The Banana Stand - Week 4

The Banana Stand is a weekly look back at the fantasy week that was.

There were many fantasy relevant elements during week four of the MLB season. We’ll tackle some of the more notable ones in this week’s installment of the Banana Stand.

On the hitting side, Lance Berkman, Hanley Ramirez, Chase Utley and Garrett Atkins continue to rake. Hanley had 5 bombs this week, though that power is not likely to last. Jarrod Saltalamacchia got the call on Friday night and got the start on Saturday, going 1 for 3 with two walks and two strikeouts. He is expected to split time evenly with Gerald Laird which will put a dent in his fantasy value, for now. Matt Kemp hit a Grand Slam, the first of his career, on Saturday. Hopefully this will lead to more playing time for the talented OFer. David Ortiz has come alive, knocking in 10 over the past week. People are still worried about that knee so it might not be a bad idea to start shopping him during this hot streak. Clint Hurdle has been frustrating fantasy owners this week by shuffling Podsednik, Spilborghs and Taveras in and out of the line-up. Taveras sat out three games this week even though he is the superior all around player for fantasy purposes. Owners will want to monitor this situation closely, and it is a nightmare for those in weekly leagues. McLouth is still going strong after his hitting streak ended, with 3 HRs this past week. The most notable injury news concerns Jorge Posada and the Yankees. It was announced during Sunday’s game that Jorge is scheduled to visit with Dr. Andrews this week. That is awful news for those who spent a pick on him in the first 10 rounds of the draft.

On the pitching side, Clay Buchholz, Adam Wainwright, Cliff Lee, James Shields, Paul Maholm and Roy Halladay all went the distance. Unfortunately for Halladay he did not pick up a win in that outing. Yovani Gallardo is in mid-season form throwing seven shutout innings. He is rewarding those owners that took him 110 picks into the draft. Johnny C has his first rough outing, giving up five runs in a loss to the Astros. Owners can expect the occasional blip from Cueto, but he will continue to shine all season. His compadre Edinson Volquez pitched 14 innings this week and gave up only two runs with 17 strikeouts. He now has four wins on the season. Jonathan Sanchez gave up one run over eight innings, striking out ten in a defeat of the Reds. You have to love those Ks. Manny Corpas was removed from the closer role in favor of Brian Fuentes. In Corpas’ second appearance after the demotion he took a loss against the Dodgers. Brad Lidge and Troy Percival each picked up four saves this week. It will be interesting to see if either of those two will remain either healthy or effective all season.

Fantasy Expert League Update:
We are continuing our ascent in the GOTOS expert league. We are still in 6th but we’ve gained 9.0 more points putting us at 75.5. David from Baseball Happenings is currently in the lead with 87.0 points. This week we made a couple of roster moves, acquiring Frank Thomas and Jarrod Saltalamacchia of the free agent list and shedding ties with Mark Prior and Jack Cust in the process. Although we like Prior to have a nice second half, he was expendable in this league because there are no available DL spots.