Welcome to "Miranda Warnings", your weekly guide to what's happening in the world of Major League Baseball, from a fantasy baseball perspective. Every Wednesday, throughout baseball's regular season, "Miranda Warnings" will appear on SportsJudge.com. I'm your host Michael Miranda.Within the span of a week, both Chicago teams suffered significant injuries (OF Carlos Quentin and P Carlos Zambrano), which could prevent them from having a date with destiny in late October. Complete coverage below.
American League East: Toronto P Roy Halladay (6 IP, 9 hits, 5 ER, 1 BB, 8 K) battled through a rare bad outing Wednesday against Chicago. The loss dropped the workhorse to 18-10. Halladay had been sharp prior to Wednesday's game, delivering quality starts (minimum 6 IP, less than 3 ER) in each of his previous nine tries... Baltimore OF Adam Jones went 3-for-5, with a homer, five RBI's and two runs scored versus Cleveland. Jones is an immense talent and someone you should keep on your radar on D-Day 2009... Tampa 1B Carlos Pena hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the top of the 14th inning in Wednesday's win over Boston. Despite spending almost a month on the DL (finger) earlier this season, Pena still has 28 homers and 88 RBI's. Pena will be very undervalued heading into D-Day 2009... Boston DH David Ortiz was not in the lineup for Tuesday's game versus Tampa. Boston says the off-day was not related to Ortiz' previous wrist injury and that he was out of the lineup because the Red Sox were facing a tough lefty (Scott Kazmir). However, Ortiz has a very violent swing which puts lots of pressure on his hand/wrist. This is a situation worth monitoring... A tell-tale sign that the Yankees have thrown in the towel for 2008 and are prepping for 2009 came on Tuesday, when they started rookie P Alfredo Aceves versus the LA Angels. In his first Major League start, Aceves (7 IP, 5 hits, 0 BB, 2 K) was awesome. I've never heard of this guys, but you have to tip your hat to Aceves and to the Yankees, as they look toward the future.
American League Central: Chicago suffered a devastating loss, when OF Carlos Quentin (pictured above) was diagnosed with a broken wrist. Quentin underwent surgery to repair his fractured right wrist Monday. At the time of the injury, Quentin was destroying major-league pitching to the tune of a .288 BA, 36 HR's, 100 RBI's! There's talk that Quentin could return by the final week of the regular-season, but that's incredibly optimistic. Don't count on Quentin until 2009... Remember Cleveland DH Travis Hafner? Hafner (shoulder) was activated from the 60-day disabled list Tuesday versus Baltimore. Hafner, who has been on the DL since late May, went 2-for4, with a walk. If "Pronk" (Hafner's nickname) can remain healthy, he could make a fantasy impact down the stretch... One of the best stories (and closers) of 2008 can be found in Kansas City. Yes, KC! Closer Joakim Soria's overall 2008 numbers are staggering (35 saves, 1.77 ERA, 0.87 WHIP)! Don't forget about Soria on D-Day 2009... Detroit announced that both P's Dontrelle Willis and Freddy Garcia will start during next week's series versus Texas. I wouldn't touch either of these guys, too risky!... Minnesota OF Carlos Gomez stole his 30th base Wednesday versus Kansas City, going 2-for-4, with an RBI. Gomez was the main component of the Johan Santana deal during the off-season. Gomez has a very high ceiling and is very comparable with Tampa OF Carl Crawford. However, Gomez has lots more speed than Crawford.
American League West: The juggernaut known as the LA Angels keeps on rolling. With a win against the Yankees Wednesday (and a Rangers loss), the Angels clinched their fourth division title in five years. One of the players leading the Angels charge is closer Francisco Rodriguez. In the division-clinching win, K-Rod shut the door on the Yankees for save #56! One more save ties K-Rod with former Chicago closer Bobby Thigpen (57 saves, 1990 White Sox) for the single-season saves record. Ironically, K-Rod's Angels jersey number is, 57! Rodriguez becomes a free agent at seasons-end and can expect a monster payday during the off-season... Oakland P Gio Gonzalez (1 2/3 IP, 5 hits, 8 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) got rocked by Detroit on Monday. Gonzalez is a prized prospect who continues to struggle in his adjustment to Major League competition. Gonzalez's long-term status remains encouraging, but he's clearly going through some growing-pains right now... In recent years, Seattle OF Raul Ibanez has been (and continues to be) very underrated. Ibanez went 4-for-5, with three RBI's and a run scored on Wednesday versus Texas. Ibanez is hitting .310, with 23 HR's and 105 RBI's in 2008... Texas OF Nelson Cruz proved again on Saturday that he has the potential to stay in the Majors. Cruz went 3-for-4, with two homers, three runs scored and five RBI's versus Boston! A monster night for Cruz, who is proving that his ridiculous 2008 minor league numbers (.342 BA, 37 HR's, 99 RBI's, 24 SB's) are no fluke.
