Our weekly digest of everything fantasy baseball. Facts don't lie and The Lineup is full of 'em. Projections for the week of Sept.. 3- Sept. 9. Stats through Sept. 01:



Philadelphia Phillies, 1B
Stats: .452 AVG, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 6 R, 0 SB
Comment: Absolutely crushed a Guillermo Mota fastball Tuesday night to give Philly a walk-off home run against the New York Mets.

Cincinnati Reds, 2B
Stats: .500, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 0 SB
Comment: First Reds second basemen to join the 25 HR-25 SB club since Hall of Famer Joe Morgan.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays, OF
Stats: .400 AVG, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 11 R, 1 SB
Comment: Sorry Rocco Baldelli, but according to the Tampa Tribune, B.J. Upton is going to be the center-fielder of the future. He's earned it.


Milwaukee Brewers, SP
Stats: 2-0, 2.63 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 15 SO
Comment: Huge win Thursday against the Padres to help the D-Backs avoid the sweep.

Houston Astros, SP
Stats: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.57 WHIP, 9 SO
Comment: Shutdown a red-hot St. Louis Cardinals team Wednesday night in his first game back from injury.

Los Angeles Angels, SP
Stats: 1-0, 1.13 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 5 SO
Comment: Earned a big win against rival Mariners and has won four of his last five decisions.



Florida Marlins, SS
Stats: .150 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R, 0 SB
Comment: Mired in a big-time slump right now. Had just one hit in 11 at-bats against the Braves.

Milwaukee Brewers, 1B
Stats: .188 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 R, 0 SB
Comment: Lot to love about the kid, but his inconsistencies must drive head-to-head fantasy players nuts.

Toronto Blue Jays, OF
Stats: .154 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 4 R, 1 SB
Comment: Admitted that he's battling a shoulder injury that may require off-season surgery. Certainly explains his disappointing season.


Arizona Diamondbacks, SP
Stats: 0-0, 0-1, 10.13 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, 4 SO
Comment: Suffered a brutal loss to the Padres in perhaps his most important start this season.

San Diego Padres, SP
Stats: 0-1, 10.38 ERA, 1.85 WHIP, 3 SO
Comment: Has allowed 13 earned runs and issued 15 walks in 21.1 innings in the month of August, including a tough loss to Arizona on Thursday.

Chicago Cubs, SP
Stats: 0-1, 7.11 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 6 SO
Comment: With four straight losses, he may have just played his way out of the NL Cy Young race for good.


St. Louis Cardinals, C
Comment: : Great numbers this August (.341 AVG, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 12 R, 0 SB in 25 games) and with the way the Cards are playing, Molina is a nice play going forward.

Oakland Athletics, C
Comment: Solid road performer so far this year: .314 AVG, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 15 R, 0 SB in 70 at-bats.

Colorado Rockies, 1B
Comment: Terrific career numbers against San Francisco (.329 AVG, 23 HR, 96 RBI, 112 R, 2 SB in 153 games) and San Diego (.340 AVG, 26 HR, 88 RBI, 114 R, 5 SB in 161 games).

Baltimore Orioles, 1B
Comment: Scorching hot in August (.363 AVG, 8 HR, 19 RBI, 19 R, 0 SB in 26 games) and he normally gets up for these divisional match-ups.

Kansas City Royals, 2B
Comment: Has swung a potent bat in 2007 against the Rangers (.421 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 0 SB in 5 games) and Yankees (.368 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 R, 0 SB in 5 games).

Detroit Tigers, 2B
Comment: Comment: At the second base position, Polanco's home numbers are fantastic: .345 AVG, 7 HR, 30 RBI, 50 R, 4 SB in 59 games.

Minnesota Twins, SS
Comment: All over the ball in August (.366 AVG, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 13 R, 1 SB in 22 games) and it will be interesting to see how he does in the last few weeks of the season.

Seattle Mariners, SS
Comment: Enjoyed a productive August (.317 AVG, 3 HR, 18 RBI, 17 R, 0 SB in 28 games) and is hitting well over .300 in the second-half this season.

