit Tigers to the 1984 World Championship, swamping the San Diego Padres in five games.

Rollie Fingers, who played for the Padres before joining the Brewers, would save 23 games for the Brewers in 1984. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992 after finishing 709 games in his career, being credited for 341 saves. In his debut season with the Brewers in 1981, he won the MVP and Cy Young awards.

Tom Paciorek, who had five hits during the game despite not starting, played 18 MLB seasons with an OPS+ of 103. He made the All-Star team with Seattle in 1981. After his playing days, he became a color commentator, most notably with the White Sox.

Ben Ogilvie led the AL in home runs with 41 home runs in 1980 and was a fearsome part of “Harvey’s Wallbangers”, the slugging bunch that reached the 1982 World Series.

Randy Ready, whose throwing error in the 21^st inning led to the second game-tying rally by the White Sox, was a 24-year-old in his second major-league season. He was in the lineup in place of Paul Molitor. Ready is currently the manager of the Gwinnett Braves, Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.

Juan Agosto, who pitched the final four innings the first night and the first three innings the following day, spent his entire 13-year career as a reliever. The 7-inning scoreless outing was the longest of his career, as well as the best overall pitching performance of the game.

Chuck Porter started 34 games for the Brewers and appeared in 20 others between 1981 and 1985. His most extensive playing time was in the 1983-84 seasons. His primary claim to fame remains the home run he surrendered to Baines to end the game.

Ron Reed’s final season was 1984, when he saved 12 games for the White Sox. After being a league-average starter during the first half of his career, he became an effective reliever for the Phillies. He won 146 games and saved another 103 during a 19-year career.

Floyd Bannister was the #1 overall pick in the 1976 amateur draft. He never lived up to that billing, however. In his 15-year career, he made the All-Star team once, with Seattle, during a 1982 season in which he led the AL in strikeouts with 209. His son, Brian, also reached the majors, pitching for the Royals and Mets from 2006-2010.

Seaver would go on to win 33 games with Chicago between 1984-86. His final game occurred on Sept. 19, 1986, after being traded to Boston. He would be elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992, with the highest first-ballot total of all time (98.8%). He won 311 games, three Cy Young award, the 1967 Rookie of the Year and boasts a lifetime ERA of 2.86 (and a park-adjusted ERA+ of 127).

Milwaukee starter Don Sutton pitched until 1988, when he was 43. He was a reliable starter for manh contending teams and reach the postseason four times. Never a dominating pitcher, he nonetheless amassed 324 wins and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998. He has done color commentary for Atlanta Braves games for many years.

Bob Fallon’s final appearance in the majors would be 13 months later, on June 23, 1985. But for one night, he matched a Hall of Famer pitch-for-pitch for six innings.

The attendance for the Brewers-White Sox game was 14,754. There is no record of how many of those fans stayed for the full 17 innings the first night, nor how many came back for the final eight innings the following afternoon. But those fans who did witnessed a piece of baseball history that has not been replicated in the 29 years since.

Welcome to another edition of Field of Streams, your look at some streaming options for the upcoming week in fantasy baseball. Sorry for the short little hiatus, but I am back and better, well at least probably as good as, ever! So here are my fantasy pitching streaming options for the upcoming week in fantasy baseball.

Kyle Kendrick- I will admit, I have never really been much of K-squared fan, but Kyle has certainly been getting things done this season. Kendrick is 3-1 with an ERA of 2.43 and a WHIP of 1.13. Now, having not been a believer in Kendrick in the past, I immediately wanted to see if these stats are legit. Well, while it does not look like the ERA is really that sustainable, but his xFIP this season is 3.65 and his SIERA is 3.95, so he has been pitching decently. Don’t expect many Ks from Kyle as his K/9 is under seven, but he could still get you some quality starts. Kendrick will get two starts this upcoming week, at San Fran and at Arizona. Both teams have been decent at scoring runs, but have wOBAs in the bottom half of the league, so I would go ahead and stream away with Kendrick this week!

Andrew Cashner- I’ve liked “Tango and” Cashner for a good amount of time now. Now aside from his ability to grow just absolutely glorious facial hair, Cashner has not been exactly spectacular thus far in 2013. Cashner is 1-3, with a 4.24 ERA, a 1.37 WHIP and a K/9 under seven. The advanced stats seem to indicate that these numbers or on par with what they should to this point. The stat pundits, as I shall refer to them, however, project better numbers. Nothing eye-popping, but a K/9 over eight, maybe even close to nine, and an ERA between 3.60-3.75. Cashner also has two starts this week and the best news is that first start is against the Marlins. The Marlins, if you don’t know, are pretty much the worst offense in baseball, so that is a must start for Cashner. Cash’s second start is against the Rays, who are 18th in the majors in runs. Rays have had their moments offensively and that could be a play it by ear start for AC, but I say go ahead and stream him this week.

Jhoulys Chacin- Chacin is fresh off the disabled list and before he was put on the shelf with an injury he was cruisin’! Chacin stands 3-0 with a sub-two ERA. Now, the numbers will not be quite as good as they are now, but Chacin’s 3.53 xFIP and 3.77 SIERA do point to him being very serviceable in the fantasy baseball spectrum. Chacin will make his second start after coming back from the disabled list next weekend at St. Louis. Chacin does not strikeout a lot of batters and the Cardinals do not strikeout much anyways. Plus the Cards tend to do pretty well scoring runs, so I am not 100% pushing Chacin this week, but depending on how your stats are looking headed into the weekend, he may be worth a shot. I would say like 60-65% chance Jhoulys has a very good start against the Cards.

Jeremy Guthrie- “Guth” is never gonna be an ace of a staff and will generally be available. Lately Guthrie has been very good at not losing. Going into Saturday, Guthrie is working on 16 straight starts where he has managed to not lose. With a record of 3-0 and a 3.06 ERA, “Guth” has been a delight for Kansas City in 2013. Now that is all good and well, and I am sure you will see Jeremy on here plenty, but his 4.95 FIP and .269 BABIP point to a lot of good luck, and also a big regression, for the veteran. This week Guthrie makes a triumphant return to his old stomping grounds, Camden Yard. This is not a favorable match up for the Royals righty and I would steer clear of him this week.

Jose Quintana- Quintana has looked good for the Pale Hose this season. Quintana’s 3.58 ERA and 1.19 WHIP look sustainable based on his peripherals. Q’s K/9 is over seven for now, but it is more likely to hover around six. With a ground ball rate just under 50%, Jose could be living a bit dangerously from time to time, but looks like he can sustain most of the numbers that appear on his stat line. Quintana has the Halos this week and that sounds like a sort of iffy matchup, but did you know that the Angels strikeout the sixth most in baseball against lefties? Hmm? Yeah, so, there is that. I think you can expect a quality start here, but with the way the White Sox are scoring, or rather not scoring, runs, I would not bet on a “W” for “Q”.

Felix Doubront- Ah yes, Felix’s ERA is over five, but he is 3-1. Also, to be fair, much of the high ERA is due to Felix’s recent outing in Texas, in which he did not make it out of the fourth inning. Now, aside from the fact the umps were squeezing Doubront a bit Friday night in Arlington, Doubront has generally been much better than his numbers would have you believe. Felix has a K/9 of 10.33 which is good for ninth in the majors amongst starters. Doubront is also sporting a FIP under three, so you can see the potential is there. Seems Felix’s biggest problem has been control and getting into too many deep counts, so long outings may not be something you will see a bunch, but he will almost definitely get you the Ks. This week’s match-up against the Twins is just plain super for Felix so I say stream away!

