Line of the Day: May 16th, 2011

SP Colby Lewis of the Texas Rangers pitched a complete game, five-hitter for his first career shutout in a 4-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Lewis struck out seven and walked just one while recording his third career complete game. He's evened his record to 4-4 and dropped his ERA to 3.81 and WHIP to 1.14 on the season.

Line: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

My fantasy perspective: Lewis seems to have turned things around after a rough start. In his first four starts of the season, he was 1-3 with a 6.95 ERA in 22 innings, giving up 24 hits, 17 ER with a 14:10 K:BB ratio. In his last four starts, he's gone 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA in 32.1 innings, allowing 24 hits, just 6 ER with a 24:4 K:BB ratio. Check your leagues waivers, he's owned in 71.6% of ESPN leagues and 58% of Yahoo! leagues. He should be owned in all formats.

Agree? Disagree? Check out ESPN's formula for determining the best daily performances and nominate your own Line of the Day player using the comments section or hitting me up on Twitter.

Check out the past winners of COSFBA's Line of the Day awards here.

Line of the Day: May 15th, 2011

3B/OF Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays homered three times in the Jays 11-3 win over the Minnesota Twins. He has seven home runs in seven career games at Target Field. Bautista now leads the majors with 16 home runs and the American League with a .368 batting average.

Line: 5 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 4 RBI; 3 HR

My fantasy perspective: I guess it's time to set the record straight, Bautista is the real deal. 2010 wasn't a fluke. He's AHEAD of last year's pace for home runs. At his current pace, he'll hit 65 home runs in 130 games. The number one player in all of fantasy baseball had an ESPN ADP of 33.4 and a Yahoo! ADP of 35.1 this year. I was only able to draft him in one of my five leagues this season. I won't be making the same mistake in 2012.

This is not a case of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). IT BETTER NOT BE. The game of baseball has ensured us fans that the game is clean and what we are witnessing on the field is worth celebrating and the players are worthy of our admiration and affection. And I, for one, am enjoying every swing Bautista takes.

Agree? Disagree? Check out ESPN's formula for determining the best daily performances and nominate your own Line of the Day player using the comments section or hitting me up on Twitter.

Check out the past winners of COSFBA's Line of the Day awards here.

Line of the Day: May 14th, 2011

SP Brad Bergesen of the Baltimore Orioles pitched a complete game, four-hit shutout, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 6-0. It was his fourth career complete game and first career shutout. Baltimore starters recorded consecutive complete games for the first time since July 10 and 11, 2003.

Line: 9 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K; W, QS, CG, SHO

My fantasy perspective: Bergesen is virtually unowned in all leagues and formats, so it makes him virtually useless to fantasy owners at this early stage of the season. If this had been much later in the year, he very well could have been a Saturday afternoon streaming option. Keep an eye on who becomes the odd man out when Brian Matusz returns from the disabled list. It will either be Bergesen or Chris Tillman.

Agree? Disagree? Check out ESPN's formula for determining the best daily performances and nominate your own Line of the Day player using the comments section or hitting me up on Twitter.

Check out the past winners of COSFBA's Line of the Day awards here.

Line of the Day: May 13th, 2011

SP Jeremy Hellickson of the Tampa Bay Rays threw a four-hit, complete game shutout in a 3-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. He walked one and struck out three in recording his first career complete game in just his 11th career start. Hellickson retired the final 13 batters.

Line: 9 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K; W, QS, CG, SHO

My fantasy perspective: Hellickson is 4-2 with a 2.98 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP in seven starts. A deeper look into his numbers show his K/9 rate is down (6.0 in 2011; 8.2 in 2010) and his BB/9 is up (3.6 in 2011; 2.0 in 2010). Batters are hitting .218 off of him with a .243 BABIP, so he has either been lucky balls are being hit at fielders or has a very good defense behind him. Either way, Hellickson is showing why he was on many preseason "sleeper" lists and a great bargain investment with an ESPN ADP of 159.8 and a Yahoo! ADP of 177.9. Keeper and dynasty league owners will definitely want to keep an eye on his progression and/or regression.

Agree? Disagree? Check out ESPN's formula for determining the best daily performances and nominate your own Line of the Day player using the comments section or hitting me up on Twitter.

Check out the past winners of COSFBA's Line of the Day awards here.

Line of the Day: May 12th, 2011

OF Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets went 3-for-5 with three home runs and six RBI in a 9-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies. It was the first time in his career that Beltran hit three homers in a game and became the eighth Mets player ever to do so.

Line: 5 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 6 RBI; 3 HR

My fantasy perspective: Beltran looks to be healthy again and is thriving with the bat (.295/.387/.590, 8 HR, 24 RBI, 21 Runs). He has no stolen bases (or even attempts), so double-digit steals are probably a part of his game he'll never get back. Beltran is currently the 43rd-ranked player on ESPN (203.3 ADP) and 41st-ranked on Yahoo! (180.5 ADP) and looking like a steal for owners that took a chance on him late in their drafts. I, for one, am hoping he stays healthy in 2011 and beyond.

Agree? Disagree? Check out ESPN's formula for determining the best daily performances and nominate your own Line of the Day player using the comments section or hitting me up on Twitter.

Check out the past winners of COSFBA's Line of the Day awards here.