On Saturday, Brandon Morrow made his return to the Blue Jays rotation. He allowed 4 runs (2 earned) to go with 7 Ks and 1 BB over 4 2/3 innings. It was Morrow’s first start since June 11th when he strained his left oblique. All signs are positive and I see only a couple of possible future problems for him.

Morrow was having a good season before landing on the DL, but it is a little tough to gauge his true talent level. He has a near 3 ERA which is a career best for him (4.37 average for his previous seasons). His strikeout rate is down to a career low of 8 K/9. The drop in strikeouts is offset by his BB/9 going down to 2.7, which is also a career low.

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Over the last two seasons, Johnny Cueto’s ERA (2.38) has been lower than any other pitcher in the majors. His ERA is about one full point lower than his FIP (3.24) and xFIP (3.75). I will look at how he achieved the low ERA and if it can be maintained.

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Last night, Jeremy Guthrie flirted with a no-hitter for 7 innings until he gave up a infield single to “speedy” Paul Korerko. Besides flirting with a no-hitter, he had gone 22 straight innings without giving up a run which ended a few batters later. This performance was from a pitcher who was traded away basically as a salary dump. Are there any signs that can lead a fantasy owner to believe that Guthrie has changed in his approach over the last month and the improvement can continue?

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Josh Reddick is having an outstanding first season with the A’s after previously playing for Boston. The 25-year-old left handed hitter has an unexpected 25 HRs this season to go with a .253/.325/.500 triple slash line. Did Reddick change much from his time Boston? Was there some possible signs that Reddick had a chance to break out this season?

The main factor affecting his fantasy value in Boston was his playing time. Over 3 MLB season he had only 403 PA’s and hit .248/.290/.416 with 10 HRs (0.025 HR/PA). Not exactly numbers that will win a fantasy title.

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Last night, Evan Longoria returned to the Rays after missing 85 games with a torn hamstring. He was the DH and went 1 for 3 with an RBI. For some fantasy owners his return may be too late to really help them (#raiseshand). For others, he may provide a much needed boost. Besides being one of the top 3B options, his return has implications on other Tampa Bay players.

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Dan Straily – Dan started for the A’s this past Friday going 6 innings, striking out 5 and only walking 1 batter. It was the 23 year-old’s first MLB start after dominating the minors this past year. While it was just one start, there are some encouraging data from the right-hander.

* In the AA and AAA this season, he averaged 11.4 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9. While these numbers will not be as good in the majors, some decent results should be expected from him.

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Hanley Ramirez’s trade to the Dodgers was a move by Miami to transfer the salary of an under performing player with the hopes of putting that money to better use. With the move though, Ramiriez’s fantasy value changes very little. His new teammates will see some increase in value, but expectations should be tempered.

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Yesterday, Anibal Sanchez was traded to the Detroit Tigers. It was a bold move by the Tigers to help them make the playoffs. Today, I am going to look at a few changes that can be expected from him because of his new surroundings and any chance for regression (good or bad).

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Recently here at Rotographs, we released our rest of season rankings for starting pitchers, I had Tim Lincecum rated as the sixth-highest fantasy pitcher. To say the least, I took a little heat for that ranking. I will try to justify the ranking today.

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Stephen Strasburg is possibly the best starting pitcher so far this season. Here is a quick sampling of his stats:

11.6 K/9, 32% K%
2.6 BB/9, 7% BB%
2.82 ERA, 2.42 FIP, 2.60 xFIP, 2.60 SIERA

These numbers are good enough that I have him ranked as the best fantasy starting pitcher without taking the number of innings he pitches into account. The only knock against him is that he is not a ground ball pitcher with has led to a career BABIP 0.308. When he is on the mound, he is arguably the best fantasy pitcher in the in the game.

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