Romero faces stiff challenge
The story of the day has to be Ricky Romero and his quest to extend his 20 consecutive scoreless innings. The left-hander, who was the sixth overall MLB Draft pick in 2005, has come from nowhere -- he had a career 4.42 ERA in 430 minor league innings before his call-up -- to set the fantasy world on fire, as his ownership has shot up 14.5 percent in the past week. Nearly a third of ESPN.com owners have now invested in him. Just in time to see him match up against the mighty Yankees, whose offense leads the league in runs scored and OPS. If Romero does well against the Yankees, just imagine how many leagues will go crazy to add him.
For starters
Starting pitcher rankings for Monday
| Name | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Matt Cain | R | 9-2 | 2.48 | 1.23 | 7.29 | .671 | FLA | .729 | 77.0% |
| 2 |  | Cole Hamels | L | 4-5 | 4.98 | 1.47 | 8.15 | .836 | CIN | .717 | 80.8% |
| 3 |  | Ricky Romero | L | 6-3 | 2.85 | 1.24 | 7.56 | .724 | @NYY | .823 | 83.0% |
| 4 |  | Johnny Cueto | R | 8-4 | 2.69 | 1.12 | 6.77 | .667 | @PHI | .781 | 79.9% |
| 5 |  | Jarrod Washburn | L | 4-6 | 3.36 | 1.19 | 6.17 | .687 | BAL | .754 | 83.2% |
| 6 |  | Jair Jurrjens | R | 6-6 | 2.73 | 1.24 | 6.51 | .660 | @CHC | .720 | 77.7% |
| 7 |  | Jason Marquis | R | 10-5 | 3.87 | 1.31 | 4.20 | .683 | WAS | .744 | 77.2% |
| 8 |  | Mike Hampton | L | 4-5 | 4.44 | 1.40 | 6.04 | .773 | PIT | .734 | 80.0% |
| 9 |  | John Smoltz | R | 0-1 | 6.00 | 1.33 | 7.00 | .722 | OAK | .676 | 81.5% |
| 10 |  | Randy Wells | R | 3-3 | 2.43 | 1.08 | 6.43 | .614 | ATL | .727 | 82.4% |
| 11 |  | Andy Pettitte | L | 8-3 | 4.25 | 1.50 | 6.10 | .784 | TOR | .777 | 83.5% |
| 12 |  | Jered Weaver | R | 8-3 | 3.10 | 1.13 | 7.21 | .654 | TEX | .778 | 76.8% |
| 13 |  | Brad Bergesen | R | 5-2 | 3.53 | 1.16 | 4.52 | .676 | @SEA | .720 | 82.2% |
| 14 |  | Kevin Millwood | R | 8-5 | 2.80 | 1.24 | 5.60 | .706 | 2LAA | .777 | 81.7% |
| 15 |  | Jon Garland | R | 4-8 | 4.81 | 1.53 | 3.30 | .801 | SD | .690 | 78.9% |
| 16 |  | Gil Meche | R | 4-8 | 4.20 | 1.45 | 6.93 | .727 | @DET | .748 | 80.1% |
| 17 |  | Sean West | L | 3-2 | 4.06 | 1.38 | 5.28 | .715 | @SF | .708 | 78.5% |
| 18 |  | Armando Galarraga | R | 5-7 | 5.34 | 1.58 | 5.76 | .877 | KC | .708 | 80.5% |
| 19 |  | Virgil Vasquez | R | 1-1 | 3.75 | 1.33 | 6.75 | .872 | @HOU | .722 | 82.9% |
| 20 |  | Craig Stammen | R | 1-3 | 5.44 | 1.30 | 4.43 | .749 | @COL | .774 | 77.2% |
| 21 |  | Walter Silva | R | 0-2 | 8.86 | 1.92 | 4.22 | .883 | @ARI | .723 | 76.9% |
| 22 |  | Brett Anderson | L | 4-7 | 5.45 | 1.51 | 6.30 | .835 | @BOS | .796 | 79.7% |
Selected notes: Romero has been phenomenal lately, striking out 35 batters in his past 35 1/3 innings, and is coming off an eight-inning shutout of the Rays, who have the second-best offense in the majors. Still, the Yankees' OPS against left-handers is well ahead -- 23 points to be exact -- of any other team. It's a tough call, but Romero has been dominant the past month, and as the saying goes, great pitching beats great hitting. … In 10 of Jarrod Washburn's 15 starts, he has allowed two runs or less, mostly against the weaker offenses in the league, including a start versus the Orioles earlier in the season. In the other five, he's allowed at least four runs, all against the upper echelon of offenses. So against mediocre offenses, he has quite a bit of fantasy viability, but you wouldn't want to go near him