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There's a sense of inevitability in the hazy Oakland bullpen, the feeling that Brian Fuentes is just a temporary guy holding the ninth-inning baton.
That left-handed grip became less secure Friday in the Arizona desert, as Fuentes frittered away another ballgame. Time for a status check on Ryan Cook, gamer.
Fuentes suffered his third blown save of the year in loud fashion, allowing three runs to the Diamondbacks after two men were retired. A walk (unforgivable with a two-run lead) and single set the stage, then Ryan Roberts clouted a walk-off laser into the left-center seats. Fuentes has been tagged for seven runs (and two homers) over his last four appearances, and his seasonal stats tell a sad story (5.24 ERA, 1.25 WHIP). Right-handed batters are hitting .286 against Fuentes.
Cook is doing everything he can to get our attention. He struck out the side in a scoreless eighth inning Friday, working around one hit. He's now carrying a 0.69 ERA and 0.85 WHIP for the year, silly numbers. His control has been a little dicey at times (12 unintentional walks over 26 innings), but he's also collected 25 punchouts and he's only allowed seven hits. He's also right-handed, which fits the ninth inning better than Fuentes.
Oakland skipper Bob Melvin hasn't committed to any change yet, but he's willing to consider one. I suppose there's also a chance that Grant Balfour (3.34 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) could re-enter the ninth, but if I had one fantasy ticket to punch here, I'm taking the Cookie Monster (arumyumyum). The USC product is available in 85 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
• Before we do the Arizona getaway (getaway), let's have a quick look at some other nuggets from this game. Brad Evans would want you to know Paul Goldschmidt continues to crush; Goldy went deep for the sixth time in 10 games Friday night. He also had a walk and a single, pushing his seasonal line up to .293/.364/.533. Lyle Overbay is back from paternity leave but that shouldn't matter much; Kirk Gibson can't bench Goldschmidt now. You can still add the Raging Rattler in about one-third of Yahoo! leagues.
Seth Smith is on a binge for the A's, enjoying a 9-for-16 run over his last four games with two doubles, a triple and a homer. Maybe he won't play Sunday (or produce) against lefty Joe Saunders, but the A's stop in at Coors Field on Tuesday, a visit we'll want to take advantage of. Smith is worth considering in deeper pools and he's widely available, out there in 97 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Smith also gave us one of the best catches of the year Friday, robbing Aaron Hill of a homer and keeping Tommy Milone's ERA from harm. Check out the highlight here, and have a laugh at Smith's subtle-but-cool smile after the play is over.
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• Heads up on Kansas City backstop Salvador Perez, who's on a rehab assignment and getting back on track. He went 5-for-5 against Triple-A Round Rock on Friday, and perhaps more importantly he caught the entire game without a hitch. Perez made a splash with the Royals last year, posting a .331/.361/.473 line in 39 games (along with 20 runs and 21 RBIs). He's not someone you have to bother with in one-catcher leagues until he actually returns and produces, but in multiple-backstop formats you might want to make the look-ahead move now. Perez currently trades at five percent in Yahoo! leagues.
• Whatever Alfonso Soriano is having for breakfast these days, pour me a bowl of it, too. The much-malinged Chicago hacker is on a monster tear, clouting 11 homers over his past 23 games (along with, for him, a lofty .301 average). And the story hasn't been limited to friendly parks: Soriano went deep twice in Minnesota on Friday, and he also has taters from San Francisco (no easy feat) and Pittsburgh over this stretch. Soriano didn't have a single homer through the first six weeks of the year, but that's ancient history now.
If Theo Epstein and Company are worth the weight of the press clippings, they'll find a way to dump Soriano at some point this summer, even if they have to eat a decent chunk of the remaining contract. But fantasy owners should be in a buying mood. Perhaps because of past failures (and the evaporation of his running game), Soriano is only owned in 47 percent of the Yahoo! world. That number should be a little higher; give him a short-term tryout.
• It was an interesting night for ace pitchers up against horrible park matchups: Stephen Strasburg (13 Ks) and C.J. Wilson (8 IP, 1 R, 9 K) came through in Boston and Colorado, respectively, but Johan Santana (6 R, 4 HR) was rocked by the Yankees. I don't own any Santana shares (wish I did) but I would have sat him in The Bronx; I chose to play Strasburg at Boston (his swing-and-miss stuff plays anywhere) and bench Wilson in the thin air.
The key with these types of moves is to focus on the big-picture strategy and not the short-term return; I'm not going to let Wilson's gem trick me into using him at Arlington later this summer. For a deeper discussion of this theme (tied to board-game theory), consider what Jim Geary has to say about the Fallacy of the Negative Instance. Don't be tripped up by outcome bias, amigos. Just keep making sound decisions.
Santana's next start comes at the Tampa Bay Catwalk, a favorable matchup. I'm willing to give him a pass for what happened Friday; that lineup and park can tax even the best pitchers. I don't think Santana's heavy pitch count from last week's no-hitter had anything to do with Friday's result.
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• If you're in the market for some cheap speed, why not give Ben Revere a look? The Minnesota outfielder offers no pop whatsoever, but he can potentially boost you in three categories. He's on a 19-for-46 tear over the last two weeks, with nine runs and six steals. He's not going to walk a lot, but his elite contact rate (91.7 percent) is an excellent thing, especially when you run as well as Revere does.
The Minnesota lineup is on the thin side, but at least Revere is parked at the top of the order, where the best production lies. The Twin-Cities Trackster is ready to add in 95 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Speed Round: Dayan Viciedo (hamstrings) left Friday's game early and isn't in Saturday's lineup. … Brian Roberts might be back with the Orioles by Tuesday, if you feel lucky. He hasn't been anything special during his rehab assignment, covering three levels (8-for-34, one homer, seven walks, eight strikeouts, no stolen bases). Roberts, 34, is trying to return from post-concussion problems. … Tim Hudson has a sore ankle and won't start Sunday as scheduled. Julio Teheran comes up for a spot appearance against Toronto; this isn't stream-recommended on my clipboard. … Pablo Sandoval (hand) is ready to go; he'll bat third and play third in Saturday's matinee against Texas. … Dale Sveum won't be happy until everyone on his roster has a ninth-inning blowup. Shawn Camp had the blown save Friday at Minnesota, allowing six baserunners and two runs against four outs. … Austin Jackson (abdomen) has finally returned for Detroit, which puts Quintin Berry on the bench (and probably Triple-A soon enough; he doesn't have enough pop to carry a corner outfield slot). … Why do the Royals insist on keeping Luke Hochevar in the rotation? We're 108 starts in, it's not happening. Take the talented arm and see if you can repackage it as a quality reliever. It happens all the time. … If you came for the Seattle no-hitter, please jump to our post here (and drop something in Tom Wilhelmsen's tip jar). And if you want to look ahead at double-dip starters for the upcoming week, Dr. Behrens is in.