Scott White

Not a whole lot of extra time today, but I wanted to share a few observations on made on Thursday night's starting pitchers:

I remember this spring when I kept calling Roy Halladay a non-strikeout pitcher in all of my draft preparation articles. He apparently read, grew incensed and plotted to bring about my ruin. His 133 strikeouts so far put him within six of last season's total and give him one more than he had in all of 2006. He's currently on pace to break 200 strikeouts for only the second time in his career. Shoot, he's only broken 150 twice. I don't know what changed in his pitching arsenal to make him such a different type of pitcher, but I have no choice to acknowledge it. I hereby eat my words.

Jamie Moyer is old, but he has a 1.80 ERA in his last three starts and his best all-around numbers since his 21-win season ion 2003. Again, I have no choice but to acknowledge it.

Oliver Perez deserves a whole new brand of acknowledgement -- that of the we-judged-you-too-soon variety. His 15-win season last year looked like a joke back when he had a 5.29 ERA on June 24, but since then, he has a 1.34 ERA in five starts, striking out 39 batters in 33 2/3 innings and walking more than three only once. I'm not sure how best to put this, but gimme, gimme, gimme.

Daniel Cabrera has become a perennial tease. Every year, he looks like he turns some corner in some stage of his development, making you think he finally has enough command to make the most of his talent. But he doesn't -- he proved it again Thursday -- and when a pitcher allows four earned runs or more in seven of his last 10 starts, that pitcher doesn't deserve a spot on any Fantasy roster.

I couldn't help but notice the contrast between Tim Redding and Matt Cain as they went the distance against each other Thursday -- one of the most overrated pitchers in Fantasy going against one of the most underrated. And here's a surprise -- Redding is the overrated one. OK, I have to admit he keeps pitching well, emerging as a useful NL-only option, but his numbers still look too good to be true. Cain, meanwhile, is on pace for more than 200 strikeouts and has a successful track record in the second half. If you own him, you'll consider him a must-start before season's end.

Todd Wellemeyer doesn't look like the same pitcher since coming back from a strained right elbow in late June. He has gone only five innings in four of his six starts, posting a 5.51 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. His success earlier in the season made less sense than this current trend, considering he never pitched all that well as a middle reliever earlier in his career. I think it's safe to say he's outlived his usefulness in mixed leagues.

That's all for now.