Our weekly digest of everything fantasy baseball. Facts don't lie and The Lineup is full of 'em. Here is your weekly digest of everything fantasy baseball. Projections for the week of May 19-25. Stats through and including May 16:



Texas Rangers, 2B
Stats: 333 AVG, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 6 R, 4 SB
Comment: Quietly playing at an elite level at the second base position this season.

Chicago White Sox, OF
Stats: .357 AVG, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 4 R, 0 SB
Comment: Quentin’s bat has resulted in him being moved to the three-hole..

Chicago Cubs, OF
Stats: .464 AVG, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R, 0 SB
Comment: Has come back with guns blazing since returning from the DL.


Cincinnati Reds, SP
Stats:1-0, 0.60 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 14 SO
Comment: Two dominant performances this week, the second one coming on three days rest against the Marlins on Thursday.

Chicago White Sox, SP
Stats: 2-0, 1.29 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 7 SO
Comment: Contreras looked impressive in two road starts this week against the Angels and Mariners.

Cleveland Indians, SP
Stats:2-0, 0.56 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 20 SO
Comment:Not including his 4-run effort against the Royals on May 3rd, Sabathia has allowed just 2 earned runs in his last 30 innings.



Arizona Diamondbacks, OF
Stats: .063 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 R, 0 SB
Comment: Byrnes was moved down the order this week and fantasy owners should bench him until he snaps out of his funk.

Detroit Tigers, OF
Stats: .167 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 R, 1 SB
Comment: Pitchers are throwing more breaking stuff to Granderson since his hot return from the DL and he has had a hard time adjusting.

Toronto Blue Jays, OF
Stats: .133 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 R, 0 SB Comment: Now hitting in the three-hole due to the injury to Vernon Wells. Really has no supporting cast at the moment.


Boston Red Sox, SP
Stats: 0-1, 14.54 ERA, 3.00 WHIP, 4 SO
Comment: Before landing on the DL with a broken fingernail, Buchholz treated fantasy owners to a dreadful start against the Twins on Monday.

Colorado Rockies, SP
Stats:0-1, 15.43 ERA, 2.79 WHIP, 3 SO
Comment: Francis has now gone winless in his first 8 starts of the season, just one year after winning 17 games in 2007.

Philadelphia Phillies, SP
Stats:0-1, 12.46 ERA, 2.77 WHIP, 6 SO
Comment: At this rate, the Phillies may have to cut their losses and send him back to the bullpen, where he thrived last season.


Texas Rangers, C
Comment: Saltala-who? Laird has been streaking at the plate recently, even scoring 3 runs in Texas’ win over Seattle on Tuesday.

, Los Angeles Angels, C
Comment: Napoli has bashed 5 home runs in 10 road starts this season while batting a respectable .278.

Chicago White Sox, 1B
Comment: While the .246 average at home could be better, Konerko’s your man for power this week as he has 4 HR and 14 RBI in 17 games at US Cellular Field.

Tampa Bay Rays
Comment: 4 of his 8 home runs this season have come against Baltimore (in 8 games) and he batted .320 against Oakland in 2007.

Kansas City Royals, 2B
Comment: Those of you in need of batting average help should call upon the services of Grudzielanek, who is batting .474 in his last 7 games.

Houston Astros, 2B
Comment: Matsui has 14 runs and 5 stolen bases in 11 home games this season.

Los Angeles Angels, SS
Comment: On the road this season, Aybar is batting .343 with 3 steals and 11 runs in 18 games.

Chicago Cubs, SS
Comment: Theriot was comfortable at the dish last season versus Houston and Pittsburgh: .340 AVG, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 15 R, 6 SB in 103 at-bats.

Cincinnati Reds, 3B
Comment: Hit .375 against the Dodgers in the Reds’ first series of this season and is a better performer on the road anyway in 2008 (.286 on road, .229 at home).

Minnesota Twins, 3B
Comment: Lamb is on a roll right now and fantasy owners should look to him for some stopgap help at the hot corner.

Florida Marlins, OF
Comment: Has been hammering the ball recently and the streaky Ross should see regular at-bats in the short-term as a result.

Atlanta Braves, OF
Comment: Kotsay’s swinging a hot stick and his home numbers are worthy of a start this week: .349 AVG, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 13 R, 1 SB in 16 games.

Houston Astros, OF
Comment: Pence’s lost bat seems to have found life and he needs to get plugged back into lineups pronto.

San Francisco Giants, OF
Comment: Can’t argue with his numbers of late. He’s even leading the Giants in homers this season.

Baltimore Orioles, SP
Comment: For the first time in The Lineup’s history, Cabrera is getting a Start ‘Em endorsement. The reason? His road numbers this season: 2-1, 2.17 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 24 SO in 37.1 IP.

Tampa Bay Rays, SP
Comment: Coming off a strong start, Garza hurls against the Orioles this week, a team he is 3-0 against lifetime with a 3.68 ERA

Kansas City Royals, SP
Comment:Meche gets two starts this week on the road this week, where he owns a respectable 4.01 ERA on the road this year (as opposed to a 9.00 at home). He draws the Red Sox (whom he is 4-1 against lifetime with a 3.86 ERA) and the Blue Jays offense.

