Got a late start tonight, so we are just going to do a bunch of quick hitters.

Pitching

Giants GM Brian Sabean is one of the more respected executives in baseball, but I have one BIG question for him. What the HELL were you thinking giving $120+ million to Barry Zito? He was pretty awful again today, although he sucked less than he has at other times this year. Zito ran his record to 0-4 with a six inning, three earned run, five walk performance. If you are still holding him on your roster, just grab anyone else.

Speaking of awful, I think it is time to panic with C.C. Sabathia. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner got bombed on Wednesday by the suddenly resurgent Tigers. Sabathia only lasted four innings giving up nine runs, while walking five guys and only fanning one. This is two consecutive starts that C.C. has given up nine runs, and he is now 0-3 with a 13.50 ERA. He might still be able to turn it around and have a decent season, but to expect a repeat of last year’s brilliance looks like too much to ask.

Red Sox rookie Clay Buchholz had his worst start of the season in a 15-9 slugfest loss to the Yankees. Clay didn’t get out of the 4^th inning and gave up seven earned runs and struck out only two. I don’t consider this too much of a red alert on Buchholz season for two reasons. One, the Yankees are going to score a lot of runs, and on better pitchers than Buchholz. Two, he had two productive starts before this one, and every pitcher throws up a stinker every once in a while, especially one as green as Clay. Hold tight.

Let’s talk about some good performances too. Fighting Chance’s bust candidate Roy Oswalt had his best outing of 2008. Roy went seven strong innings, giving up just one run, walking only one, and striking out four. The Ks are still a little lower than his owners would like, but now that Oswalt picked up his first win of the season, you can have some hope that maybe he can be productive in ’08.

On the flip side, a Fighting Chance breakout candidate continues to do just that. Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright upped his record to 2-1 after Wednesday night’s victory over the Brewers. Wainwright has gone at least seven innings in each of his first three starts, and has his ERA under three. Given the surprising start for the Cards, it is now looking like Wainwright could put up solid win totals as well as a nice ERA and better than average strikeouts.

Not exactly breaking news, but Brandon Webb is good. Webb has yet to give up more than two runs through his first four starts, and his ERA sits under two. He gave up just three hits in eight strong innings, and although it was against the lowly Giants, Webb proves again why he is one of the five best starters in baseball.

Hitters

Super Soph Hunter Pence is having some super struggles at the dish this season. After another 0-3 with two Ks tonight, Pence now sits at .161 with only two RBI. You need to exercise patience with a guy with Hunter’s ability, but the red flags are out of the bag, but they aren’t waiving just yet.

Two more players hit their first long balls of the year, one expected to take this long, one has us thinking, what the hell took so long. Jose Reyes hit his first ball out of cavernous Shea Stadium, and although his owners don’t expect him to hit 30 HRs, they are hoping he gets closer to the 19 he hit in 2006, rather than the 12 in 2007. Reds’ donkey Adam Dunn FINALLY went big fly on Wednesday night. Dunn is built like a brick shithouse (6’6”, 275), and has hit 40+ HRs for four consecutive seasons now. His owners expect him to hit more than one home run every two and a half weeks, and hopefully this breaks the seal and balls start leaving Cincinnati on the express track.

For those looking for someone useful to pick up, take a look at the Mets’ Ryan Church. He is playing just about everyday, and has been a nice surprise for the Amazins. He isn’t hitting for much power, he hit just his second homer tonight and has just one double on the year. But Church’s average is now at .340, and although that definitely won’t hold up, he could be a nice stopgap on your roster until someone else gets hot.

Another guy who could be worth adding to your roster is the Twins’ Jason Kubel. Kubel was always one of the Twins best hitting prospects, but has been continually bitten by the injury bug. If he could ever stay on the field he would definitely be a candidate to hit 30 HRs, but so far in his major league career he has been unable to do so. So far in 2008, through 13 games he has three roundtrippers with 11 ribeyes and is hitting just .261. He isn’t a bad guy to add if you are able to take a chance on someone staying healthy.

Daily John Bowker update, the guy no one has heard of was 1-3 with a walk and a whiff on Wednesday bringing his average down to .538. He continues to play and produce, but I still haven’t felt the urgency to add him, but I do check his boxscore every night.

As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades, etc) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours.