By Ted Cahill

Cliff Lee took the NL by storm for three weeks. Now the post-trade luster is wearing a little thin.

It’s been well documented that Lee went 5-0 to start his Phillies’ career and that he then lost his next two starts. Last week he got back in the win column, but didn’t pitch especially well against the Nationals. As fantasy baseball heads into the playoffs, which Clifton Phifer Lee can owners expect to show up?

In Lee’s last two starts he has been the victim of bad luck. His BABIP is more than 100 points higher than his season average, sitting at .429. But more of a concern is that Lee has fewer strikeouts than extra base hits allowed. Seven doubles and a home run to just seven strikeouts is not what Lee is known for.

Lee’s strikeout rate is up since joining the NL, but has plummeted since whiffing 11 Diamondbacks on Aug. 19. He continues to not allow walks, always a positive for a pitcher however.

Contrary to popular belief, Lee went through a tough stretch during last year’s Cy Young campaign. In about a month last year, the left-hander’s ERA rose from 0.67 to 2.55 before coming back down. But in those six starts, he actually managed to win four times and lose just once.

Lee is just hitting a rough patch at a bad time for the Phillies and fantasy owners. But long term, I don’t think his struggles are anything to especially worry about. Lee is a talented pitcher that will get back on track and you really can’t afford to not put him in your starting lineup on days he pitches.

Closing time: Also struggling in Philadelphia is Brad Lidge.

Manager Charlie Manuel has seen enough of last year’s dominant reliever and has pulled him off closing duties for the rest of the month, if not longer. What little value Lidge had left is now completely gone.

It’s really been an amazing downfall for Lidge. Just a year ago the only save he blew was in the All-Star game and he seemed like one of the best fantasy options for this season. Now we have to question whether he will even close next year.

In the meantime, grab on to Ryan Madson if he’s still available. Since taking over for Lidge in the middle of the ninth inning Sept. 8 he is four-of-five in save chances. He’s also handled all the save opportunities, except one in the front end of a doubleheader, when Manuel really didn’t want to overuse him. There have been no save opportunities for Brett Myers, who was initially believed to be in the closer mix after the plug was pulled on Lidge.

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Scherzer shutdown?: Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch said the club is likely to shutdown ace-in-waiting Max Scherzer when he reaches about 170 innings.

He stands at 160 innings now, which means he probably will get two more starts before calling it a season. That means Scherzer won’t be pitching in the season’s final week and could miss the second to last one as well. Either way, plan accordingly if you’re relying on Scherzer down the stretch.

Pitcher Pickup of the Week: Wade Davis, Rays

I know this one may sound completely crazy, but I don’t care that Davis is coming off an abysmal performance in Boston. I don’t care that he allowed eight runs in 2 2/3 innings on only six hits. I’ll choose to believe that Davis’ third start will be more like his first, when he held Detroit to one run on three hits in seven innings.

Davis starts against Baltimore this week. The game won’t be taking place in the hitter’s haven known as Fenway Park and it won’t come against a team that can actually score runs. Also, he’s already struck out 12 hitters in 9 2/3 innings, a pretty good rate. As long as the walks aren’t a problem this week, I like the rookie to rebound and make a good outing.

By Ted Cahill

It was supposed to be Detroit’s answer to Jake Peavy; instead the Tigers may wish Jarrod Washburn hadn’t pitched at all during August.

Since a deadline deal landed the AL Central leaders the best available left-hander the low price of Luke French and Mauricio Robles, Washburn has been off his game.

At the time of the deal, Washburn was 8-6 with a 2.64 ERA. Since then, the 34-year old is 1-2 with a 6.81 ERA. The Tigers have been able to survive his awful stretch and maintain a seven-game lead on Minnesota. A lot of that can be attributed to the collapse of Chicago who never got the boost they expected from Peavy or outfielder Alex Rios. Some is from the resurgence of Rick Porcello (see below).

But the Tigers still need to get their big acquisition straightened out before the playoffs start. Washburn has not been the victim of a high BABIP; rather it’s been even lower than his season average of .249. His strikeout rate is down and he’s allowed 11 home runs in 37 innings.

It’s possible the return of a knee injury that forced Washburn to miss a start in Seattle has been the source of the problems. The Tigers skipped his spot in the rotation Sunday at Tampa Bay, probably not a bad idea since he had just gotten rocked by the Rays earlier in the week.

Washburn said that when the Mariners skipped him the pain in his knee became tolerable. Detroit is hoping for the same reaction this time. But if you own Washburn this isn’t the time to be messing around. Be sure that he’s healthy before throwing him out so late in the season.

Momentum boost:
In a lot of hockey video games you get a some kind of momentum boost from winning a fight. It appears the same thing has happened to Rick Porcello.

Since flipping Kevin Youklis and earning my Rookie of the Year vote for now, Porcello is 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA. He had struggled since the end of June, with a 2-3 record and a 6.12 ERA since June 29 leading up to the Fight in Fenway.

More likely is that Porcello has merely made the adjustment he had needed to make for some time since the league figured him out. Either way, the 20-year old is pitching much better.

Home runs remain a bit of a concern, as he’s given up four in 23 2/3 innings, but his control has been a plus. Porcello has stuck out 15 compared with only four walks. Combined with a .233 opponents’ batting average, Porcello has returned to his spot as the third best Tiger’s starter. If he can continue to pitch well at Comerica Park, Porcello will be worth a look down the stretch.

Pretty Penny:
The National League West welcomed Brad Penny back with open arms last week.

After flaming out in Boston, Penny returned to the West Coast and gave San Francisco eight shutout innings and a victory. He’s the latest failed AL convert to return to the comforts of the NL and blow the league away. It’s just one start, but like I said about John Smoltz, if he’d given the Red Sox eight shutout innings every fifth day, he’d still be pitching in Fenway.

More impressively he did it to Philadelphia, who has the best offense in the senior circuit. I really like Penny now that he’s pitching in a great pitcher’s park and in such a poor division offensively. He gives the Giants even more rotational depth and will be worth a spot start for fantasy owners throughout September.

Pitcher Pickup of the Week: Scott Feldman, Rangers

Just call him the road warrior. He’s won 11 times away from the Ballpark at Arlington, which ties a club record. He’ll go for the mark this week in Cleveland. His last start in Cleveland resulted in a win of course; he’s only lost once on the road this year. He allowed just one run on seven hits in six innings at Progressive Field on Aug. 13. He also struck out six.

Feldman’s splits are worth a trip to Baseball Reference. He’s 11-1 with a 2.80 ERA on the road. Feldman drops two tenths of a point on his WHIP and opponents only hit .231 off him. Texas is known as a hitter’s park, but to see home/road splits like this is still amazing. If Feldman has a great September he can make a run at 20 wins and Cy Young votes, as long as he only pitches on the road.

By Ted Cahill

If there’s one thing the New York media is good at, it’s making sure the entire nation gets swept up in their local discussions. So when one Yankees’ beat writer tweets that Mark Teixeira is the AL MVP in the middle of August everyone feels compelled to pick a side between Tex and Joe Mauer.

Well now that we all seem to have calmed down about that argument, the Yankees bring us a new set of Joba rules. That’s right, Joba Chamberlain, the supposed Yankee ace-in-waiting will once again be handled with kid gloves down the stretch.

To limit the innings Chamberlain throws this year Joe Girardi will essentially put the right-hander through Spring Training again in September, starting with three-inning starts eventually building back up to full length outings by the time the playoffs start.

In the past I have thought the Joba rules were ridiculous, but actually this time I think New York is doing the right thing. Chamberlain has already thrown more innings then I’d be comfortable with if I were in that front office.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci has a rule that pitchers under 25 should not be allowed to increase their workload by more than 30 innings a year; those that do either get injured or are just ineffective the next year. It’s not a perfect rule, there are examples where it doesn’t happen, but more often you see someone like Cole Hamels suffer the consequences.

