Warren Wimmer/Icon SMI
Zack Greinke has six complete games, but Sunday's was his first since May 26.
Remember the dominant, untouchable edition of Zack Greinke, the one who began the season 8-1 with a 0.84 ERA in his first 10 starts? He's baaaaaaaack.
Coming off a start in which he whiffed a career-high 15 batters, Greinke shut out the Mariners on one hit, Kenji Johjima's single with two outs in the second inning. After that hit, the right-hander retired the final 22 batters he faced en route to his major league-leading third shutout and sixth complete game. Greinke has an American League-best 2.32 ERA, and this was both his best career start, going by game score, and the fewest hits he's allowed in a complete game.
Greinke might not stand a chance at a 20-win season -- he has 13, is on pace for 16 and can't start more than six more times barring going on short rest -- but he's about as strong a bet for the American League Cy Young award as anyone out there. He is third in baseball in strikeouts (202, 13 behind AL leader Justin Verlander), first in the AL in WHIP (1.08, fifth in MLB) and second in the AL to Matt Garza in batting-average against (.233, 12th in MLB).
Of course, Greinke's effort shouldn't be expected in future outings. Seattle's Franklin Gutierrez had the highest OPS (.770) of the hitters Greinke faced Sunday, and only three Mariners hitters had an OPS higher than (.664). By comparison, he'll probably face the Angels, Tigers (twice) and Red Sox in his next four turns. Don't expect quite the same level of dominance.
Greinke picked up his first road win since June 28, a span of six starts. Road matchups might be a tad tougher for Greinke moving forward, but he's almost untouchable at home, with an 8-3 record and 1.97 ERA in 14 starts.
Previous editions: Aug. 30: Kazmir dealt to Angels | Aug. 26: Big league teams streaming?
• Chad Qualls' owners might be looking elsewhere for saves for the next several days, as the right-hander suffered a dislocated left kneecap while reacting to a comebacker that ended Sunday's game. According to the Diamondbacks' official Web site, Qualls will undergo an MRI exam on Monday to determine the extent of the damage. "You could see the dislocation," said manager A.J. Hinch. "The trainer popped the kneecap back in place, but now we'll just have to wait and see how much damage there was." The team offered no hint at who might step in at closer should Qualls miss significant time, but with Jon Rauch now in Minnesota, Juan Gutierrez and Esmerling Vasquez become the two most obvious choices.
• How much more do you need to see from Justin Upton to be convinced he's fully healthy? He hit his 22nd home run, his second in as many days, and is now batting .450 (9-for-20) with two doubles, two homers, five RBIs and six runs scored in five games since returning from an oblique injury.
• One of 2009's biggest breakout stories is clearly Kendry Morales, who belted yet another home run, his 30th of the season, on Sunday. Dating back to June 12, Morales has batted .352 (87-for-247) with 22 home runs and 62 RBIs in 65 games, MVP-caliber numbers. During that hot streak, he hasn't gone more than seven games without a home run or six without a multi-hit effort. Morales is also batting a respectable .286 with a .783 OPS versus left-handers (the home run Sunday came against lefty Jay Marshall), helping him improve the main area of his game in which he had shown weakness in the past. Asking Morales to keep up this torrid a pace is a bit much, but he's very much for real as a solid fantasy hitter.
• Joba Chamberlain's owners apparently won't squeeze much fantasy value out of him the rest of the season, not if the Yankees' new "Joba Rules" include many more starts like Sunday's, in which he was allowed to throw only three innings of 35 pitches. The Yankees have said they want to have Chamberlain's pitch count up to the 100-110 level in time for the postseason, and that he'll pitch in every fifth game the remainder of the regular season, but working up from a pitch count of 35, we might be looking at a 50, 65, 80, 95, 100 kind of arrangement while the Yankees face a challenging schedule. Find yourself someone more reliable.
• Fellow youngster Brian Matusz was far more effective in his start, going seven innings and limiting the Indians to one run on four hits to win for the third time in six starts. He also struck out eight batters and walked one, throwing 67 of 96 pitches (69.8 percent) for strikes, and 19 of 26 first-pitch strikes (73.1). If Matusz can bring that kind of command to his remaining starts, he might have quite the strong finish, though it's important to remember the Orioles do face a brutal September schedule.
• Speaking of rough schedules, Roy Halladay is one example of the limitations of a challenging schedule on a pitcher. He allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings against the Red Sox, and now has a 5.76 ERA and 1.56 WHIP in his past four starts, two apiece versus Boston and Tampa Bay. Halladay isn't the kind of pitcher fantasy owners should seriously doubt or consider benching, but the fact remains that if he continues to work on four days' rest as he has all year, he'll draw the Yankees, Twins, Tigers (road), Rays (road), Mariners, Red Sox (road) and Orioles (road) in his final seven starts. Don't expect best-in-the-game statistics.
