R.A. Dickey pitched a 6-1 gem against the Miami Marlins this afternoon. His complete game masterpiece was the 15th victory notch on his belt. He stopped Jose Reyes‘ 26-game hitting streak, which is kind of a conflict for me. As a Mets fan, who wouldn’t want to see Reyes get his comeuppance?

I’m not a sentimental idiot though. He was my first round fantasy draft pick. It seemed like such a good idea at the time.

Today ended a dreadful New York Mets’ nine-game home skid. ”That nine-game streak that was stopped today is more important than the 15 wins,” Dickey told the Associated Press (AP). Don’t worry, R.A. We didn’t like watching it either.

Dickey allowed five hits and struck out 10. It was the third straight spectacular outing for the knuckler, who is starting to make me wonder why his nickname isn’t “The Freak.” (Sorry, Tim Lincecum.) In his previous two starts, Dickey allowed only two earned runs combined.

Here’s my second conflict. I’m probably the most ardent Dickey fan (he’s on my roster as well). Nonetheless, I thought that his month long drought after the All-Star Break was the beginning of the end. Come on! We’re talking about the Mets here!

After that insane 12-1 start, he got played by Tony La Russa and his All Star politics. Coming out of the break, he was 2-2 in his next six starts. Now I am starting to think, could I have been wrong? As my fantasy baseball team slides down the tubes, is a New York Met actually not falling victim to Murphy’s Law (for once)?

Was last month actually an apparition?

Today’s weather in Flushing, Queens, was 89-degrees and hot. It was ideal weather for the fluttery pitch. Today marked the fourth complete game of the year for Dickey and eighth of his career. ”He’s got the feel for it back, again,” manager Terry Collins told the AP. ”All I can tell you is I hope the next eight starts are like this one.”

I’m sorry Terry. You can’t pitch him every day. Or can you?

Collins was prepared to ride his ace down the stretch. That’s right. Dickey is now considered the team’s ace. He wanted to go to Dickey on three days’ rest. However, that idea went out the window once the team essentially fell out of contention. The Mets have gone from 46-40 at the break to 54-58 after Thursday’s win.

Justin Ruggiano homered off Dickey in the fourth to tie it 1-all. Take away that and the Marlins have had little success against a pitcher, whose story makes “The Rookie” look pedestrian. Jose Reyes went 0 for 4. He twice stranded runners on third base and ending the longest hitting streak of his career.

I don’t even want to look at my team’s stats tonight.

Regarding today’s game, the holder of the best hitting streak in the majors this season could only mutter, ”Nothing close, nothing close.” Reyes took his bafflement into the field apparently. He lost a popup in the sun allowing the struggling Andres Torres to drive in the go-ahead run.

Torres homered off Josh Johnson in the sixth and got an RBI triple in the eighth after umpires went to replay to review whether the ball had left the park. If Torres has truly got his groove back and Dickey continues driving the National League to distraction, the last month and a half of the season is going to look far more palatable for the Mets.

If the Yankees are like the post office, “Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall” impede their inevitable playoff run, the Mets are like the Cyclone at Coney Island. Sweep…Get Swept…Sweep…Get Swept. I hope Mets fans aren’t susceptible to motion sickness. I sure am.

Currently, the Mets are approaching the lifthill.

R.A. Dickey (apparently the ace of my FSBB Fantasy Baseball Team) attempts to become the first 12-game winner in the major leagues Friday, when he leads the New York Mets into the second installment of a four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Dickey has been one of the biggest surprises of the season and is 9-0 with a sparkling 1.64 earned run average in 12 starts since his only loss of the season back on April 18 at Atlanta. The Mets are 10-2 over that stretch with Dickey on the hill. Although he did not record a decision in Sunday night’s 6-5 debacle to the New York Yankees at Citi Field, that’s still an earned run average to make you look twice.

The right-handed knuckleball specialist allowed five runs, the most since giving up eight to the Braves a few months ago, in six innings. Dickey is still 11-1 in 15 starts with a 2.31 ERA. He owns a 5-1 record in seven road assignments, but is 0-1 with a 2.13 ERA in two career starts against the Dodgers. Dickey has made one career start at Dodger Stadium, but with this roller coaster ride of a season, the Mets are currently on an upswing. All bets are off.