Last year Chamberlain threw 100 1/3 innings, he’s already tossed 133 2/3 this year. Just allowing him to operate as normal for another two months would not be in the Yankees’ best interest or Chamberlain’s. You can argue that he’s a big boy and that he can take it, but why take the chance if he’s the future ace? (Personally I don’t think he’s their future, I like Phil Hughes much more. But that’s for a different time.)

What this means to all the Chamberlain owners is that he won’t be anywhere near as valuable for the next month. He won’t be picking up wins, though technically since his innings count is predetermined the official scorer could award him the victory. He won’t be getting as many strikeouts and no one’s really sure how he’ll adjust to this new role in the middle of the year.

I think it might be time to cut ties with Chamberlain if you can find a reasonable alternative. He hasn’t pitched well this month anyway and you can’t afford a part-time pitcher while making a run at your league title.

Kazmir gets his wings:
In a bit of a surprise deal, Tampa Bay sent Scott Kazmir, the franchise leader in victories, to Los Angeles for prospects.

Kazmir isn’t the same pitcher he was a few years ago and even then he wasn’t dominant. Kazmir is owed a nice chunk of change over the next few years and the Rays saw an opportunity to get out before the wheels come completely off.

But the Angels didn’t get hosed on this deal either. I think Kazmir can be effective pitching for a contender and getting out of the AL East should be a big benefit for him. He’s pitched well the last three times out and I expect that to continue out West.

The Rays will call up Andy Sonnanstine to take Kazmir’s place. He was ineffective in 15 starts at the beginning of this season, but he won 13 games last year. Don’t grab him right away; there are much better options still out there. But if he gets hot, Sonnanstine could be a fine fill-in for the Rays.

Twins shakeup:
Ron Gardenhire announced this week that he expects Francisco Liriano and Glen Perkins to rejoin Minnesota as relievers, not starters.

The left-handers are on the DL with arm troubles. The announcement means the Twins are likely to add an arm from outside the organization for September. They put in a claim on Rich Harden and will likely work very hard to get a deal done by the deadline Monday night. It’s also possible they’ll try and land Brad Penny after he clears waivers.

As for Liriano and Perkins, this obviously isn’t good news. I recently saw Liriano in person and everything you’ve heard about him is true. He isn’t the 13-game winner from 2006, he looks lost on the mound and his slider has lost a lot of break. If you haven’t yet, it’s time to dump Liriano.

Pitcher Pickup of the Week: Vicente Padilla, Dodgers
I mentioned last week that Padilla could be a good pickup now that he’s pitching in the NL again and for the Dodgers. Well I thought he pitched pretty well in his Los Angeles debut, especially since he did it in Coors Field. He struck out four in five innings and gave up two runs. Most importantly Padilla picked up his first win of the month.

This week he pitches Tuesday against Arizona and Sunday against San Diego. With two paltry offenses going against him, I love Padilla this week. Lifetime, he’s combined to go 6-4 with a 3.75 ERA against the two teams. Padilla has already beaten the Diamondbacks this season and has a great chance to repeat that feat Tuesday night.

By Raymond Ayala

Every September means a new chance for your fantasy baseball team to get that extra boost to send your team to the playoffs. If you are like me, and right on the playoff borderline in some of your baseball leagues, then add some of these September call ups for a needed boost in stats.

