What happend to Hafner?Travis Hafner has been a collossal disappointment this year, and if you owned him last year you probably weren't too happy either.  In 2006 he hit a whopping 42 HRs, yet he hasn't even come close to that level of performance since.  Currently, I own him in my fantasy league, and I couldn't be happier to see him take some timeout on the DL.  Heck, in a 6 keeper league, he was one of my keepers, and I dropped Torii Hunter and Carlos Guillein to keep him.  Therefore, I have been struggling with the inevitablel question of whether or not to drop him for his lacklust performance.  What I didn't know until this week is that he has been struggling with a sore shoulder.  Geez, I sure wish someone told me that earlier.  The other downside is that he has been riding the pine the past week with no stats, and not until today did they put him on the DL.  Let's further into the numbers.

Troy Percival OUCH!Old man Troy on a strike out pitch today fell to the ground in a heap. Grabbing his hamstring he tried to stay in the game and pitch, but it wasn't happening. This probably looks serious, and I would look to grab Wheeler if you are hurting for saves. Wheeler's stats have been pretty good this year, and if he closes for the next week or even longer  you could be stealing some saves from the Percival owner. Run now grab some wheels!!! 

Jay BruceWe've all heard about him, or at least those in the know had, but anyone that follows fantasy baseball should know about him now.  Jay Bruce was a highly touted prospect for the Reds, and now he is a highly touted Major Leaguer.  Jay Bruce is so good, that someone in my fantasy league, which doesn't have a bench spot (don't get me started), actually picked up Bruce a few weeks ago and has been getting zero stats for his team since that time.  Lucky for him it was only a few weeks, but as he said..."the risk is worth the reward."

The box score tells the story.  For Jay Bruce, night in and night out, the box score has been telling the same story.  But does it tell the whole story?  Can Jay Bruce play Centerfield in the Majors?  Can Jay Bruce hit left handed pitching?  When will Jay Bruce get the chance?

After starting last year as a young prospect in high A, he finished the year by dominating the International League.  There is only one challenge left, and that is roaming the outfield for the big club.

There is a lot of speculation about this young kid Chase Headley of the San Diego Padres.  He's a third baseman, although I'm not quite sure he is going to be able to live up to Braun type numbers.  Braun came out last year and basically set the world on fire, but if you had studied his Minor League numbers, you could see that he was a stud...belting 15 HR in 2006 in just 59 games, and then 10 HRs in just 34 games in 2007.  Basically, he is an animal.  However, I'm not seeing the same type of numbers for Headley, despite the fact he is considered one of the top prospects out there.  Let's look at Headley's numbers...

If you drafted Edinson Volquez expecting any where near the results that he is experiencing, then I would call you a liar, and/or smarter than me.  Most people like to look at a Pitcher's ERA and WHIP, which are definitely important, but how you get there can be more indicative of how the pitcher is actually doing.  BABIP is a great measuring stick as it pretty much eliminates some of the luck involved.  Currently Volquez is sporting a BABIP of .300, which is pretty much exactly on par with the MLB average.  Therefore, not only is he not getting lucky, his ERA and WHIP are legit.