New York opened this series with last night’s 3-2 win thanks to Andres Torres‘ RBI double in the top of the fifth inning. David Wright homered and drove in two runs and has eight RBI in his last three games for the Mets, who stopped a four-game slide on Wednesday with a win over the Cubs and have prevailed in six of their last 10 games.

Mets starter Chris Young gave up two runs on six hits with six strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings for the win. “It was fun with the pitching matchup, but I wanted to win the game,” said Young. “My slider is getting sharper, but it’s still a work in progress. I want to be better and I’ll keep working hard to give my team a chance to win.”

The Mets are 3 1/2 games off the top spot in the National League East. The Dodgers, a roller coaster ride within and of themselves, is mired in a five-game losing streak and lost the lead in the NL West, as it sits a game behind San Francisco. The Dodgers were held scoreless in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Giants before returning home for a six-game residency last night. Dodgers starter Chris Capuano lost for the first time in five starts and gave up three runs on five hits with five strikeouts over seven innings.

New York won five of seven meetings with the Dodgers last season.

We’re midway through the inaugural week of the 2012 Major League Baseball season. Thanks to MLB Extra Innings and a well-timed stomach virus, I have watched more baseball than I actually care to admit to. Due to the ensuing lack of sleep scrambling my brain, the following are some musings on what I saw.

For example, my Fantasy Baseball team doesn’t suck…yet. As it stands right now, Johan Santana and R.A. Dickey are my number one and number two. It’s a nice thought, but I don’t see either of them going undefeated for too long.

Speaking of the New York Mets, I just watched Terry Collins’ postgame conference. The press asked him a bunch of obnoxious questions about the team being undefeated. I immediately responded. Come on! It’s the second game of the season. Stop acting like the Mets playing decent baseball is like finding a Chupacabra. In lieu of flipping the table in disgust, Terry Collins calmly reminded those in attendance that regardless of the good or the bad stretches the team might face, they were and always would play as the Major League Baseball players they are. Regardless of how they might be the punching bag of the National League East, the Mets are still Major Leaguers. They are far better than we would ever be. Man. I like this dude.

Did you catch Jordan Norberto pitching for the Oakland A’s last night? He blatantly didn’t hustle to get off the mound to get the out at first. What made it worse was that the announcers said nothing. Has our Moneyball need to not risk injury officially gotten in the way of proper baseball fundamentals?

Did Major League Baseball really have three season launches? I understood and applauded them for a having an International Home Opener and April 5th opened the rest of the season… but can some one explain to me the Miami/St. Louis game on April 4th? If the games in Japan were to bring attention to the International game and April 5th was to launch the game across the country, what was the purpose of the Miami game counting in the standings? When did ugly architecture merit its own moment on ESPN? Man. That stadium is ugly.

With these staggered multiple openers – does it seem like these teams have been playing their first opponents for three weeks?

Did you catch the St. Louis/Kansas City game last night? Until St. Louis blew it open, that game was great. Kansas City actually hung in there with an amazing team picked to march indiscriminately over the American League. For two brief moments, the Royals were a compelling team to watch.

Did Mariano Rivera actually blow a save? That happened right?

I’m watching the Boston Red Sox get smacked around by the Detroit Tigers. My mom wants to know, why does Joe Buck call every game like it’s his last? His very boring last.

On the same subject, why is Joe Buck alluding to Bobby Valentine’s job being in jeopardy already? It’s only game two of the season. Also, didn’t the Red Sox start last season horrifically only to pull it together? If Bobby Valentine’s job is legitimately in trouble, based on what I saw today, he should be so lucky.

The Kansas City Royals probably aren’t going to factor into any playoff scenarios this season but many of their young players will help you build a solid fantasy baseball team to make a run at your league’s championship title.

In the latest installment of Finding Keepers, I’ll take a look at the Kansas City Royals players on their 40-man roster you should be considering as “keepers” heading into the 2012 fantasy baseball season.

1B Eric Hosmer is primed to make a run at the upper echelon of fantasy baseball first basemen in 2012. In 128 games in 2011, he hit .293 with 19 home runs with 11 stolen bases. If his Spring Training numbers (.398 BA, 33 hits and 29 RBI in 28 games) are any indicator of things to come, fantasy owners who locked him up as their starting first baseman have nothing to worry about this season (and beyond).  His ADP is currently 52.06 and ranks: ESPN #45; Yahoo! #58; CBS #106.

