Wednesday Game Notes

The Dodgers still can't lose at home, and apparently Aaron Laffey was the tonic that the Cleveland bullpen needed. While the Indians will likely regret that move as soon as Jeremy Sowers gets lit up, here's what I have on the brain after today's play...

Justin Upton blasted two more home runs tonight, and the talented young slugger led the D'backs to a 3-1 win over the Friars in San Diego. The fact that he could hit two homers in cavernous PETCO Park is quite a feat, and shows how locked in Upton has been since his slow start. Upton was actually batting in the #3 hole tonight, so at least I will give Bob Melvin some credit for coming around quickly enough to avoid curtailing a possible breakout season from Upton. Upton has a 13-game hitting streak now, during which he's batting .378, and the streak has his season average up to a very respectable .284; even more important is the .918 OPS. Fantasy owners are taking notice, as Upton is now up to 57% owned in Yahoo leagues. Unless your outfield is stacked, find a place for Upton on your bench, at worst. His talent is off-the-charts.

Jake Peavy gave up one of those homers to Upton, and took the loss, but Peavy has pitched like the Jake Peavy of old in his last two starts. Tonight Peavy went 7 innings and allowed just 4 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 12 batters. This comes on the heels of 8 shutout innings against the Dodgers (a game that the Padres still lost, by the way). He has 52 K's against 17 walks on the season, a solid ratio, and his ERA is down to an easier-to-stomach 4.27 (with a good 1.21 WHIP). The home-run ball is what's hurting him; he's allowed 5 already. The peripherals suggest that Peavy's ERA will continue to decline, and the 20 K's in his last two starts are easing my early-season concerns about him.

Troy Percival, a closer that I think is a prime candidate to either get hurt or get shelled this season, has come out of the gate strong, at least. Percival notched his fifth save of the season tonight, and in doing so, lowered his ERA to 2.08. He hasn't given up a run in his last 8 appearances. But Percival isn't blowing anybody away, with 4 K's compared to 3 walks in 8 2/3 innings. This isn't vintage Troy Percival, folks, and my advice to you, if you own him, is to sell! He's still an injury risk or a disastrous appearance waiting to happen.

J.J. Hardy was at it again tonight. Hardy had a 2-for-4 game at the dish, with a home run and 3 RBI, and that means that in the four games since Hardy took a sabbatical on the bench, he's gone 7-for-14 with a home run, 8 RBI, and 4 runs scored. I said this yesterday, but you have to get Hardy back into your lineup while he's on a hot streak like this. Hardy is a notoriously streaky hitter, and you have to ride the hot hand when you have the chance.

The great start to the season for Ryan Franklin continued tonight, as the Franklin Mint moved to a perfect 8-for-8 in save chances. Franklin's stellar numbers include a perfect 0 .00 ERA and 0.49 WHIP, and the 10 K's in 12 1/3 innings aren't too shabby, either. There could certainly be a few bumps in the road later in the season, but Franklin has an extremely strong hold on the closer role and should be viewed as a high-end #2 closer going forward. And in a Jason Motte update, the fireballing righty pitched the 8th inning tonight and recorded his sixth hold of the year, so he still has value in NL-only leagues or in mixed leagues that reward holds. Motte has not been scored upon in his last 10 appearances, and his ERA is down to 3.55, too. Nice to see one of my sleeper picks actually pitching well, after about as bad a start as you could have.

Todd Helton has been sizzling at the plate lately, and after a 3-for-4 game tonight that included a double and a home run, he's batting .360 with 3 homers and 17 RBI. His OPS is at a nice .929 clip, also. Helton is obviously never going to be the superstar player he once was, but that doesn't mean he can't be useful for fantasy owners. I think we can agree that last year was a lost year due to injury, but as recently as 2007 Helton hit .320 with 17 homers, 91 RBI, and a .928 OPS. The OPS this season is basically the same as in his 2007 campaign, and the home run pace is about the same, too. He appears to be relatively healthy and, as such, he can probably hit .300 in his sleep with a solid OPS. A season similar to his 2007 campaign is realistic, though with more injury risk.

Helton has legitimate mixed league value in leagues that reward OPS, but most fantasy owners aren't coming along yet (he's owned in just 20% of Yahoo leagues, although that is up 7% from last week). I said this before the season, and I'll say it again: Helton will be better than James Loney this season on a per-game basis. Loney is owned in 66% of Yahoo leagues, which doesn't make sense to me. Loney shouldn't be starting for you in a mixed league at first base, and he's a mediocre utility option and backup. Loney certainly won't kill you, but there's just no upside, and he's eminently replaceable. I'd much rather own Helton, because if Helton were to go down, you could go to the waiver wire and find a guy that can produce like James Loney.

I sang Randy Johnson's praises in his last start, but tonight he got pummeled, to the tune of 7 runs in 5 2/3 innings. And in an extreme rarity, he failed to record a strikeout for just the fifth start of his career. I'm not too deterred, though, because the start tonight came in Denver, and bad outings at Coors Field are just bound to happen. Don't lose confidence in Johnson because of a bad start in Denver. If he gets shelled again in his next start, then some worry is acceptable, but I don't think that will happen. Continue to roll with him.