Joba Chamberlain Meets The Most Feared Man in Baseball

There are certain sentences that you never want to hear under any circumstances.

"The IRS is on the phone for you."
"Michael Vick took your dog for a walk."
"Is that your wife with Bill Clinton?"

High on that list for any fantasy dork is "(Insert Pitcher on Your Team) is going to visit Dr. James Andrews."

The latest pitcher to walk the green mile to the orthopedic legend's office is Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain left his start against Texas on Monday clutching his shoulder. Even if there is not a serious injury at this time, you can bet the Yanks will be uber-cautious with their 22-year old phenom. If you are a Joba owner, prepare to wait a while for Joba to return.

Achievers/Bums - 7/25/08

ACHIEVERS

Joba Chamberlain - SP - New York Yankees - Win, 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 K - In his 10th start since moving to the rotation, Joba showed why Hank Steinbrenner called him the Yankees' answer to Beckett. It was nice to see him get a little deeper into the ballgame and cut down on the walks.

Carlos Delgado - 1B - New York Mets - 1/4, HR, 2 RBI - Don't look now, but Carlos Delgado is kind of awesome again. Last month: .355, 8 HR, 26 RBI, 20 R & only 16 K to 16 BB. I don't expect it to last all season, but there are worse options at first base.

Brian McCann - C - Atlanta Braves - 2/3, 2 HR, 5 RBI, SB, 2 BB - Huge night for the Braves' backstop. Is there any doubt that he's the number one fantasy catcher in all the realm? I submit that there is not.

BUMS

Edinson Volquez - SP - Cincinnati Reds - Loss, 4 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K - Uh oh, he's blaming mechanics. And I really, really hate to say I told you so...but I told you so.

Aramis Ramirez - 3B - Chicago Cubs - 0/4, 2 K - A-Ram is only hitting .168 over the last month, which is bad news for Cubs and fantasy owners. He's a streaky hitter, and I believe he'll bounce back. Try to buy him low if you can.

Jonathan Sanchez - SP - San Francisco Giants - Loss, 2.2 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 K - Rough night for Sanchez against the D-backs. But don't panic, and for the love of Pete, don't drop him. He's been a better fantasy pitcher this year than Scott Kazmir, Rich Harden, John Maine or Matt Garza. You know you lucked into him and you should be happy for what you get. Greedy bastards.

Gary Sheffield Is an Angry Achiever

Gary Sheffield had a homer and a walk-off hit last night. Also, he's an angry, angry man. Still, you probably want to add him if he's available. If nothing else, he is great trade bait if he gets on a hot streak.

Albert Pujols has been activated from the disabled list by the Cards. He should be back in the lineup today.

David Ortiz took 25 swings on a tee without any issues, but it appears he is still a few weeks away from returning to the lineup.

Aaron Harang has been a shell of himself the last few starts. He's only had one good start since he Dusty pitched him in the 13th-16th innings against the Padres in May.

Mike Gonzalez picked up his second save in two chances last night. Looks like he is the answer at closer for the Braves as he doesn't have much competition.

Joba Chamberlain threw 114 pitches and got his first win as a starter last night. He struck out 7 and walked 1.

Joakim Soria got his 21st save last night while striking out two.