Justin Grimm- “The Reaper” has been the kiss of death for opposing hitters this season. Grimm is 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP and a K/9 over 9. Now the K rate should drop, and the ERA should rise quite a bit, but based on his peripherals the ERA still be in the mid to high threes at this point. The preseason projections have Justin posting an ERA over five so, it may be a matter of getting in on the good starts while you can. The “Reaper” will start at Milwaukee this week, which is not terrible, but not great. I feel pretty confident in this start for him though, so I will give the go-ahead for a Grimm stream.

Dan Straily- Straily should be readily available since he currently has an ERA over six. So what you should also know is he has a SIERA of 1.88 and an xFIP of 2.17! Wow! Couple that with a whopping BABIP of .370, a K/9 of 13.50 and you can see that the current numbers are due to get better. This week Straily will head to Seattle to face the Mariners, which seems like a very good place to stream him.

John Lackey- Well the return from injury for Lackey was going well, until his, well, next injury. So Lackey’s back from his new injury and hoping to build on those good numbers he has already posted this season. John Farrell and or Juan Nieves may just be some sort of pitcher whisperers, cause the Sox starting rotation has been quite good. Lackey has an ERA, SIERA, FIP, and xFIP under three and a 10.45 K/9. Those numbers are off the charts for Lacker and probably not so sustainable, but his start this week against Minnesota, so I think they will be sustainable enough for this start.

So there are some viable streaming options for you for the upcoming week. Have fun streaming, be safe and keep on truckin’!

In this week’s edition of the Triple Play, we look at the most consistent hitter in the game, a closer banished to the minors and more. Off we go:

Who’s Hot?

Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers

Talk about en fuego. In the past week, he smashed four homers, drove in 13 runs and punished opposing pitchers to the tune of a .461/.562/1.038 batting line. Prepare to roll your eyes: Cabrera is on pace to drive in 201 runs. While that obviously isn’t happening, what is happening is that the 30-year-old is continuing to prove he is the most consistent hitter in baseball. For the season, Cabrera is hitting .389/.467/.627, with six home runs, 36 RBI and 26 runs scored. If you drafted Miggy with your first-round pick in your fantasy draft or you spent the big bucks required in your auction league, you are likely having no buyer’s remorse pangs. Credit must be given, of course, to Austin Jackson for doing a terrific job getting on base in front of Cabrera (30 runs scored already) and to Prince Fielder hitting behind Cabrera. Going into Sunday’s games, the Jackson/Cabrera duo had scored 56 of the Tigers’ 155 runs, while Cabrera and Fielder have teamed up to drive in 64 of the team’s 152 RBI. The key to it all, though, is Cabrera – the best hitter in baseball (including fantasy baseball). Period.

Who’s Not?

Mitchell Boggs, St. Louis Cardinals

I hate to pile on Boggs here, but my goodness, has he ever been awful. After a 2012 season in which he was one of the best setup men in baseball, Boggs has cratered. In his first 10 appearances, Boggs tallied two blown saves, two losses, and a 12.66 ERA. He allowed a ghastly 30 baserunners in just 10 2/3 innings. The final straw came last Thursday, when he walked the only two batters he faced against Milwaukee. With usual closer Jason Motte now facing Tommy John surgery and out until midseason 2014, Boggs was supposed to provide stability in the Cardinals bullpen. He did not. The instability was further compounded when left-hander Marc Rzepczynski was demoted last week as well. It is fortunate for St. Louis (and fantasy owners) that Edward Mujica has stepped up to fill the void at closer. As the Cardinals try to rebuild their bullpen on the fly, it is worth remembering that the same thing happened in 2011. If Boggs is trying to find a bright side in his demotion, perhaps this will help: Boggs was last sent to the minors in 2011. When he returned, he was a key cog in the retooled bullpen that helped propel the Cards to their 11th world championship in 2011. General manager John Mozeliak hinted that Boggs’ stay at Triple-A Memphis would be short. Cards fans and fantasy owners hope that Boggs can return and be the pitcher he was in 2012.