OF Alex Gordon put together the season fantasy baseball owners have been hoping for since he burst on the scene in 2007. His 5×5 line of .303/101/23/87/17, along with his .376 OBP, .502 SLG and OPS+ of 140 have fantasy owners drafting him with an ADP of 62.37. Check out his rankings: ESPN #50; Yahoo! #40; CBS #87.

DH Billy Butler is starting to show fantasy owners what to expect from him each season rather than drafting him based on potential or perceived expectations. He’s probably only DH-eligible in your league now (lucky you if he still has 1B eligibility), so there’s that drawback but you can bank on a 5×5 line around .300/75/20/90/1. Rankings: ESPN #98; Yahoo! #127; CBS #111.

 Best of the rest but not a keeper

3B Mike Moustakas has 20-home run potential but only hit five in 365 plate appearances in his rookie season. He plays a premium fantasy baseball position and could easily become a keeper with a much-improved sophomore season.

OF Lorenzo Cain will be given every chance to show what he’s got this season and what he’s got is a .300 average and 30 stolen base potential. He will be fun to own but not yet a keeper.

C Salvador Perez had many fantasy owners targeting him as a sleeper for 2012 after a .331/20/3/21/0 in just 39 games in 2011. Unfortunately a Spring Training knee injury has virtually wiped out his entire season.

The Kansas City Royals farm system is currently ranked 5th overall by Baseball Prospectus and should continue to produce and promote quality players. Now if only they could have success growing some major league-ready pitchers. PS, Danny Duffy…not a keeper…yet.

So there you have it. How did you feel about the Royals’ roster heading into your fantasy baseball drafts and now into the 2012 season? Please use the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @DJAubain to continue the discussion.

The Toronto Blue Jays are probably a better team then they seem.  They happen to play in the toughest division in baseball the American League East.  The Blue Jays have been winning 80-85 games which is very good considering they have to take on the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays 19 times a year each.  Here is a look at some guys on their roster who are potential keepers for your fantasy baseball team.

RF Jose Bautista, He is now one of the premier power hitters in the game if not the premier one.  He is a high on base guy also because teams walk him so much.  He wasn’t a fluke two years ago because he followed it up last year.  In the last two years he has hit 97 homeruns.  His best year before the last couple of years was 16 homeruns in one season.  He has also driven in 227 runs and walked 232 times.  Bautista has finally found a home in Toronto and is playing regularly now.

SP Ricky Romero, He is a good young lefty pitcher.  In the last three years he has won 13, 14 and 15 games in that order and lowered his ERA each year.  He had his best year last year when he was 15-11 with a 2.92 ERA.  He is also doing this in the AL East which is impressive.  Romero is a pitcher you would want on your team, any team especially a keeper league.

SS Yunel Escobar has always had a lot of talent.  He started in Atlanta and then was traded to Toronto.  He seems to have settled in as the leadoff hitter there now.  He had a year last year of 290, 11 and 48.  He wont hit many homeruns but has some pop and wont drive in too many runs but he isn’t supposed too.  He will hit for a good average though and has the potential to steal some bases.  I wouldn’t mind building a team around this player.

3B Brett Lawrie is an exciting young player.  We don’t know what he will be yet or his full potential.  He seems to be well on his way though and I wouldn’t want to part with him if he was on my fantasy team.  He made the majors last year and hit 293 with nine homeruns and 25 RBI in 43 games.  He also had a 373 on base percentage.  He looks like a very impressive young man.  I wouldn’t want to part with this guy at all.

Closer Francisco Cordero is a pretty good closer and has been for a while.  He isn’t great but I think you know what your getting with him.  The closer position is important and you want a reliable guy in that position.  If you can’t have Mariano Rivera or Jonathan Papelbon why not a guy like Cordero.  In the last three years he has had 37, 40 and 39 saves.  You can count on getting 35+ saves from him.  His ERA could be in the high twos or low threes but that won’t kill your overall team ERA.

C J.P. Arencibia is a catcher with power.  He hit 23 homeruns last year with 78 RBI.  In the minor leagues in 2010 he hit 32 homeruns.  If your looking for power from the catching position then I would keep him around on my team.  If your looking for average your not going to get it as he only hit 219 last year.

If there is anyone on this list that you feel I have missed please let me know.  You can comment on the article and if you have twitter you can reach me @gmarchesej.  Thanks for reading as always and I hope you continue to enjoy my colleagues and I finding keepers articles.