Houston Astros, SP
Comment: Oswalt’s career stats versus Philadelphia make him a must-start option this week: 6-1, 2.79 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 50 SO in 51.2 IP.

Comment: Paulino gets the start at catcher now that Ryan Doumit is on the DL, but he’s a poor play this week as he’s been awful against right-handers and faces two of the tougher righties in the NL this week (Carlos Zambrano and Ben Sheets).

Texas Rangers, C
Comment: Laird has stepped up his game since the Rangers turned to a two-catcher platoon, while Salty has underachieved.

Milwaukee Brewers, 1B
Comment: Just 1 road home run with a .239 batting average in 20 games away from Milwaukee this season.

Washington Nationals, 1B
Comment: With Nick Johnson out, fantasy owners should not automatically expect Young to repeat his .320 batting average from 2007 given that his career average sits below .300.

Detroit Tigers, 2B
Comment: Has picked up his play a lot on this road-trip, but he returns home this week, where he he’s batting .232 on the season.

Milwaukee Brewers, 2B
Comment: He’s mired in a horrible offensive funk right now and his .181 batting average on the road won’t help matters.

Chicago White Sox, SS
Comment: Batting a paltry .226 at home this year with just 1 RBI in 16 games.

Oakland Athletics, SS
Comment: Crosby owns a measly .223 career batting average against the Red Sox and Rays.

Chicago White Sox, 3B
Comment: Since his hot start Crede has really cooled down. Don’t expect him to heat back up with a .246 home batting average in 2008.

Houston Astros, 3B
Comment: Wigginton’s banged up ribs have kept him from playing regularly and fantasy owners would be wise to avoid him this week because even if he gets a full share of at-bats, he could still be limited physically.

Chicago Cubs, OF
Comment: Just because he’s switched uniforms does not mean that he’ll all of a sudden recapture the magic. Remember, the anemic Padres offense thought they would improve by cutting him.

Washington Nationals, OF
Comment: He started 2008 off strongly, but has worn down considerably. His numbers this May have been brutal: .178 AVG, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 4 R, 1 SB in 12 games.

Pittsburgh Pirates, OF
Comment: Nady’s sizzling bat has predictably cooled down considerably in May following a huge April.

Detroit Tigers, OF
Comment: The Chef hasn’t been cooking up anything appetizing since his return to the outfield and fantasy owners need to keep his bat on the bench until (unless?) he breaks out.

Cleveland Indians, SP
Comment: Carmona draws the White Sox this week and his career numbers against them make him a sit candidate: 2-6, 5.09 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 26 SO in 35.1 IP.

Atlanta Braves, SP
Comment: Glavine has been a bum at home this season (6.40 ERA) and the ex-Met gets his first start against New York and then faces Arizona, two tough offenses.

New York Yankees, SP
Comment: Pettite does not have favorable lifetime numbers versus Seattle: 8-10, 4.81 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 77 SO in 119.2 IP.

Detroit Tigers, SP
Comment: While his lone win has come at home, his 6.14 ERA and 4 home runs allowed at Comerica Park this year make Verlander a must-sit.


Starbonell is UPDATE! Major League Baseball Editor.

8 Despite being considered one of the worse hitting catchers in baseball today, Houston Astros back-stop Brad Ausmus became the eight catcher in major-league history with at least 1,500 hits and 100 stolen bases.

4 Number of triples hit by Arizona Diamondbacks 1B Conor Jackson so far this season. Heading into 2008, Jackson had just 2 triples in his MLB career.

3 Relief wins earned by Kansas City Royals RP Leo Nunez, who has dominated as the team’s set-up man. Should anything happen to closer Joakim Soria, Nunez would make an outstanding relief option for fantasy purposes.

2 Milwaukee Brewers OF Ryan Braun had 2 consecutive 2 home run games against St. Louis this week.


Colorado Rockies, 3B
Comment:While fantasy owners have a microscope on the playing time of Rockies back-stop Chris Iannetta, another Colorado youngster has been tearing the cover off the ball in Triple-A. Stewart has not been showered with attention in fantasy circles for one major reason, the Rockies already have a top-notch third baseman on their big-league club by the name of Garrett Atkins, so unless Atkins gets hurt, Stewart will likely remain in Triple-A all season. The one caveat here with Stewart is his potential to get dealt mid-season. The Rockies are floundering this season and can use all the help they can get, Stewart could bring in a decent haul if moved. Should that happen, he could instantly go from Triple-A hero to everyday major-leaguer.


This week two of the biggest surprise teams of 2008 square off in Oakland as the A’s take on the Rays. The catalyst for the early success of these teams has been pitching, both in the starting rotation and in the bullpen. Tampa’s offense is much faster and talented than Oakland’s on paper, but the A’s continue to churn out runs by worshipping at the OBP altar. Last season, the Rays bested the Athletics with 6 wins in 10 games. The scheduled starters for Oakland are Joe Blanton, Greg Smith and Dana Eveland while Tampa will send out James Shields, Scott Kazmir and Andy Sonnanstine.

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