This week has been a little busy for me but here we go:
The big news that happened this week was Carlos Delgado and Rickie Weeks both requiring surgery for their conditions. After Delgado tried to battle his way through the pain, he had to undergo surgery on his hip to correct the bone spur and impingement. This will knock him out for about 10 weeks so I don't expect him back before late July at the earliest. Weeks has season ending surgery on a tendon sheath in his wrist which is a shame because he just started to turn it around. He has now injured both wrist fairly severely so I would be surprised if he ever fulfills the promise that he displayed coming up through the minors. Weeks could be a good late draft player next spring but even that seems hopeful at this point.
Chien-Ming Wang came back from his glut weakness but didn't have any better results as he came out of the bullpen. The Yankees desparately need bullpen help and the Yankees were at least thinking that he could help them. Now the Yankees potentially are faced with the possibility of needing to either slot Joba into the pen, go trade for a reliever, or trade for a frontline starter like Webb and slot Joba into the pen. Wang will likely have to be slowly worked into the swing of things but he may not be any more effective unless he strikes batters out slightly more than what he was doing already.
Chris Carpenter returned from his oblique strain on Wednesday and didn't skip a beat as he got the win. Carpenter is one of those starters who can help you out in every pitching category (except for saves and holds) and the way the Cardinals are playing right now, I would expect this to continue. He could easily be a good #2 on your fantasy team.
Scott Kazmir was placed on the DL with a quad strain. Whether or not this was the reason for his struggles, I can't tell you, but hopefully this will give him some time to work on his delivery and movement on his pitches. David Price has been called up to start on Monday (thankfully for my fantasy team) and if he does well, will likely remain for the season.
Daisuke Matsuzaka also returned late last week from his shoulder fatigue and pitched fairly well. He'll always need to work on his efficiency some before really fulfilling the expectation of his contract, but it was a good sign that he was able to come back. Even though he got the loss, he pitched well and his defense (Lugo) let him down. He can be a good #3 or #4 pitcher on your team as I expect no other problems from his shoulder the rest of the season.
