Fantasy Quick Pitch: Putz and Bedard Back

The Seattle Mariners are lucky that they are only one game out of the A.L. West division lead, and a game above .500, given that both J.J. Putz and Erik Bedard have already seen stints on the disabled list, only a month into the 2008 season.

Fantasy owners are probably not so fortunate, given the early round status of both pitchers. However, there is good news on the horizon, as both players should be active and pitching by Sunday.

Putz was actually activated Tuesday afternoon in time for the M's game against the Baltimore Orioles, which they won, with his help no less. Putz picked up the save and reportedly hit 97 mph on the gun, needing four batters to record the save after giving up a double to Aubrey Huff to open up the inning. Two strikeouts later, the soul patch was in full effect. Or something like that. Get Putz active in all leagues.

Bedard probably won't return until this weekend, according to the Seattle Times:

Bedard will indeed start Saturday. He threw a 45-pitch bullpen session today that went very well, apparently. McLaren said, however, they want him to throw another bullpen session on Thursday before his Saturday start against Oakland. This gives them a chance to restructure the rotation a bit. Washburn will pitch Thursday against Baltimore, and Batista Friday against Oakland. That splits up the two left-handers, Washburn and Bedard.

Given that information, particularly the team's need to have him throw one more bullpen session before he returns, I would probably hold off on starting him in roto leagues. In H2H format, I would start him depending on my cat needs: if it's an extra win or some strikeouts you're looking for, I think he's a good bet to get both. But if you're trying to protect the ratios, it's probably best to avoid starting him if you can afford to; the A's aren't the most potent offensive team, in theory, but you can expect Bedard to be on a reasonably limited pitch count.

Oh yeah, and if for any reason either one of these guys is owned in your league, you obviously pound immediately.