National League East: Atlanta OF Josh Anderson went 2-for-5, with two RBI's and a run scored on Wednesday versus Colorado. Anderson is starting to make some noise with an impressive September (.308 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI's, 6 runs). Expect Anderson to be the front-runner for Atlanta's wide-open center field job in 2009... Mets P Mike Pelfrey (5 IP, 8 hits, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K) was roughed up by Washington on Wednesday. Pelfrey has good long-term potential, if he develops a strikeout pitch. Notice the zero strikouts versus Washington? If Pelfrey doesn't strikeout hitters at a better rate, he will have trouble taking his game to the next level... If he could only control his temper and off-field "issues", Washington OF Elijah Dukes can develop into quite a stud. Testament to his talent came on Sunday versus Atlanta. Dukes went 4-for-5, with two homers, two runs scored and three RBI's... Philadelphia P Brett Myers will be very, very undervalued on D-Day 2009. Myers (8 IP, 3 hits, 2 BB, 10 K) was dealing versus the Mets on Friday to raise his record to 9-10... Florida 1B Mike Jacobs went 2-for-5, with a two-run homer and two runs scored on Tuesday versus Philadelphia. Jacobs has gone deep in five of his last seven games and scored eight runs! Jacobs owns impressive power numbers (32 HR, 84 RBIs) and should be on your radar on D-Day 2009, if you could tolerate his low BA (.248).
National League Central: The White Sox weren't the only Chicago team to suffer a significant injury that could derail their season (see AL Central report above). Chicago Cubs P Carlos Zambrano was diagnosed with right rotator cuff tendinitis, and will be sidelined until at least September 14, but likely much longer. Zambrano was on the DL with shoulder problems in June, so this latest injury may be an ominous sign... In the wake of off-season steroid allegations, Houston SS Miguel Tejada has had a down 2008. Although Tejada has an 11-game hitting streak, his overall numbers (.287 BA, 13 HR's, 63 RBI's) are way down compared to previous seasons... Despite taking the loss on Sunday versus San Diego, Milwaukee P Manny Parra (5 IP, 6 hits, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) pitched well. Parra is very underrated. Both Ben Sheets and C.C. Sabathia are free agents after the 2008 season. If Milwaukee doesn't re-sign one, or both of them, Parra will have a very significant role in the Milwaukee rotation in 2009... St.Louis OF Rick Ankiel continues to be plagued by a lower abdominal injury. This is the same injury that derailed him in late July/early August. Ankiel will be sidelined for at least the next couple of games, but don't be surprised if St. Louis shuts him down for the season... Pittsburgh 1B Adam LaRoche continued his hot stretch Wednesday against Houston, going 2-for-4, with a homer. LaRoche is hitting .474, with a homer and eight RBI's in his last five games... Cincinnati 2B Brandon Phillips will miss the rest of the season with a broken right index finger. He'll be fine for 2009.
National League West: Arizona SS Stephen Drew launched his 17th homer Wednesday versus San Francisco. Drew is an up and comer, primed for a breakout 2009... LA Dodgers 1B James Loney hit his 12th homer in Wednesday's victory over San Diego. Loney isn't your typical power-hitting first basemen, by any stretch of the imagination. However, Loney is still developing. Be patient. Loney should start producing .310+ BA, 20+ HR's and 95+ RBI's as soon as 2009... What an impressive season for San Francisco closer Brian Wilson. Wilson recorded his 37th save against Pittsburgh on Saturday. 37 saves for a closer on a bad team! Impressive indeed. Wilson is a solid #2, or #3 closer... San Diego 1B Adrian Gonzalez went 1-for-3, with a homer and two RBI's on Monday versus the LA Dodgers. Gonzalez has 29 homers and appears ready to post his second straight 30-homer season... Colorado OF Brad Hawpe went 1-for-3, with a homer, in Tuesday's loss to Atlanta. Hawpe has hit safely in six straight games and nine of his last 10, blasting two homers, with seven RBI's and 10 runs scored during the streak.
See you next week!
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