• Aaron Cook, who’s been very effective this season for the most part, ran into trouble Saturday in LA against the Dodgers. He lasted just five innings — his shortest outing since July 21 — and was hammered for six hits and seven runs — six earned. Cook coughed up two dingers for the first time since getting shelled for three back on June 21. In fact, he only gave up two homers in all of July and just three in August, so the long ball has not been a problem for him recently. What concerns me most about Cook is his command right now. He had a very strong showing before the break (six wins, sub-3.75 ERA) because he managed 50 Ks against 27 walks. Since then, however, he’s won just three times with a 4.96 ERA thanks to 21 walks against only 27 strikeouts. I’d hesitate to recommend Cook down the stretch.
• Rafael Furcal is heating up. He has five straight multi-hit games (11-for-22) to raise his average to .291. In his first season with the Dodgers, he is enjoying his finest year since 2003, and is on pace to set new career highs in RBI and walks. While much has been made of LA’s young guns, Furcal has been as or more responsible for the Dodgers’ renaissance this season with the spark he’s delivered at the top of the order.
• NL-only owners and even those in very, very deep mixed leagues have to consider Kazuo Mastui. Called up by the Rox less than two weeks ago, he’s now been installed at the top of the batting order and he’s responding. In a five-game hit-streak (four of which included multiple-hit efforts), Matsui is 10-for-23. Grab him, and ride the hot streak down the stretch.
• Is it just me or does Jeremy Affeldt just keep getting worse? Since arriving in Colorado, he’s been used only in relief, which cut into his pretty negligible value to begin with, but lately…oh my stars. Saturday he had one of those outings that relievers spend all year trying to work off, except there’s not much time left for Affeldt to recover from this one. He gave up three straight singles, two walks and five runs in total, all the while recording one lousy out. Congratulations, Jeremy Affeldt. You have now rendered yourself completely useless.

Get RotoRob by Email: Enter your email below to receive daily updates direct to your inbox. Only a pink taco wouldn’t subscribe.

By RotoRob
This entry was posted on Monday, September 4th, 2006 at 2:10 pm and is filed under BASEBALL, Fantasy Notes, RotoRob. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.