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

Jason Marquis will pitch in long relief of Sean Marshall on Saturday. Marshall will be limited to 80 pitches and Marquis should take care of the rest. Marquis will rejoin the rotation next Friday. The Cubs will bypass him in the three-game series against the Reds at Wrigley Field beginning next Tuesday. Marquis will start next Friday against the Nationals at Wrigley. Against the Reds, they’ll go with Rich Harden, Ted Lilly and Carlos Zambrano. (Rotoworld)

Cubs SP Jason Marquis (8-7) gave up two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings Wednesday for his first win against Atlanta, his first major league team. Marquis was 0-3 with a 14.04 ERA in his first four starts against the Braves. Marquis struck out one and walked two in the 10-2 victory. Marquis has now won two straight starts after going six straight without a victory. He had a decent 3.81 ERA in July, but no wins to show for it, so his owners will be glad he finally got some run support on Tuesday. Marquis is likely to get two starts next week if he goes Tuesday and Sunday, but that’s not set in stone yet. He remains best left for NL-only Fantasy leagues and super-deep mixed formats when he’s getting two starts, even when those starts are against bad teams like Cincinnati and Washington. (CBS Sports)

Tuesday night’s Cubs/Braves game has been postponed due to rain. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Wednesday, with Jason Marquis and Rich Harden going for the Cubs and Charlie Morton and Jorge Campillo set to pitch for the Braves. Marquis was going to be skipped in the rotation this week but will now get a start. Atlanta rookie right-hander Charlie Morton is scheduled to face Jason Marquis in the opener. Morton was supposed to start Tuesday but will now face the Cubs on Wednesday. That shouldn’t change your Fantasy plans if you already have him starting this week. Morton has a 1.29 ERA in two starts but a 5.70 mark on the season. Still, the prospect’s last two starts might indicate at least a minor breakthrough, so take a flier on him now in NL-only leagues.(Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

RHP Jason Marquis may have made his last start for a while. With off days Thursday, Monday and Aug. 18, manager Lou Piniella might skip Marquis at least one time. Marquis is 7-7 with a 4.73 ERA. The offense helped him snap a four-game losing streak. His most recent victory came June 21. The Cubs scored 11 runs while Marquis was on the mound for the second time this year. We likely won’t hear for sure until Sunday whether Marquis will start in Fantasy Week 20 (Aug. 11-17), so plan on reserving him in all formats at this point. (CBS Sports)

Cubs SP Jason Marquis (7-7) got plenty of offensive help Wednesday as he evened his record up in a 11-4 win over the Astros. Marquis, whose last victory came on June 21, allowed four runs on six hits over 6 1/3 innings with three strikeouts and two walks. Coming into Wednesday, Marquis had allowed three runs or less in four of his last five starts but had no wins to show for it, so it was about time he got some offensive help. In Fantasy Week 20 (Aug. 11-17), Marquis will get one start against his former team, the Braves, in Atlanta. He is just too unreliable to use outside of NL-only leagues right now, so continue to ignore him in mixed formats. (CBS Sports)

FAAB Acquisitions:

• OF Brandon Moss, Pirates [$3 bid, Add to Actives]
• P Matt Lindstrom, Marlins [$0 bid, Add to Actives]

Up:

• P Brett Myers
• P Carlos Villanueva

Down:

• OF Chase Headley
• P Jason Bergmann
• P Jason Marquis
• P John Maine

Cut:

• OF Ryan Spilborghs
• P Seth McClung

Notes:

• Lindstrom had been drafted originally by Get Off Kong! in the 4th Round of the Minor League Draft, thus his salary of $10
• Moss came to the NL in the Manny Ramirez - Jason Bay - Andy LaRoche 3-Way trade at the deadline last week.  He had been on Boston’s AAA squad in Pawtucket.

Cubs SP Jason Marquis fell to 6-7 on the year Friday in a 3-0 loss to the Pirates. Marquis gave up eight hits and three runs in six innings. He walked one and had two strikeouts. His ERA now stands at 4.68. Marquis fell to 0-4 in six starts since beating the crosstown White Sox on June 21. He was 2-0 against the Pirates but couldn’t get the job done again on Friday. He remains best left for NL-only Fantasy leagues and larger mixed leagues when he is a two-start pitcher. That won’t happen next week as his next scheduled start comes Wednesday against Houston. (CBS Sports)