1) Pedro Alvarez – PIT (3B) – Alvarez gained National recognition for his efforts at Vanderbilt University, but after signing a pro-contract with the Pirates he struggled a little bit out of the gate. Now what all the scouts are saying about him has come true, and it won’t hurt that he will have Andrew McCutchen hitting in front of him come September.
2) Ross Detwiler – WAS (SP) – With Stephen Strasburg being the teams ace of the future, Detwiler must prove that he can be a solid two. He will be Washinton’s most competitive pitcher come September, with heavy strikeouts being his bread and butter. Who knows, with that offense Detweiler might be able to squeeze out a couple wins for you as well.
3) Carlos Santana – CLE (C) – Everyone knows how valuable a catcher is in fantasy baseball, well Santana is going to really turn some heads in September. He comes in a little package, but he gets a lot of pop, and I could see him hit anywhere between 3-5 Homeruns once he is called up with the Cleveland Indians. He will replace Shoppach, from the minute he is called up.
4) J.P Arencibia – TOR (C) – Arencibia is a prospect who has just shot quickly through the Blue Jays farm system. Last year Travis Snider came up big for those who picked him up for a playoff stretch. I would expect Arencibia to play some good September baseball, as he fights for the 2010 job.
5) Todd Frazier – CIN (2B, 3B, OF) – Frazier should be called up by the hapless Reds, and will add another solid young bat. Similar to Reds prospect Jay Bruce, last season, expect Frazier to introduce himself to the big leagues with a couple of important knocks in September.
6) Scott Elbert – LAD (SP) – Elbert has had a very successful season in the minor leagues, and the Dodgers might need another starter from within the organization. Some say that Elbert is not ready yet, but after his recent outing for the AAA-team, expect Elbert to be a contributer down the line for the Dodgers, as well as your fantasy team.
7) Carlos Carrasco – CLE (SP) – He was supposed to be the next big thing in Philadelphia, but when they dealt for Cliff Lee, Carrasco found a new home in Cleveland. Carrasco is only 22, and is destined to be a strikeout leader in the League. Expect Carrasco to be among the leaders in strikeouts for the month of September. He is that good.

By Ted Cahill

The dog days of summer are nearly over and we can get down to deciding division battles and wild card spots.

But with little more than a month left in this year’s regular season, players with nagging injuries on teams out of contention may begin to start packing it in. Or probably more accurately, being told to pack it in.

Someone in the Mets’ organization finally woke up to the reality that a game pitched by Johan Santana means a lot more when the team isn’t already 10 games under .500 and he’s now done for the season. Really this should have been done earlier in the year if he’s been experiencing the elbow discomfort that is being reported.

So there’s a possibility that other teams will tell their ailing stars to start the offseason a bit earlier this year or to not bother trying to come back. If you have any of these players on your fantasy teams, watch closely for news and be ready to make a change if you’re still in contention.

•Grady Sizemore, Indians – Sizemore will likely have surgery on in the offseason on his left elbow. He can’t throw well, but his hitting seems to be largely unaffected. Sizemore wants to play through it and so far the Indians have let him, especially now that Trevor Crowe is hurt. If Crowe comes back or Michael Brantley is promoted in September, Sizemore may be finally told to just get the surgery done already.

•Jeff Francoeur, Mets – He’s going to need surgery after the season. Why are the Mets pressing their luck here? As their medical team is increasingly under scrutiny he may just get that done a few weeks early.

•Any Met – Carlos Beltran seems to still want to come back. David Wright really wants to play. Will they be allowed? Wright probably will be, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Beltran is shut down. As for the rest of the team, watch out – who knows what player falls victim next.

•Roy Halladay, Blue Jays – Entirely speculation, but he has struggled for the last month. He could be hurting, or he just might be disappointed he’s still in Toronto. I’d be slightly concerned.

•Rookie pitchers – The Indians have already said they intend to shut down David Huff when he reaches about 160 innings and Oakland has talked about a six-man rotation to ease the innings on their young starters. Other young pitchers around the majors may find that their teams will be cautious with them as well.

•Alfonso Soriano, Cubs – He has an injured left knee and is scheduled for an MRI on the next off day for Chicago. He wants to play, but if the Cubs haven’t improved their position by Sept. 10 they may just shut it down if the MRI isn’t clean.

•Joe Crede, Twins – It’s a little early to declare this team dead in the playoff chase, but things don’t look good. With Crede experiencing “post-surgical changes” in his back and with his past, Minnesota likely won’t be shy in putting him on the shelf.