Playing the Name Game

Player A: 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 0.58 WHIP, 12 IP, 16/2 K/BB ratio
Player B: 1-0, 1.63 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 11 IP, 13/4 K/BB ratio

Player A is Reds’ rookie pitcher Tony Cingrani. Player B is the Marlins’ own rookie, righty Jose Fernandez. What a pair these two are. Cingrani has been everything the Reds expected and then some in his four starts in 2013. His six-inning, 11 strikeout performance against the Nationals was nothing short of dominating. I don’t see how the Reds can justify sending their prized southpaw back down to the minors even when Johnny Cueto returns from the disabled list. He has proven he belongs. Meanwhile, in Miami, Fernandez, who was born the year before the Marlins came into existence, is becoming the only reason to watch the Marlins while Giancarlo Stanton is injured. After scuffling his past three starts, Fernandez was brilliant over the weekend in earning his first career victory. He struck out nine Phillies, allowed one hit and one walk during seven shutout innings. At age 20, Fernandez is likely to be strictly monitored this season, but the strikeout potential is there for fantasy owners if you can live with the shorter outings and occasional spells of inconsistency. If he’s available in your league, he’s worth a look.

Player A: 4-2, 1.59 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 51/7 K/BB ratio
Player B: 3-1, 1.61 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 42/8 K/BB ratio

Player A is Seattle’s Felix Hernandez. Player B is his teammate Hisashi Iwakuma. It’s no secret that I’m a big Iwakuma fan. The numbers above illustrate why. Iwakuma is King Felix Lite. You can pay big auction dollars or use an early draft pick on Hernandez and be satisfied with the numbers he provides. Or, you could have spent that early pick/auction cash on a hitter like Prince Fielder and then picked up Iwakuma many rounds later and enjoy the similar stats at a bargain-basement price. Obviously, it’s early in the season and Iwakuma does not have King Felix’s track record. But don’t dismiss this as a fluke. Iwakuma has great stuff, doesn’t walk many batters and pitches in one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in the game. I believe he’s the real deal

Random Thoughts

News: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that Chris Carpenter thinks the nerve pain in his throwing arm has improved enough that he wants to try to come back as a reliever. Views: If anyone can do it, it’s Carpenter. But the man has nothing to prove to anyone. He was as fierce a competitor as anyone you’ll ever see.

So, Roy Oswalt signed a minor-league contract with the Rockies. This tells me two things: 1) that ol’ Roy isn’t looking for the best chance to win, but rather a team that would stick him in the rotation as soon as possible, and 2) his pouty antics last year in Texas really damaged his reputation. I find it very difficult to believe that Oswalt couldn’t have hooked on with a better team than the Rockies if he hadn’t been such an unprofessional whiner with the Rangers. If he hadn’t acted that way, doesn’t it seem reasonable that teams like the Yankees, Angels, or Mets (all teams in dire need of starting pitching depth in spring training) might have kicked Oswalt’s tires if they thought he would do his job like a pro and not complain to the media constantly like a prissy NFL wide receiver?

Congratulations to Scott Kazmir, who earned his first major-league win since September 2010 this past Saturday. The lanky lefty is only 29. It would be a major, if unlikely, boost for the Indians if he could recapture the success he enjoyed with Tampa Bay. Still, he’s not going near my fantasy team’s roster.

Yu Darvish is receiving in tons of accolades in Texas, but let’s not lose sight of what Pirates starter AJ Burnett has done so far this season. The 36-year-old Burnett has whiffed 57 batters in 42 innings so far this season with a 1.12 WHIP.

Speaking of the Pirates, they’re going to be a real handful for everyone once Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker start hitting. McCutchen is off to a .259/.319/.444 start, while Walker is hitting (or should I say, NOT hitting) .253/.352/.342. Meanwhile, left fielder Starling Marte is putting up McCutchen-like numbers (.328/.394/.513, while leading the NL with 10 steals).

Wainwright Walk Watch: In 49 2/3 innings pitched this season, Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright has walked three batters. Or, about what the Padres’ Edinson Volquez averages per inning of work.

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