when he's facing a potent opponent. Fortunately, the Orioles fall into the former category, against left-handers at least. Their .712 OPS versus southpaws is third-worst in the AL. … Gil Meche has been pitching poorly recently, with 15 earned runs in his past 14 1/3 innings while allowing five home runs and walking more batters (10) than he's struck out (nine). His poor pitching has been attributed to a dead arm in the past, and after logging a quality start versus the Twins, he hasn't pitched significantly better since, walking five hitters and allowing a home run to Michael Cuddyer. His matchup against the Tigers Monday is going to be a tough one. They hit much better at home, lit Meche up earlier in the season and Magglio Ordonez, Brandon Inge, Curtis Granderson and Miguel Cabrera have hit a combined .316 off him in 117 at-bats. … The Angels have hit .300 against Kevin Millwood in 330 at-bats, so it's not surprising that he's allowed 17 hits in 12 1/3 innings in his two past starts against the team. Combine that with the Angels' recent hot hitting -- their .813 team OPS ranked third in June, and they're off to a similar start in July, hitting .336 -- and Millwood should remain firmly planted on your bench. … Oddly enough, this will be the third time in his past five starts that Mike Hampton has faced the Pirates. In the first two, he went seven innings each outing while allowing one run. He has allowed one run in three of his past four starts, capitalizing on a weak schedule (the Padres in Petco Park). Things are working for Hampton, and they can work for you, too.
Now batting
Hitters' count
• Vernon Wells, OF, Blue Jays: Although Wells is hitting only .195 against lefties this season, he has hit .312 off of them for his career, and in 38 at-bats versus Andy Pettitte, he's hit a robust .395. He has hit .300 over his past 17 games, with 10 of his 32 extra-base hits coming in that span.
• Brandon Inge, C/3B, Tigers: It's rare to see Inge bat better than .300 against any pitcher -- he is a career .239 hitter, after all -- but he's had a lot of success versus Meche, going 10-for-31 (.323) with half of those hits going for extra bases, including a homer.
• Mark Teahen, 3B/OF, Royals: Even during his surprise season last year, lefties did well against Armando Galarraga. For his career, left-handers have hit a robust .283 AVG/.355 OBP/.522 SLG against him. Teahen has been solid enough against right-handers (.299 average, seven homers) to take advantage of the matchup.
• Chase Headley, OF, Padres: Headley has turned into a useful spare part on the road, hitting .298 in his career away from Petco Park versus a .193 average at home. He doesn't have much power, but he's worth starting Monday simply because it's an off day for eight teams, so there's likely some space in your starting lineup.
• Vladimir Guerrero, OF, Angels: It looks like Guerrero is finally getting into a groove. In his past seven starts, he's 11-for-31 (.354) with five extra-base hits (two homers). He has killed Millwood in his career, hitting .359 with four dingers in 78 at-bats.
• Hank Blalock, 3B, Rangers: Blalock was 7-for-17 with a home run against Jered Weaver entering the season, and he has added to those gaudy numbers this season, chipping in three more hits -- including another home run and two doubles -- in seven at-bats this season. For his career, Blalock is hitting .417 with a .875 slugging percentage versus Weaver.