• Following up my anti-Carlos Zambrano comments in last Wednesday's Out of the Box, the right-hander lasted only 3 1/3 innings against the Mets, allowing four runs (three earned) on 11 hits. Eleven hits! To a Mets team that sported Daniel Murphy as its No. 3 hitter, no less. Cubs relievers, by comparison, tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings of one-hit baseball, so it could be said that Zambrano isn't quite himself. Fantasy owners can't trust him right now, whether he has a great-on-paper matchup at the Mets on Friday or not.
Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies
Though he probably wasn't pleased with Sunday's result, a loss that capped the Giants' three-game sweep of his Rockies, Tulowitzki stood out with a 4-for-5, one-homer, three-RBIs performance. The home run was his 24th, matching his rookie-year number from 2007; his OPS has swelled to .902, besting his .838 as a rookie, and he is on pace for 91 RBIs and 99 runs scored.
Joe Blanton, Phillies
Blanton's 10th consecutive quality start was a seven-inning, one-run, three-hit effort to defeat the Braves to extend the Phillies' division lead to eight games. Blanton is 5-2 with a 2.14 ERA and 1.04 WHIP during his 10-start hot streak, and most outstanding is that during that span he has 51 strikeouts compared to 13 walks.
With Joba Chamberlain going only three innings, Alfredo Aceves picked up his major league-leading ninth relief win by pitching three scoreless frames behind Chamberlain. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Aceves is the first big league pitcher to win nine games in relief by the end of August since Seattle's Julio Mateo did it in 2006, and the first to do it as a rookie since Minnesota's Jesse Crain in 2005.
• The Red Sox purchased the contract of Paul Byrd from Triple-A Pawtucket, and the veteran right-hander rewarded them with six shutout innings of three-hit baseball to defeat the Blue Jays. With Tim Wakefield battling a back issue, Byrd will get another start either Friday or Saturday at the White Sox. AL-only owners can feel free to add him, and mixed-league owners might want to think about examining his matchups more closely if he's sharp again in his second turn.
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Stephania Bell: Depends on my choices. If I have the luxury of waiting, I want to see how it goes with first big boy game. He's been very impressive in rehab starts, but keep in mind that it takes a while for guys to perform consistently after this injury. But if he looks good in first game, I'm definitely starting him the second time.
-- Full chat transcript
Monday's fantasy chat schedule:
Christopher Harris, 11 a.m. ET
• Jeremy Hellickson continues to roll for Triple-A Durham. He tossed eight shutout innings of one-hit, 12-strikeout baseball in the most impressive of his eight starts since being promoted to Durham. He's 5-1 with a 2.86 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 61 K's in 50 1/3 innings for the Bulls, after going 3-1 with a 2.38 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 11 starts for Double-A Montgomery. It's prospects like Hellickson who allowed the Rays to trade Scott Kazmir. While Hellickson might not see time with the big club this season, he'll almost assuredly be in the mix at some point in 2010.
• Jason Hirsh had yet another impressive start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, going 5 1/3 shutout innings in the second game of a doubleheader. He's now 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA in five starts since being acquired by the Yankees around the trade deadline, which might be enough to earn him a look out of the bullpen in September. If not, at least he might have earned a spring-training invite with some team to compete for a 2010 rotation spot.
• J.P. Arencibia hit two more home runs for Triple-A Las Vegas, and in the month of August now has seven with 17 RBIs. He's batting .231 with 105 strikeouts in 432 at-bats for the season, though, and has been wildly streaky all year, with an OPS of .784 or greater in May and August, and .615 or worse in April, June and July. Arencibia could really stand some improvement in his plate discipline if he is going to make it in the big leagues, but he might get a look early next year nevertheless.
• Those fantasy owners looking forward to Tim Hudson's anticipated return from the disabled list will have to wait another day. Though the right-hander was expected to make his first start since Tommy John surgery by replacing Kenshin Kawakami in the rotation on Monday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Kawakami will pitch Monday and Hudson will start Tuesday. The reason: With Nate McLouth unable to return from the DL himself on Monday, the Braves didn't want to demote a hitter to clear roster room for Hudson. Of course, Kawakami isn't all that interesting a fantasy choice; he's 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA and 1.69 WHIP in two starts versus the Marlins this season.
• Andy Pettitte starts for the Yankees at Camden Yards, a venue at which he's 15-4 in 22 career games (21 starts) despite a 4.41 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. He also has 25 wins in his career versus the Orioles, by far his most against any opponent. Pettitte has yet to pitch at Camden Yards this season, even though the Yankees have already made two trips there (six total games).