Milwaukee Brewers, 3B
Comment: Exceptional offensive output this season against Cincinnati (.423 AVG, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 1 SB in 7 games) and Houston (.357 AVG, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 R, 2 SB in 6 games).

Houston Astros, 3B
Comment: Can't argue with his career stats against the Brewers (.322 AVG, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 16 R, 1 SB in 58 at-bats) and Mets (.429 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 3 R, 0 SB in 7 at-bats).

Minnesota Twins, OF
Comment: Was great in August (.327 AVG, 4 HR, 20 RBI, 18 R, 3 SB in 28 games) and fantasy owners should expect him to continue his hot hitting against division rivals Cleveland and Chicago as his contract year winds down.

Cleveland Indians, OF
Comment: Veteran outfielder is hitting .302 away from home this season and 17 of his stolen bases have been swiped on the road.

New York Yankees, OF
Comment: Godzilla is a great play for fantasy owners this week thanks to his impressive season numbers versus Seattle (.346 AVG, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 6 R, 0 SB in 7 games) and Kansas City (.310 AVG, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R, 0 SB in 7 games).

Los Angeles Angels, OF
Expect Willits to be solid this week based on his season numbers against Oakland (.323 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 6 R, 1 SB in 10 games) and Cleveland (.333 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 R, 2 SB in 4 games).

Toronto Blue Jays, SP
Comment: Has coasted through August and is in line to deliver another gem this week based on his career numbers versus Tampa Bay (6-1, 2.57 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 83 SO in 84 IP).

New York Yankees, SP
Comment: Having another predictably great second-half. Owns great lifetime stats against Kansas City (10-3, 3.17 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 77 SO in 113.2 IP).

Milwaukee Brewers, SP
Comment: Back off the DL and is a two-start pitcher against two teams he has had success against in his career, the Astros (10-8, 3.71 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 130 SO in 143 IP) and Reds (6-3, 2.36 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 93 SO in 87.2 IP).

New York Yankees, SP
Comment:Difficult August, but Wang's lifetime numbers versus the Mariners make him a must-start this week: 5-0, 2.78 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 17 SO in 35.2 IP.


Tampa Bay Devil Rays, C
Comment:Having a rough time this year against division opponents Baltimore (.143 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R, 0 SB in 9 games) and Toronto (.161 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 R, 0 SB in 9 games).

Detroit Tigers, C
Comment: Fantasy owners would be better served finding a replacement for Pudge when he's playing at home, where he has just 3 HR and is hitting at an uninspired .264 clip.

New York Yankees, 1B
Comment: Inconsistent at-bats are maddening for those who have him on their roster and while he has not yet played against the Royals this season, he's stunk it up big-time against the Mariners (.105 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 R, 0 SB in 6 games).

Pittsburgh Pirates, 1B
Comment: Has been scorching since July, but expect him to hit the wall this week based on his batting average against St. Louis (.190) and Chicago (.167) this season.

San Francisco Giants, 2B
Comment: Endured a dreadful August (.123 AVG, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 4 SB in 24 games) and should not be trusted by fantasy owners at this point.

Seattle Mariners, 2B
Comment: Not very productive in 2007 against New York (.118 AVG, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 R, 1 SB in 6 games) and Detroit (.160 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 0 SB in 7 games).

Arizona Diamondbacks, SS
Comment: Horrible in August (.202 AVG, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 9 R, 1 SB in 28 games). You hoped that the success of the D-backs might have put a spark in his bat, but his disappointing season drags on.

Cleveland Indians, SS
Comment: Dr. Jekyll on the road this year: .247 AVG, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 30 R, 1 SB in 62 games.

Cleveland Indians, 3B
Comment: Avoid Blake like the Plague as he owns a .223 career-batting average after August.

St. Louis Cardinals, 3B
Comment: While St. Louis was excelling, Rolen was enduring arguably his worth statistical month of the season in August (.241 AVG, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 10 R, 0 SB in 24 games).