Pitchers' count
• Jay Bruce, OF, Reds: Cole Hamels may be getting pounded by right-handed batters (.335 average), but at least lefties are batting only .247. It also helps that Bruce is perpetually useless against southpaws, with just one home run accompanying a .195 average in 87 at-bats.
• Ian Kinsler, 2B, Rangers: Weaver has reduced Kinsler to a .208 hitter in 24 at-bats, with just one extra-base hit resulting in a mediocre .519 OPS. It's also worth noting that this season, Kinsler's stats have been particularly reliant on Rangers Ballpark, as he's hitting below the Mendoza Line on the road.
• Nelson Cruz, OF, Rangers: Cruz has more strikeouts (five) than hits (four) against Weaver, and none of those hits went for extra bases.
• Brian Roberts, 2B, Orioles: With twice as many strikeouts (eight) as hits (four), Roberts struggles against Washburn, although he has worked six walks in his 27 at-bats. Unfortunately, those walks haven't resulted in many steals either, with a 50 percent success rate on just two attempts.
• Dan Uggla, 2B, Marlins: It's probably not surprising that Uggla, a .246 hitter over the past three seasons, with 406 strikeouts in 384 games, has struggled to make contact against Matt Cain. He's 1-for-8 with three strikeouts against one single. While it's not much of a sample size, it is in line with both players' skills. And Cain doesn't allow many home runs -- Uggla's primary value -- anyway, with a career home run rate of just 0.77 per nine innings.
If you're hardcore
• Garret Anderson, OF, Braves: Since June 8, Anderson is hitting .359, and he has even chipped in some power recently with four extra-base hits (two home runs) in his past six games.
• Martin Prado, 1B/2B/3B, Braves: With seven extra-base hits (one homer) in five consecutive games, compiling seven, Prado was one of the hottest hitters in the majors over the past week, and because he's hitting second in the lineup, he also has eight runs scored in that span.
• Ian Stewart, 2B/3B, Rockies: Stewart has been relatively quiet since an early June home run barrage, but is off to a nice start in July, going 4-for-12 with three extra-base hits, including a homer and a steal. The Rockies also play in Coors Field for their next seven games, which is often conducive to a hot streak or two.
• Josh Willingham, OF, Nationals: Since being activated from the bereavement list on June 20, Willingham has reached based in 13 straight games. He has hit well all season, plays every day and has a solid track record of production, so he's easy to include in this space until his ownership rises to more than 2.9 percent.
• Franklin Gutierrez, OF, Mariners: Gutierrez has reached base in 17 consecutive games, including two separate seven-game hitting streaks, one of which is still active. In other words, he's scorching hot, and he has always been a good hitter against lefties, with a .287 average that's 33 points higher against left-handers in his career.
• Nolan Reimold, OF, Orioles: He's only 1-for-12 in his past three games, but all of those at-bats were against right-handers, which he is now hitting .247 against. Reimold is much more successful against southpaws, hitting .340 with three homers in 50 at-bats, and for what it's worth, he was 2-for-3 versus Washburn in a start earlier in the season.
Triage
Injury list: Out
• Kelly Johnson, 2B, Braves (15-day DL, wrist)
• Mike Lowell, 3B, Red Sox (15-day DL, hip)
Injury list: Day-to-day
• Josh Hamilton, OF, Rangers: Hamilton's rehab game on Saturday was rained out, so his return has been pushed to Monday, most likely. He's only 1-for-11 so far in the minors, so he may struggle initially upon his return.
• Aramis Ramirez, 3B, Cubs (15-day DL, shoulder): Sidelined since May 8 with a dislocated shoulder, Ramirez is expected to return from the disabled list Monday.
• Freddy Sanchez, 2B, Pirates (back)
Weather concerns
• The Pirates-Astros, Padres-Diamondbacks and Orioles-Mariners are all weatherproof. And with clear skies expected throughout other major league cities, the entire slate of games is essentially weatherproof.
Adam Madison is a fantasy baseball analyst for ESPN.com.
