Every week, The Lineup will help you figure out who to start, sit and watch. 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 5/26/08-6/1/08. All stats up to and including 5/22/08.

Cincinnati Reds, OF
Stats: .455 AVG, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 6 R, 0 SB
Comment: Enjoyed a 5 game homer streak and 8 game RBI streak, both of which ended this week.

Texas Rangers, OF
Stats: .567 AVG, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 9 R, 2 SB
Comment: Already surpassed his RBI total from last season (47 in 90 games with Cincinnati in 2007).

Philadelphia Phillies, 1B
Stats: .321 AVG, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 8 R, 0 SB
Comment: It looks like his annual dreadful start to the season is finally over.


Oakland Athletics, SP
Stats:1-0, 1.84 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 9 SO
Comment: Continues to throw very well for the A’s, keeping his ERA under 3.00 in the process.

Boston Red Sox, SP
Stats: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.22 WHIP, 9 SO
Comment: The no-hitter was impressive, but what’s really remarkable is the fact he was touching 95-96 mph on the radar gun in the ninth-inning.

Philadelphia Phillies, SP
Stats:2-0, 2.13 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 8 SO
Comment:Somehow, someway Moyer still manages to remain a viable big-league pitcher.



Cleveland Indians, C
Stats: .130 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 R, 0 SB
Comment: When we are this deep into the season and V-Mart still has yet to hit a homer, fantasy owners have to be concerned.

Florida Marlins, SS
Stats: .105 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 R, 0 SB
Comment: Inked a long-term deal and proceeded to go cold instantly. Still, he’s too gifted to keep this up.

Boston Red Sox, OF
Stats: .136 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 R, 0 SB Comment: The 500 home run mark continues to elude him as his struggles indicate.


New York Mets, SP
Stats: 0-1, 9.00 ERA, 2.75 WHIP, 2 SO
Comment: Has now given up 4 runs to Atlanta in each of his two starts against the Braves this season.

New York Yankees, SP
Stats: 0-1, 8.22 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 1 SO
Comment: As if the poor start against the Mets wasn’t bad enough, Wang strained his right calf in the contest.

St. Louis Cardinals, SP
Stats: 0-0, 6.35 ERA, 2.29 WHIP, 2 SO
Comment:Surrendered 12 hits in less than 6 innings of work against Tampa Bay on Saturday.


St. Louis Cardinals, C
Comment: The youngest of the Molina brothers saw the ball well enough to bat .375 against the Astros and Pirates earlier this season.
New York Mets, C
Comment: Both of his homers this year have come at home and he is batting .389 against Florida and Los Angeles in 5 games in 2008.
Florida Marlins, 1B
Comment: Jacobs has been setting a good pace for his power numbers in May (4 HR and 11 RBI in 40 at-bats).

Pittsburgh Pirates, 1B
Comment: After a terrible April, LaRoche is flashing his ability to drive the ball in May with 4 homers and 15 RBI in 20 games.

New York Yankees, SP
Comment: Has started superbly since being promoted to the rotation and he’s worth starting this week thanks to his two starts against sub-par offenses (Baltimore and Minnesota).

San Francisco Giants, 2B
Comment: Since May 13, Durham owns a .435 batting average in his last 7 games.

Arizona Diamondbacks, 2B
Comment: O-Dog is hitting like crazy in the month of May, batting .412 in 11 games..

Atlanta Braves, SS
Comment: Sore knee should not keep him out of action this week and considering how consistent he’s been, fantasy owners should feel safe keeping him active.

New York Yankees, SS
Comment: Yankees offense looks like it is starting to click and Jeter should remain in your starting lineup despite getting beaned on the hand earlier in the week.

Cleveland Indians, 3B
Comment: Fantasy owners can certainly put his 2008 numbers against the White Sox and Royals to use this week: .323 AVG, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 5 R in 9 games.

Tampa Bay Rays, 3B
Comment: Elite talent is heating up and may be on the verge of a monster tear.

Chicago White Sox, OF
Comment: Quietly having a nice start to the season considering his brutal beginning to 2007 and he’s starting to really show his power with 2-homers in Wednesday’s game.

Los Angeles Dodgers, OF
Comment: With Andruw Jones hurting, Ethier’s stock should rise this week as regular at-bats will be on the way

St. Louis Cardinals, OF
Comment: White-hot play simply cannot be ignored. Ride the streak.

Texas Rangers, OF
Comment: Many thought he’d be a flash in the pan with his hot start, but he’s been plenty productive in May: .298 AVG, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 9 R, 1 SB in 20 games

Kansas City Royals, SP
Comment: While he’s cooled down considerably following a torrid start, Bannister has still been a shutdown pitcher at home in 2008: 3-2, 2.29 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 21 SO in 35.1 IP.

Cincinnati Reds, SP
Comment:Cueto is a fairly safe start at home this season. He gets two starts at the Great American Ballpark this week, where he is 2-1 with a 3.82 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 33 innings.

Chicago Cubs, SP
Comment: Yet to lose at Wrigley Field this season, where he is 5-0 with a 3.13 ERA.

Comment: When Jorge Posada first went on the DL with a bum shoulder, lots of folks thought Molina would be a solid stopgap option. But as time has worn on, it has become obvious why he is now a back-up catcher.