Cubs SP Jason Marquis lasted six innings Sunday against the Marlins despite having a poor outing. Marquis allowed six runs and nine hits, including three homers, while taking a no decision. He left trailing 6-5, but Chicago rallied for a 9-6 win. Marquis allowed two homers to Mike Jacobs and one to Dan Uggla. He walked three and struck out six. Marquis is winless in five starts and has allowed five or more runs in three of his last six appearances. The right-hander continues to deliver mixed results, but is still not in jeopardy of losing his starting job. He remains best left for NL-only Fantasy leagues and larger mixed leagues when he is a two-start pitcher. Marquis’ next scheduled start is for Friday against the Pirates. He is 2-0 with a 3.12 ERA in three starts against Pittsburgh this season. (CBS Sports)

Cubs SP Jason Marquis dropped to 6-6 on the year Tuesday in a loss to the Diamondbacks. Marquis gave up five hits and three runs in six innings of work. He walked two and struck out three. Marquis hasn’t won in his last four starts and is 0-3 over that span. He didn’t pitch terribly on Tuesday, however, and didn’t give up any runs in his previous outing on July 11 against the Giants. He was a two-start pitcher this week and next goes Sunday against Florida. He’s normally nothing more than an NL-only starting option. (CBS Sports)

FAAB Acquisition:

• P Joe Blanton, Phillies [$21 bid, Add to Actives]

Up:

• P Jason Bergmann
• P Jason Marquis
• OF Jody Gerut (to Utility)

Down:

• P Seth McClung
• P Jaime Garcia
• P Josh Johnson
• 3B Blake DeWitt

Cut:

• P Jared Burton

Notes:

• I didn’t expect to with the bidding for Blanton, and was presented with a “oh, great” reaction when I saw I had acquired him.

FAAB Acquisition:

• P Jaime Garcia, Cardinals [$7 bid - add to actives]

Up:

• P Josh Johnson

Down:

• P Jason Bergmann
• P Jason Marquis

Cut:

• P Thomas Hanson

Notes:

• Due to the All-Star break, the FAAB acquisition run occured Monday night, while activations must be in by 6:35pm Thursday.
• Due to the short week, neither Bergmann or Marquis (above) will be starting in this Week 16.
• Shoeless Jews acquired former 2008 Roadrunner Emilio Bonifacio for $0 FAAB, and released P Taylor Tankersley.

Jason Marquis tossed seven scoreless innings Friday versus the Giants, but didn’t factor in the decision. Marquis and Matt Cain both tossed seven shutout innings while allowing three hits before the Giants’ bullpen blew the game. Bob Howry picked up the win following a scoreless inning of relief and Kerry Wood allowed one run while saving his 24th game to tie Brian Wilson for the NL lead. Marquis finishes the first half at 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA after going 6-5 with a 3.67 ERA before the All-Star break last season. (Rotoworld)

Manager Lou Piniella said he’s bumping Marquis out of the weekend rotation against St. Louis in favor of Sean Marshall so that the Cubs will have two lefties (with Ted Lilly) against a Cardinals team that entered Wednesday with a 33-22 record against right-handed starters and 15-14 vs. lefties, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. For now, it’s just one start, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Marshall and Sean Gallagher were to bump Marquis out permanently before too long. (Rotowire)

The Cubs shuffled their rotation on Monday to make room for Carlos Zambrano’s return on Friday, with Jason Marquis the big loser in the moves. Marquis was supposed to start Sunday against the Cardinals, but he has now been pushed back to Tuesday against the Reds. He will now be a two-start guy in Fantasy Week 15 (July 7-13), against Cincinnati and the Giants. Marquis pitched seven strong innings Tuesday against the Giants, but it wasn’t enough as Matt Cain pitched eight scoreless innings and San Francisco won 2-1. Marquis has been far from the Cubs ace in 2008 and remains at best a low-end Fantasy SP in mixed leagues. (CBS Sports)

Jason Marquis was pounded for seven runs in four innings by the Orioles’ on Thursday. He had won his last four starts and hadn’t picked up a loss since May 13. He walked three and struck out three. Marquis was 5-0 in his last seven starts before taking his fourth loss of the season today. The seven earned runs he allowed matched his high total since July 18, 2006, when he gave up 12 runs to the Braves. He was on a decent run of late, and could continue to be a source of wins, pitching with a great offense and bullpen behind him, but Marquis’ command is poor, and he doesn’t miss enough bats. This was his shortest outing of the entire season. Don’t get discouraged, however, this was probably just an aberration. Continue to start him in all NL-only formats and most mixed leagues, especially in weeks when he pitches twice like next week. On Tuesday, Marquis takes on Matt Cain at San Francisco and goes again to end the week at St. Louis. (Rotoworld, Rotowire, CBS Sports)