Players of the Night
Pitching
Brett Cecil, Toronto Blue Jays
vs. Oakland A's
8 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 6 K, 2 BB, W
If you had no clue who Brett Cecil was, join the club.
For the 3% of you who owned him in ESPN fantasy leagues, color us impressed by your fantasy acumen. Don't look know, but this little known lefty out of Dunkirk, Maryland has made two solid starts for the Jays and may have earned himself a spot in the rotation.
It's tough to predict Cecil's value long term because as he piles up the starts, opposing scouts will be able to collect a video library of his tendencies and break him down. This is just another classic example of the ebb and flow of baseball at its best.
If you've got a roster spot open and you can afford to give an unproven rookie a chance, Cecil isn't a bad pickup. He'll be on your waiver wire (ESPN doesn't even have a picture for his profile) and if he continues to run roughshod over the American League, you'll get at least a week's worth of bragging rights to your league counterparts.
Is it worth it?
Batting
Adam Dunn, Washington Nationals
vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
3-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
Dunn is one of the most predictable players in baseball which also translates into him being one of its most consistent. With Dunn you can always expect high numbers in home runs, RBI and strikeouts.
But that's just fine with us fantasy folks who love the big Texan. We can compensate for the high strikeout totals with other players on our roster and his shoddy defense doesn't affect us in the least.
Dunn just continues to drop bombs on opposing teams, making him one of the most valuable OF/DH players in fantasy.
More to come after the jump...
Last Night's Top Performers
Ivan Rodriguez, Houston Astros
vs. San Diego Padres
4-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB
Hank Blalock, Texas Rangers
vs. Chicago White Sox
2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB
Nick Blackburn, Minnesota Twins
vs. Seattle Mariners
7 IP, 6 K, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, ND
Koji Uehara, Baltimore Orioles
vs. New York Yankees
6 IP, 5 K, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, ND
Bust of the Night
Ryan Ludwick, St. Louis Cardinals
vs. Cincinnati Reds
0-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 3 K, 6 LOB
Luckily enough for Ludwick and the Cards, they didn't need his bat to deliver a knockout punch to Edison Volquez and the Reds. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't have helped.
There were plenty of questions about Ludwick and whether he'd be able to perform at the same high level he did in 2008. Coming into Saturday, Ludwick had homered in four out of his five previous games in an attempt to silence the doubters.
Sunday's stinker wasn't a warning sign of things to come. Instead, it was just a bump in the road for the Cards surprise slugger and fantasy owners need to just roll with the punches and wait for the next big payday.
Daily Leaders
RBI
4 - Carlos Lee, Astros
4 - Miguel Tejada, Astros
3 - Dunn, Nationals
3 - Nate McLouth, Pirates
3 - Eric Byrnes, D-Backs
3 - Chris Snyder, D-Backs
3 - Alex Rios, Jays
3 - Casey Cotchman, Braves
3 - Aubrey Huff, Orioles
3 - Johnny Damon, Yankees
3 - Chris Duncan, Cardinals
Pitching - K's
8 - Tim Lincecum, Giants
8 - Edison Volquez, Reds
6 - Cecil, Jays
6 - Blackburn, Twins
6 - Kenshin Kawakami, Braves
6 - Matt Garza, Rays
Matt Wood is a web editor for 
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