This past week has seen a lot of exciting developments in fantasy baseball. Jake Peavy came back this past Thursday to dominate in 6 innings of shutout baseball, relieving everyone who has Peavy as their staff Ace. It was announced that Daisuke Matsuzaka is most likely out until July or even until after the All-Star break, tearing the hearts of his owner’s, at least until they trade for sinker-balling stud, Justin Masterson. Here are some tips for the weeks and what to expect from certain players.

Key Injuries and Updates

Brad Penny SP LAD- Penny is going to flying to his hometown to get his pitching shoulder checked out with an MRI this week. Penny claims to have been feeling discomfort all season and can attest that as the reasons for his sub par performances. His medication is not doing the job it was expected to and perhaps a lot of rest will be needed for it to heal. Penny is 0-7 in his last 8 starts and needs to turn things around when he gets back, well if he gets back.

J.J. Putz RP SEA- Putz has already been on the Disabled List this season and was just placed right back on it this past week. Putz has not performed nearly as well as he did last year, when he was the best fantasy closer in baseball. This injury is a hyper-extended right elbow which may keep him sidelined for a month. This will no doubt affect his pitching and perhaps is Brandon Morrow performs as expected, Putz may be out of a job. Morrow is a very good pickup here because of his electric stuff and the hype that has surrounded him over the past calendar year.

Troy Tulowitzki SS COL- June 20th is the expected arrival date of Tully back to the majors for the rockies and it comes against our beloved Mets at Shea Stadium. Tulo’s season has been very weak in comparison to last year’s “breakout” season. The question is whether or not he will continue to hit like Rey Sanchez, or if he will get some of his swagger back from last season.

Players You Want

Chris Duncan 1B/OF STL- I really only advocate this pick up in a league where your team needs Home Runs and you have Albert Pujols. Duncan was just called up to take the first basemen duties while Pujols gets healthy. Duncan hit 21 Homers last year and has the ability to do so again. However, his batting average will hurt your team’s and only pick him up and start him if you afford to take that kind of shot to your average.

Nomar Garciaparra 1B/3B/SS- LAD- Garciaparra should be coming off the Disabled List this week and has begun his rehab assignment. He is practicing at shortstop due to the injury of Rafael Furcal, and the play at 3rd base from Blake Dewitt and Andy Laroche. While Garciaparra has been hampered by injuries over the latter stages in his career, the cardinal rule in fantasy baseball is, the more positions you play, the more valuable you are. While from a performance stand point, you can’t expect too much from him, Garciaparra should be a nice stop-gap if you are waiting for an injured shortstop to come back.

Manny Parra SP MIL- While he started the season relatively poorly, Parra has performed much better in his last two starts and is still available in many leagues. He has won his last 2 starts and with one more good start, he will most likely be picked up in most leagues. He has also struck out 6 or more in 3 of his last 5 starts, proving he has the stuff to be a good pitcher in the majors.

Players To Get Rid of

Pedro Martinez SP NYM- Injuries have really taken a toll on this Hall of Fame bound pitcher. Martinez hasn’t been affective since he came off the Disabled List and I bet by the end of the season, he will be back there. With a fastball that won’t see 90 mph consistently, Martinez may not have the capability to strike out hitters like he used to and to get hitters to hit into weak outs. Even the outs he has gotten this season have been hit hard.

Justin Upton OF ARZ- Perhaps 3 years from now, he can be a top 20 fantasy baseball player, but as of right now, Upton is mired in a 6 week long slump that he hasn’t shown any signs of coming out of. After a red hot start to the season, Upton’s batting average has dropped around .100 points and his home-run and RBI totals have seen a drastic drop in what they were projected to be. There is no time to keep him on your roster and there are other guys on the waiver wire who will have more of an immediate impact on your team.

Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez C DET- Skipper Jimmy Leyland announced that Pudge and Brandon Inge would be splitting time due to lack of performance from the Catcher position. This could be a motivational technique to get Pudge to play better. Don’t be surprised though if Inge outplays him and takes more games away from Pudge, who appears to be hitting that veteran wall.

Minor League Player To Watch

Fransisco Liriano SP MIN- Originally, Padres 3rd Basemen Chase Headley was slated for this position but he was called up on Saturday. Liriano has started to pitch somewhat like the Liriano of a couple years ago. In 51 innings in the minors, he has 41 strikeouts along with an ERA of 3.35, even though he struggled when he was first sent down. With the pitching woes the Twins have experienced lately, look for Liriano to be called up and to be much more productive than he was at the start of the season.