Roto Rush: Big Z on the Comeback

Guess who's back?

Yes, Slim Shady, but that doesn't come till Tuesday and this is a fantasy baseball column. We're talking about the one and only Carlos Zambrano.

Shocked? I would be too -- I'm the guy that was completely against drafting Zambrano for the price this spring. I looked at an increasing hit rate that was poised to cause a big bump in ERA, especially when considering his K:BB ratio hadn't been better than 2.0 (the normal breaking point for starters) since 2005, and I ranked him much lower than my colleagues.

Well, all he did on Sunday was hold the Los Angeles -- yes, the same Angels that currently sit in the top five of scoring in the league -- to one run, one walk, and eight hits in seven innings. Best of all, he struck out seven batters while picking up the win. It was the second straight quality start for Zambrano, who has been trying to recover from a eight-run, 1.1-inning performance on Opening Day all season.

Is this brilliant performance a sign of things to come for Zambrano? It's not like his three previous starts were great; he walked 11 batters while striking out nine in those three games. Still, I felt good enough about the direction Zambrano was taking to trade for him in one of my main leagues. I know, the eternal Zambrano pessimist now has him on a team. I didn't pay a whole lot (unless you're a big Kevin Correia fan), but with Zambrano's upside over the second half of the season, it's worth the small gamble.

Also in the 12-1 Cubs blowout, Brian Fuentes allowed three runs while only getting two outs in a non-save situation. Trevor Bell had to be called in to get the final out of the game; despite that, Mike Scioscia gave Fuentes another vote of confidence. Yes, that was a second vote of confidence. Fernando Rodney, you're on fantasy watch.

Bits From the Box Scores:

• A pitcher's duel unexpectedly broke out between Aaron Harang and Ryan Rowland-Smith in Seattle. Rowland-Smith's six shutout innings aren't actionable fantasy news, especially when he's walking five batters. Harang, however, deserves to be owned in more leagues. He has a K:BB ratio over 3.0, and when he's not giving up hits in bunches, he's really effective.

• You could, however, expect a pitching duel from Hiroki Kuroda and Clay Buchholz, with the former taking the hard-luck loss after striking out nine guys and walking only one in seven innings. Buchholz was masterful yet again, pitching 6.2 shutout innings while picking up his 10th win.

• A Mark Teixeira grand slam was the only blemish on either pitcher's day in the finale of the New York-New York series on Sunday. Johan Santana's final line will look poorer than he deserved as a result, while CC Sabathia pitched eight shutout innings to move to 8-3. Teixeira's HR was his second in as many days, and he's starting to pick it up after a slow June.

• Brennan Boesch hit a homer -- again -- on Sunday, putting the Tigers ahead for good in a 3-1 win. It marked the fifth consecutive series in which Boesch has went yard, and it was his sixth dinger in June. So yeah, pick him up. Max Scherzer looked great in a win.

• Jonathan Sanchez had to be pulled early for ineffectiveness, not with an injury, but the Giants were able to come back and win the game thanks in large part to Freddy Sanchez's first HR of the season. Mixed-leaguers won't care about Freddy, but they should care about Aubrey Huff, who contributed his 12th homer and looks like Huff version 2008.

• Josh Johnson looked wonderful in shutting down the Rays (Carl Crawford's HR was the only damage), while David Price was solid but not good enough to outduel Johnson. Mike Stanton added his third steal of the season, so while he's not jacking up bombs for your team, he's still making fantasy contributions.

• Kenshin Kawakami was saved from picking up another loss (it would have moved him to 0-10), and with Kris Medlen dealing, Kawakami isn't long for the rotation. Once Jair Jurrjens is ready to go, Kawakami will be banished to the pen. Not that you were using him anyway.

• This just in -- Carlos Santana is pretty good with a bat. He posted a 3-for-4 day with his second HR of the season, moving his average up to .393 and his homer count to two. There aren't many catchers worth starting over Santana right now. Octavio Dotel actually came through with an uneventful save in the Pirates win.

• You don't often see pitchers outduel Roy Halladay, but that's exactly what Carl Pavano accomplished on Sunday, going the distance to pick up his eighth win of the season. Halladay surrendered 11 hits, but with eight Ks and no walks, he's not one to worry about.

• Stop the presses -- J.J. Putz recorded the save in the White Sox win over Washington, while Matt Thornton, the supposed favorite for saves should Bobby Jenks get removed from the role, pitched a scoreless eighth. Jenks was unavailable on Sunday with some kind of soreness. Alex Rios stole his 20th base and is headed for a career-best year.

• Ian Kinsler went through the first 19 days of June with no homers or steals, but he added two swipes against the Astros. Don't give up on the guy yet -- in fact, I'd look to buy low if you need a 2B. Julio Borbon hit leadoff with Elvis Andrus not starting and went 4-for-5; now that's what I call a step in the right direction. Borbon is a great add for those with a need for speed.

• Trevor Cahill continued his great 2010 by striking out seven Cardinals while walking none, but he couldn't quite take care of all the St. Louis batters, as Matt Holliday connected for two solo home runs. On the A's side, Kevin Kouzmanoff had a very nice 4-for-4 game with his seventh homer, and he's killing the ball in June.

• The Stream Team should have went with Cahill on Sunday; instead, we took Jake Arrieta, who was lit up for six runs in three innings. Streaming rookies always means playing with fire. Jon Garland gave up four unearned runs but still got the win, and he remains an amazing play while at home.

• Manny Corpas gave up three runs while getting two outs on Saturday, and it only got worse on Sunday. Coming in to a 1-1 game in the ninth, Corpas surrendered two walks and three doubles to give up five runs while not getting an out. Think the Rockies are ready for Huston Street to return?

Locking Your Lineup: Kansas City-Washington kicks off at 7:05 ET, while the other two games are late games.