- Fantasy hitter of the day? Dioner Navarro, C, TB: The 24-year-old Venezuelan backstop went 3-for-6 with a double and a game-winning grand slam against Toronto Thursday. Since returning on April 22 from a hand injury, only Geovany Soto (19) has more hits than Navarro (18) among catchers.
- Brandon Webb goes to 8-0 with a complete game win against the Phillies: This is the first NL pitcher to get to 8-0 since Pedro Martinez in 1997. The sinkerballer is on pace for 37 wins this season -- start him in NL-only leagues.
- Dave Richard has been funny 9 days in a row through Thursday: About a month ago, I posted a sign in my cube counting off how many days in a row the normally unfunny Dave Richard has been funny. (He's normally the guy that adds a joke to the conversation only to have the rest of the group then quietly change the subject.) If he's funny today, that will be 10 days straight, which means the sign comes down. It's a monumental day in the department -- we're all rooting for him. For the record, he got to the ninth consecutive funny day yesterday when Emack asked, "What should I go eat for lunch?" And Richard replied, "Rat poison."
- Clinton Portis is dealing with a strained hip: Reports are that the injury might have happened after he raced LaRon Landry in a 40-yard sprint. Someday, when we have video capabilities in our blog, I'll post video of a drunken Emack doing a 40-yard sprint down the hallway of a Jacksonville hotel. He pulled his hamstring -- it was awesome.
- Scotty Blanco once spent $70 to buy bootleg copies of the entire "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series: Seriously. He told us yesterday when we were talking TV. He was quite proud of his purchase.
- Pop goes Neshek's elbow: For those hoping for some vulture saves at some point, needing Joe Nathan to get his toe stuck in the bathtub, Pat Neshek came down with a bad case of "Did you guys hear that noise?" after throwing a slider to Joe Crede. He'll be examined by the Twins' orthopedist Friday, but I've seen his teeth and he doesn't need braces.
- NHL Eastern Conference Finals begin tonight, PIT vs PHI: Is ANYONE rooting for the Flyers outside of inmates and people with bad decision-making abilities?
- Lance Berkman in quite a zone: Over the past seven days, Berkman is batting .667 with three homers, eight RBI, 10 runs scored and two stolen bases. Fat Elvis already has six stolen bases -- just three away from his career-high! Manager Cecil Cooper officially likes his team to run. Only Kevin Youkilis is outhitting Berkman over this span.
- LeBron James ready to head home: Like Eisenberg just said, "Not only does LeBron tip under 20 percent, he also shoots under 20 percent." The Cavs head to Cleveland down 0-2 with few answers against Boston.
- Daniel Cabrera finally finds umpire with a strike zone that measures 18-square feet: The mountainous Dominican threw a complete game against the Royals Thursday, two starts after walking seven batters. This time he walked only one -- and struck out seven.
Start 'em and Sit 'em: Week 7
Good Start Teams
- St. Louis -- seven games, three vs. PIT, three at home
- Atlanta -- seven games, three at Citizens Bank Park
- Florida -- at Great American Ball Park for four, three at home vs. KC
- Seattle -- three at Texas, three home vs. SD
- Cincinnati -- Seven home games
- Baltimore -- Just five games
- Washington -- Seven all on road, three at Shea
- Milwaukee -- Facing STL/LAD/BOS pitchers
- Colorado -- Just six games, three at ARI
- Toronto -- Seven road games, Jays rank 26th in RPG on road
- Oakland -- Six road games, at CLE and at ATL
Good starts
- C - Mike Napoli, LAA: Slugging away with four homers in past eight hits.
- 1B - Kevin Youkilis, BOS: Power surge lately, faces O's/Brewers this week.
- 2B - Placido Polanco, DET: His 23 hits in the past two weeks leads the majors -- and he even has a pair of homers in that span.
- SS - Erick Aybar, LAA: Seven RBI in past couple weeks rank him third at the position.
- 3B - Scott Rolen, TOR: Seven road games are tough, but three are at Philly -- his former stomping grounds.
- OF - David DeJesus, KC: His 12 RBI since April 25 are among top 10 at the position.
- C - Jeff Mathis, LAA: Getting more at-bats than Napoli recently, but not producing as much -- and he's getting over the flu.
- 1B - Casey Kotchman, LAA: Dealing with a groin injury, check his status. Hasn't homered in 12 games.
- 2B - Nick Punto, MIN: Had a great week, but he's the Twins' ninth hitter and he's dealing with a bad hammy.
- SS - Edgar Renteria, DET: Other Tigers are finally coming through, but he's batting just .160 over past two weeks.
- 3B - Casey Blake, CLE: Back to struggling ways once again, hitting under .150 over past 36 at-bats.
- OF - Nick Swisher, CHW: Struggling at the plate and he's hitting under .200 against three of his upcoming pitchers over his career.
Good starts
- C - Chris Iannetta, COL: Only three catchers outperforming him over past two weeks (Soto, Martin, Mauer).
- 1B - Joey Votto, CIN: Three homers in one game -- inconsistent rookie can produce in stints.
- 2B - Kaz Matsui, HOU: Along with Michael Bourn, giving Astros a great pair of table-setters with super speed.
- SS - Felipe Lopez, WAS: Still hitting well and seven total games this week.
- 3B - Jose Bautista, PIT: Only two other 3B have outproduced him lately, he has nine RBI in past 40 at-bats.
- OF - Scott Podsednik, COL: Starting to see more starts for the Rockies, still has good speed (six SBs).
- C - Jason Kendall, MIL: Back to his slap-hitting, low batting-average ways.
- 1B - Mike Jacobs, FLA: A strained quadriceps could cost the slugger in Week 7.
- 2B - Clint Barmes, COL: Six games this week, three at Arizona.
- SS - Eric Bruntlett, PHI: He's playing well in Jimmy Rollins' place, but should be back on the bench next week.
- 3B - Bill Hall, MIL: Just three hits so far this month.
- OF - Reed Johnson, CHC: Batting under .200 over past 40 at-bats for Cubs.
