Fantasy

Brandon Webb's had plenty of virtual ink dedicated to his stiff shoulder over the last week, and while that won't let up anytime soon, there will be a slight reprieve: Webb is headed to the 15-day disabled list.

The Diamondbacks announced the move on Sunday afternoon and it is retroactive to last Tuesday and, frankly, it makes a lot of sense (especially after he was scratched from his next start already).

Remember Chris Shelton's nine home runs in the first 13 games for the Detroit Tigers in 2006? Stud or Shelton examines whether currently hot players are displaying a similar mirage or will continue to play at a high level.

Heading into training camp six to eight weeks ago the Marlins weren't even sure that Emilio Bonifacio would make this Marlins team. We're now almost a week into the season and one south Florida newspaper (tongue in cheek hopefully) is comparing Bonifacio to Babe Ruth. While it's unfair -- no 23-year-old should ever be compared to the Sultan of Swat -- Bonifacio is currently white hot.

B.J. Ryan hasn't had a good first week, and that's an understatement. He's now appeared in two games and looked pretty awful. In his first outing, he blew a save by allowing a game-tying Brandon Inge home run. His second time out should have been a nice, leisurely way to get himself on track. He had been spotted a four run lead, thanks to Roy Halladay and the Jays' bats. Plus, he was facing the bottom of the scuffling Indians' batting order.

Ryan walked three hitters and allowed a single. He also mixed in a double-play ball, so Mark DeRosa came to the plate with the bases jacked and 2 outs. DeRosa doubled in three, cutting the Blue Jays lead to 5-4. Ryan was promptly removed from the game.

The Major League Baseball season is headed into its first weekend of regular season play. That means there are tons of you out there with player personnel questions, gripes about your sleeper picks in a platoon situation, and questions about injured players and what to do with them on your fantasy baseball roster. If you have any inquiries for the Fantasy FanHouse experts, we'll be chatting it up here Friday afternoon at 12PM ET. Feel free to ask about different formats, any roster or waiver wire decisions, etc. We're open to anything (within reason, of course).

Opening Day obviously means lots of aces pitching. Depending on your drafting style, league setup, keeper status, etc., you probably have anywhere from one to five of this type of pitcher on your fantasy team. If you have Johan Santana, you're smiling at your late (?) first-round grab, believing him on track to get back to his Cy Young status with the Mets this year.

If you have CC Sabathia, well, you're probably thinking about all the innings he pitched last year, how early you drafted him despite your best intentions, and how unbelievably chunky he looked as the Orioles smacked him around yesterday. So, yeah, you don't need me to tell you that Santana is alright. Instead, we're going to cover, knee-jerk style, the various poor performances from starting pitchers yesterday. And yes, this could be called Slump or Suck, but I don't pass on any chance to lob out an Ace Ventura reference. Ever.

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The first few days of the season are a great time for fantasy owners. We can enjoy a hot start for our team -- which obviously means a championship is on the way -- or we're stuck scouring the waiver wire for guys who have already shown they are going to be a stud all season long. Then, we remember Chris Shelton. In 2006, Shelton had 9 home runs and 17 RBI with a .471 average through 13 games. Thus, he is our namesake for Stud or Shelton.

Today, we'll check out a bevy of unheralded and/or maligned starting pitchers who have shown their true studly colors in their first start. Or have they? The lightning round of judgment follows the jump (because we heart lightning rounds).

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Poppin' out the box scores and right into your crammed subway car, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday morning.

There were a bunch of eye-opening performances scattered throughout Thursday's games, but none bigger than the seven one-hit innings hurled by Chris Carpenter. The 33-year-old hadn't won a game for the Cardinals since the 2006 World Series, yet there he was, striking out seven Pirates and needing just 92 pitches to get through his day of work. Is Carpenter already back to fantasy ace status, or was this just the stinkin' Bucs making him look good?

As we left Spring Training, everyone was sure Jason Motte was going to be the closer for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2009. He was dominant in the spring, Chris Perez was headed to the minors, and Tony LaRussa even named him the closer. After four games, we already have reason to be skeptical.

Motte got his first big-league save opportunity on Opening Day, but he promptly blew it ... to the Pirates. After a Freddy Sanchez double, he got two consecutive outs before completely unraveling. Single, double, hit by pitch and double, and you have 4 runs on 4 hits -- and a blown save.

Back in early March I wrote about drafting middle relievers late in the draft instead of starters who might be in the back of a team's rotation.

What if I told you that taking two middle relievers would be a better option for your fantasy team? Let's first look at Blanton's 5x5 stats from last season. He had nine wins, 111 strikeouts, a 4.69 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.

Now, let's look at a few middle relievers who should also be available in those late rounds. J.P. Howell and Matt Thornton both have average draft positions well above 300. If you were to use your final two selections on them and combine their stats here's what you'd get. You have a pitcher with 11 wins, 169 strikeouts, a 2.41 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP in 156.2 innings of work.

This is sound advice that I have always followed. It gets even better if your league uses holds as a stat category, but I digress. You see the strategy at work there. Now let me share with you two relievers, who I am targeting now, who are lighting it up early in middle relief roles.

Yeah, it's early. It's so early, in fact, that to call Edwin Encarnacion in a slump is premature. He's only played in three games. In addition to being premature, though, it would be very inaccurate. That's why I wanted to post on his first three games.

You see, I believed -- heading into the season -- Encarnacion was primed for a very solid season. A breakout year, in fact. After three games, you'll see his roto stat-lines are .143 average, 0 runs, 0 home runs, 0 RBI, and 1 stolen base. After watching these three games, I can tell you that he has reiterated my beliefs in a 2009 breakout.