Philadelphia Phillies, OF
Comment: Burrell is a sit-worthy candidate this week due to his ineffective play this season against Florida (.167 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, 0 SB in 11 games) and Atlanta (.194 AVG, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, 0 SB in 12 games).

Boston Red Sox, OF
Comment: Was in danger of losing at-bats before injury to Bobby Kielty as rumblings of a platoon situation developed. Stay away from this $70 million bust.

Los Angeles Dodgers, OF
Comment: Had a hard time in August (.242 AVG, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R, 0 SB in 23 games). September is historically his worst month in terms of performance at the plate.

Pittsburgh Pirates, OF
Comment: Was scorching hot for a while, but has cooled down recently. He’s still a decent source of steals, but the power he displayed was an aberration.

Baltimore Orioles, SP
Comment: Awful lifetime numbers against the Boston Red Sox (1-7, 8.39 ERA, 2.14 WHIP, 40 SO in 39.2 IP.

Oakland Athletics, SP
Comment: Two-start pitcher has been knocked around a bit this season by Texas (1-2, 4.94 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 20 SO in 23.2 IP) and Los Angeles (1-1, 5.24 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 14 SO in 22.1 IP)..

New York Mets, SP
Comment: Has really begun to unravel and he tossed a clunker against Cincinnati earlier in the season: 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB and 3 SO.

Boston Red Sox, SP
Comment: Has yet to face them this season, but in his career, Mr. Table-For-One has fared poorly against Toronto (3-6, 5.68 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 73 SO in 71.1 IP).


Starbonell is UPDATE! Major League Baseball Editor.

534 Career doubles Los Angeles Dodgers 2B Jeff Kent accumulated with two on Wednesday against Washington. He moved into a tie with Lou Gehrig for 27th place on the all time list.

22 First pitch strikes thrown out of 29 first-pitches by Cincinnati Reds SP Aaron Harang. He twirled a complete game shutout in that match-up against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Talk about getting ahead.

14 Home runs hit this season by Boston Red Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis, a career high total.

12 Active players with 1,500 hits, 1,000 runs, 1,000 walks and 250 home runs. San Diego Padres OF Brian Giles became the latest member on that list with a 3-for-4 effort that included a home run Wednesday night against Arizona.


New York Yankees, SP
Comment: Anticipated by UPDATE! to join the Yankees bullpen after Mike Mussina's latest blow-up, Kennedy will pitch today's game and be the latest Yankee top prospect pitcher to join New York's pitching staff. Kennedy comes into the Yankee clubhouse with a 12-3 record to go along with a 1.91 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 163 SO in 146.1 IP. But before you go and drop a useful fantasy player for the talented rookie, take heed. The Yankees may put Mussina back in the lineup if Kennedy struggles in his first outing, making him a potential one-and-done starter this season. Fortunately for Kennedy, he gets to face the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for his MLB debut. If you have a roster position with which you've been streaming talent, Kennedy is worth taking a flier on. Those of you without that kind of roster flexibility should hold off if possible, but if Kennedy dazzles in his debut, you can be confident in the fact that he will have earned at least one more start in the big leagues.


The fate of the American League Wild-Card could very well lie within the results of this week's important series between the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees. Both teams are at the front of the pack in the Wild-Card hunt in the AL so the winner of this series could ultimately decide who comes out on top. The Mariners currently lead the Yankees in the season series 4-3 and have played over .500 ball in August (though they were just man-handled by the AL West leading Angels this week). The Yankees have one of the best records in baseball since the All-Star break and have been successful at home as well this season. The Yankees are also coming off a huge sweep of the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Seattle's scheduled starting pitchers are staff ace Felix Hernandez, Horacio Ramirez and Jarrod Washburn while the Yankees will counter with right-handers Roger Clemens, Chien-Ming Wang and Philip Hughes.

 BONDS HITS HOME RUN N0. 761

• The Lineup: Aug. 25-31 2007
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