Oakland Athletics, C
Comment: This season, in 35 at-bats, Suzuki is hitting just .143 against Toronto and Texas.

New York Mets, 1B
Comment: Delgado has just 1 extra-base hit in 5 games this year against the Marlins and Dodgers and is batting .211 at home.

Arizona Diamondbacks, 1B
Comment: Jackson has had a difficult time at the plate recently as he is mired in a 1-for-21 slump and he is coming off a hamstring stain.

Los Angeles Dodgers, 2B
Comment: Went 0-for-9 against the Mets earlier this year and batted .200 against the Cubs last season in 6 games.

Seattle Mariners, 2B
Comment: Just 1 home run in 177 career at-bats against the Tigers and Red Sox.

Boston Red Sox, SS
Comment: Batting .250 on the road with just 3 runs scored in 18 games this year.

San Francisco Giants, SS
Comment: Vizquel’s bat has been surprisingly effective since his return to the Giants, but expect that to halt this week based on his 2007 stats versus Arizona and San Diego: .239 AVG with 7 runs in 32 games.

Seattle Mariners, 3B
Comment: Batting .212 at home this season with just 8 RBI in 23 games.

Detroit Tigers, 3B
Comment: Thus far, Guillen’s been a different ball-player on the road in 2008: .231 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 10 R in 21 games.

Washington Nationals, OF
Comment: Is batting a horrific .067 on the season and despite all his potential, fantasy owners must resist the urge to start him.

Atlanta Braves, OF
Comment: Francoeur’s consecutive games streaked ended at 371 this week and for good reason, his bat was ice-cold. He then went 3-for-4 with a home run in the next game, only to go 0-for-4 in the following contest. Reserve him until he shows more consistency.

Cleveland Indians, OF
Comment: Absolutely pathetic in the month of May thus far: .125 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 R, 0 SB in 40 at-bats.

Chicago White Sox, OF
Comment: In 8 games against Cleveland and Tampa Bay this season, Swisher is batting .185 without a single extra-base hit.

Colorado Rockies, SP
Comment: Has come back to earth with 9 earned runs and 20 hits allowed in his last 12 innings pitched.

< Los Angeles Angels, SP
Comment: Gets 2 starts at home this week, where he has been rather awful this season: 2-2, 5.74 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 10 SO in 31.1 IP.

Philadelphia Phillies, SP
Comment: Owns a 5.06 ERA lifetime against the Marlins and with the way he’s been pitching lately, he deserves to get dropped.

Tampa Bay Rays, SP
Comment: Sonnanstine gets 2 starts at home this week, where he sports a 5.76 ERA and 1.38 WHIP in 5 starts.


Starbonell is UPDATE! Major League Baseball Editor.

24 Appearances by San Francisco Giants SP Patrick Misch in his major-league career and he still has yet to record a win (that includes 4 starts this season).

6 NWalks issued in 6 innings of work Monday against the Boston Red Sox for Kansas City Royals SP Luke Hochevar. This outing followed his best start of the season, when he threw 6 shutout innings against the Tigers.

3 Career 4-hit games by Los Angeles Dodgers OF Matt Kemp in 191 major-league games following his 4-for-4 performance against Cincinnati on Monday.

2 Triples by San Francisco Giants OF Fred Lewis in Monday’s game against Colorado in Coors Field. He hit for the cycle against the Rockies in Colorado last year.


Los Angeles Dodgers, SP
Comment: Much has been made about the talent of the 20-year old prospect who has drawn an enormous amount of praise and hype from the fantasy community. Question is, when will the top left-handed prospect actually make it to the majors? Brad Penny has been a bum and is an injury risk, Derek Lowe has been terrible to date and Jason Schmidt and Esteban Loiaza are still nursing injuries. So Kershaw has a good shot of cracking the Dodger rotation by the All-Star break if everything lines up right, especially when one considers the Dodgers are limiting his innings pitched in the minors to 25 every month, just to make sure he can help them out for an extended period of time if they need it. The other issue to ponder is how effective can he be in the big leagues? Fantasy owners, unfortunately, will be displeased to learn that the southpaw will probably have more than his fair share of bumps in the road. He is still working on a change-up and with a repertoire consisting of mostly fastballs and curveballs, his ceiling is probably in the 4.00-4.10 ERA, 1.20-1.22 WHIP range with a solid strikeout rate. Great for a rookie, but don’t expect a Francisco Liriano-esque rookie effort.


The NL Central has become a hot-bed of offensive eruptions this season, but while many expected the Cubs to have a high-powered offense, Houston and St. Louis are certainly two of the bigger surprises in baseball. The Astros are getting other-worldly numbers from Lance Berkman while Miguel Tejada enjoys a career renaissance and the rest of the lineup features great players at the plate (Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence) and speed on the base-paths (Kazuo Matsui and Michael Bourn). The Cardinals have been getting typical superstar numbers from Albert Pujols, but it’s the big seasons from Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick that have buoyed their lineup (if Troy Glaus continues his resurgence, watch out). The Cardinals are currently leading the season series 4-2. Shawn Chacon, Roy Oswalt and Brandon Backe will toe the rubber for Houston and will be opposed by Joel Pineiro, Braden Looper and Adam Wainwright.

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