Atomic RoadRunners | Andrew Flynn’s High-Energy Fantasy Baseball

Chris Iannetta delivered a two-run homer, an RBI single and a walk Thursday in the Rockies’ 5-3 defeat of the Pirates. The dinger traveled approximately 400 feet and came on a broken bat swing. His home run broke a 3-all tie, and it came off of a bat Iannetta said he cracked in his previous at-bat. “I think the bat was already broken. Maple bats, you can’t always tell,” he said. “I hit it good. I was a little surprised the bat broke.” Iannetta has a lot of power and continues to gain the Rockies’ short- and especially long-term favor. Iannetta has run away with the starting job just like the Rockies hoped he would last year. He’s hitting .281 with 10 homers and 37 RBI in 171 at-bats. In 2007, he had just four homers in 197 at-bats.

“I didn’t feel like myself and I couldn’t explain why,” said Iannetta, who hit just .218 last year and spent time in Triple-A. “I’d swing at balls that I would normally would hit well and swing right through it. This year I’m getting the same pitches and I’m able to barrel them up.” This year he’s hitting .281 and feeling confident. He’s also showing more power. With the kind of upside and numbers he has, he deserves to start as a No. 1 Fantasy catcher. (Rotoworld, Rotowire, CBS Sports)

Tim Lincecum is slated to start Sunday for the Giants against Milwaukee as planned, even after the right-hander missed Tuesday’s All-Star game with flulike symptoms and dehydration. Yet Giants manager Bruce Bochy is leaving open the option of pushing Lincecum back if needed — and perhaps backing off his workload some in the second half. The hard-throwing right-hander was hospitalized in New York and missed his first All-Star game at Yankee Stadium. “He’s doing fairly well,” Bochy said during a team workout Thursday. “He’s got a cold. From what I understand he’s doing much better. We had a few guys who got sick there the last road trip. … We’re going to check on (Lincecum). He is somebody we’re going to keep an eye on and monitor him the second half because we know his innings are going to be up there.” The 24-year-old Lincecum, in his second major league season, is 11-2 with a 2.57 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 19 starts and 20 appearances for the Giants this year. Backing off on his innings will help him in the long run, but it won’t do your Fantasy team any good this year. Still, he should remain a must-start in Fantasy. Keep him active for Sunday. (CBS Sports)

Reds RP Jared Burton, who missed the last three games at Milwaukee with a strained lateral muscle, was available to pitch in the first game after the All-Star break Thursday against the Mets. “The rest paid off, and I’m feeling good,” he told MLB.com. “The break came right at the perfect time. The innings were starting to rack up a little bit, but after the rest, I feel much better.” Burton is a solid middle reliever for deeper leagues that use true middle men. He could develop into a closer someday, but Francisco Cordero has a long-term deal he signed this winter, so don’t expect it at this point. (CBS Sports)

Marlins SP Andrew Miller will be placed on the disabled list and will miss his scheduled start Sunday against the Phillies. That will cause the Marlins to shift their rotation and Josh Johnson will move from his scheduled Monday start to make the start on Sunday. That means that Johnson no longer is a two-start pitcher in Fantasy week 17 (July 21-27). Johnson is trying to come back from Tommy John surgery in less than a year, which is a rare achievement. He looked good in his first start, but he’ll need to prove his durability before he deserves attention in the majority of mixed formats. Consider him more of an NL-only guy right now, but he certainly has the stuff to be a consistent contributor in all formats. (CBS Sports)

Overall Standings

Rank Team                Batting Pitching Total Dif  Behind
---- ------------------- ------- -------- ----- ---- ------
 1   Atomic Roadrunners  45.0    39.0     84.0  0.0  0.0
 2   The Pi Train        29.0    33.0     62.0  1.0  22.0
 3   X-Men               21.5    39.0     60.5  0.0  23.5
 4   Shoeless Jews       23.0    33.0     56.0  -2.0 28.0
 5   Stanimals           31.0    24.0     55.0  -1.0 29.0
 6   Goodfellas          34.5    17.0     51.5  0.0  32.5
 6   Uncle Lester        12.5    39.0     51.5  0.0  32.5
 8   Misogynistic Padres 27.0    17.0     44.0  0.5  40.0
 9   Get Off Kong!       25.5    18.0     43.5  0.0  40.5
 10  Cover Zero          26.0    16.0     42.0  1.5  42.0

Yesterday's Stats

Atomic Roadrunners Players Yesterday (7/17/08)
Player                       BA HR R RBI   SB
------------------------ ------ -- - --- ----
Blanco, Gregor M. OF ATL 0.0000  0 0   0    0
Bowker, John OF SF       0.0000  0 0   0    0
Coste, Chris C PHI       0.0000  0 0   0    0
DeWitt, Blake 3B LA      0.0000  0 0   0    0
Fielder, Prince 1B MIL   0.0000  0 0   0    0
Hart, Corey C. RF MIL    0.0000  0 0   0    0
Headley, Chase 3B SD     0.2500  0 0   1    0
Iannetta, Chris C COL    0.6667  1 1   3    0
Jones, Chipper 3B ATL    0.0000  0 0   0    0
Phillips, Brandon 2B CIN 0.2000  0 0   0    0
Reyes, Jose B. SS NYM    0.0000  0 0   0    0
Teixeira, Mark 1B ATL    0.0000  0 0   0    0
Theriot, Ryan SS CHC     0.0000  0 0   0    0
Victorino, Shane CF PHI  0.0000  0 0   0    0

Atomic Roadrunners Players Yesterday (7/17/08)
Player                      ERA  K S   W WHIP
------------------------ ------ -- - --- ----
Garcia, Jaime SP STL        N/A  0 0   0  N/A
Gonzalez, Mike RP ATL       N/A  0 0   0  N/A
Johnson, Josh SP FLA        N/A  0 0   0  N/A
Lincecum, Tim SP SF         N/A  0 0   0  N/A
Lyon, Brandon RP ARI        N/A  0 0   0  N/A
Maine, John SP NYM          N/A  0 0   0  N/A
McClung, Seth RP MIL        N/A  0 0   0  N/A
Webb, Brandon SP ARI        N/A  0 0   0  N/A
Wellemeyer, Todd SP STL     N/A  0 0   0  N/A
Wilson, Brian RP SF         N/A  0 0   0  N/A