•Johnny Cueto, Reds – He’s planning on returning Aug. 31. We’ll see how long this lasts. With Aaron Harang and Edinson Volquez already done for the year, Cincinnati might just add Cueto to the list too.

By Ted Cahill

Maybe Dave Duncan is a genius. Maybe the Red Sox gave up on John Smoltz too early. Maybe the Green Monster scared him. Maybe Fenway Park was too small. Maybe pitching in the AL East was just too much for a 42-year old.

Whatever the reason, Smoltz didn’t work out in Boston. But he seems to be off to a good start in St. Louis. Clearly it’s a small sample size, as in one start. But if Smoltz had given the Red Sox five shutout innings every fifth day, he’d still be eating clam chowder.

It would be easy to write off Smoltz’s good debut for St. Louis as a testament to the horrific offense of San Diego, but Smoltz didn’t even pitch well against bad teams in Boston. Baltimore touched him up for 12 runs in 15 innings and Oakland plated five runs on 10 hits.

Smoltz struck out nine Padres, his most since last April. And he did all of this in just 75 pitches. Smoltz isn’t the dominant pitcher he was in the mid-‘90s, but he’s got to be better than what he was in Boston, which was awful.

The concept of picking up a 42-year old pitcher who’s had two and a half good outings all year concerns me. There are better options out there for most of you. I wouldn’t take Smoltz over any of the six pitchers I outlined last week, but he is intriguing.

Smoltz will get another chance against Washington on Saturday. In his Red Sox debut, Smoltz lost to the Nats, allowing five runs in five innings. This time around he might fare better. If he turns in another outing like Sunday’s people will really take notice. If you’re looking for starting pitching, Saturday’s start is an important one, because you might have to move quickly to put in your waiver claim on the former Cy Young winner.

Another debut: Speaking of pitchers getting another chance in the NL, Vicente Padilla makes his Dodgers’ debut Thursday at Colorado. Again I don’t advise you pick him up this week (pitching in Coors Field scares me), but it’s worth watching.

Padilla has eight wins this year and a not-so-great ERA of 4.92, but he’s a serviceable starter. With the Dodgers you can expect him to keep winning and maybe he’ll even behave himself under Joe Torre. In his warm up start in AAA Albuquerque, Padilla struck out five in five innings, allowing two runs.

Also escaping the horrible pitching conditions of Arlington should help lower his ERA. In his career, Padilla has fared better in the NL, cutting almost a full run off his ERA in the senior circuit.

Skidding aces: San Francisco is attempting to return to the playoffs for the first time since losing the World Series in 2002, but their twin aces of Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain are finding it tough going.

Neither Lincecum nor Cain has won in three weeks, a stat so unbelievable I had to double check it myself. Cain actually hasn’t won in the month of August and Lincecum has gone since August 1 without a victory. They aren’t pitching poorly, combined they are only 0-3 with a 3.31 ERA. Cain even threw nine shutout innings, but came away with a no decision.

For owners of either pitcher, this shouldn’t really be cause for concern. At the start of the season no one expected the Giants to actually support these guys, so it was assumed wins would be hard to come by. But all the San Francisco fans out there should probably be freaking out. There is no way this team makes it to October if Lincecum and Cain continue to go four or five starts between wins.

Pitcher Pickup of the Week: Jonathan Sanchez, Giants
Since announcing his return to the Giants’ starting rotation with a no-hitter, Sanchez has pitched very well. He’s 4-2 with a 2.90 ERA in eight starts. As always, Sanchez’s problems have come from poor command, but even that seems to be coming around. He’s probably going to walk three or four hitters a game, but manages to work around that by limiting opponents to a .161 average.

This week he’ll start against Arizona Wednesday at home. This season he has pitched excellently against the Diamondbacks, allowing just one run in 13 1/3 innings. He’s also struck out 10 hitters, but walked 11 (seven in one game). The start also comes in AT&T Park, where Sanchez has been great this year, posting a 3.63 ERA and 50 strikeouts to just 22 walks in 53 innings.