Crooked Pitch

It took nine games to happen, but Mike Stanton finally hit his first big league home run on Friday, going 2-for-4 with four RBI. It will be his first of many home runs to come.

While you’re waiting for his home runs to come, however, you’ll deal with a lot of strikeouts and zero-hit nights. In the three games prior to Stanton’s home run he was 0-for-12 with six strikeouts. In fact, looking at his nine games in the majors thus far, it’s been either feast or famine. He has four multi-hit games where he’s gone 9-for-16 (.563) and five game where he hasn’t gotten a hit, going 0-for-19 with nine strikeouts. Be prepared for ups and downs like this for the duration of the season.

If you would like see my projection for Stanton in 2010 — and I made this on the day he was called up — you can find it at FanHouse.

It irks me that Tim Hudson is still only owned in 80 percent of fantasy leagues. Are people not watching what he’s doing?

Hudson’s 7-2 with a 2.34 ERA, and he should have more wins that that. He’s been bad luck’d by rain and lack of run support, and if you look at his starts this year you’ll see that he hasn’t given up more than three earned runs in any of his 14 starts.

If you’re hesitant because of the injury that kept him out for the majority of the season in 2009, don’t be. It’s safe to sign Hudson right now. And it’s highly recommended.

It wasn’t much, but 22-percent of the fantasy baseball world felt that Mike Cameron was rosterable. He’s not any longer.

According to Amalie Benjamin of The Boston Globe, Cameron was sent to the disabled list on Monday his stay may be longer than 15 days.

Mike Cameron, who was scratched from yesterday’s lineup and sent to Massachusetts General Hospital, has been diagnosed with an abdominal tear near the attachment site of the abdominal muscle and the pelvis, according to a team source. The injury is a type of sports hernia, and will send Cameron to the disabled list, enabling the Sox to bring up a much-needed replacement.

Now that 22-percent of you need an outfielder, let me give you three options.

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If you haven’t heard just yet, uber-first base prospect Ike Davis has been called up by the New York Mets and is starting on Monday night.

Here’s a little buzz from the newsies:

Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com -

The 23-year-old left-handed hitter, rated the organization’s No. 4 prospect by Baseball America, has hit .364 with two homers and three doubles in 33 at-bats for Triple-A Buffalo this season.

The Mets’ 2008 first-round Draft pick (18th overall) impressed during Spring Training, batting .480 with three homers and 10 RBIs in just 12 games. He also hit .341 with four homers and 16 RBIs in 21 games in the Arizona Fall League and was named to the circuit’s All-Prospect Team.

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Brandon Webb only made one start in 2009, sidelined with shoulder issues. But, he threw from a mound on Tuesday and the results seemed positive.

PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks right-handed pitcher Brandon Webb threw off the mound today for the first time in his rehabilitation from right shoulder surgery at Chase Field. Statement by D-backs’ Manager A.J. Hinch: “It was good to get him into the next phase of his rehabilitation. He looked comfortable. This is a positive sign as we’re getting close to Spring Training. I thought he looked good.”  Statement by D-backs’ right-handed pitcher Brandon Webb: “I felt good this morning. I’m right where I expected to be. Having not been on the mound in a year, I am pleased with how I felt.”

Webb’s current average draft position is 132.89, which makes him a ‘tweener from the 11th to the 12th round in fantasy drafts. Our consensus ranking over at FanHouse has him as the 22nd-ranked starting pitcher. I think that both his ADP and ranking will rise as Spring Training progresses and he proves that he’s healthy.

In each of the last two seasons, Erik Bedard has made only 15 starts. In 2009, Bedard’s season was cut short by a torn labrum and inflamed bursa which required surgery. Prior to hitting the disabled list, the Mariners pitcher was 5-3 with a 2.82 ERA. Bedard still has talent, which is why they Mariners have signed him to a one-year, $1.5 million deal with incentives, says The Seattle Post Intelligencer.

Bedard’s numbers are not in question. He won 15 games in 2006, 13 in 2007 and hasn’t let his ERA rise above four since 2004. If he can with the battle this season against injury, he might surprise some people.

Bedard has an average draft position of 233.77, which places him in the 20th round of fantasy baseball drafts. If you’re a high risk/high reward fantasy GM, you might take a flier on him. But watch him closely in Spring Training.

I’ve spent a good portion of the day thinking about the corner infield situation in Atlanta, now that the Braves have picked up Troy Glaus and announced that he would occupy first base — leaving Chipper Jones to play third base.

My first inclination was to scoff at this move by the Braves, hoping that the two aging infielders could combine to play 162 games in 2010. Once I’ve looked a little bit at their three-year trends, I’m not as worried now as I was at the beginning of the day.

It’s true that Glaus played in only 14 games last season. But, the two years prior he played in 115 games and 151 games, respectively. He also belted 20 home runs in 2007 and 27 in 2008. That’s power that the Braves could sorely use in 2010. All Glaus has to do is prove he can bounce back and play in 120-plus games.

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