Scott White

Q: What do the best two third basemen in Fantasy Baseball have in common?
A: Strained quadriceps.

OK, so maybe I slight David Wright and Miguel Cabrera a bit by not including them in that duo, but if it's any consolation to Wright and Cabrera fans, at least they don't have strained quadriceps.

Alex Rodriguez and Chipper Jones, on the other hand, do. They both left their games early Sunday with the exact same injury, which is a bit strange -- and really, that strangeness might be the primary inspiration for this entry. But for a guy who has either Chipper or A-Rod (or both) as his third baseman on pretty much every Fantasy team, you can understand how these two incidents might weigh heavily on my mind right now.

But neither player seems particularly concerned or thinks he'll miss any real time. You can certainly understand in Chipper's case. He only aggravated a preexisting strain, and he played fine with the original one, batting .560 (14-for-25) with five home runs over his previous six games.

"I just didn't want to take any more chances than I had to," Jones said. "It was knotting up on me just standing around today. I woke up sore and just didn't get loose."

Manager Bobby Cox equally dismissed the strain, saying Jones is questionable for Monday's game against Washington but that the injury is "nothing that's going to have him out any length at all."

A-Rod is a different story. He hasn't had an injury like this one since high school.

"I'll get some rest, wake up and see how it feels," he said. "I'll treat it all day. I have a heat pad, sleep on that, then ice it, and do treatment all day and let it roll." Asked how long he expected to be out, the third baseman replied, "I haven't had an injury like this in a long time, so I'm hoping no time in a perfect world. Let's see how I wake up."

So here's my point to all this: I'm not benching either of these guys -- no way. Am I concerned? Yes. Muscle injuries tend to linger, and rest is usually their only cure. I think both Chipper and A-Rod stand a better chance of missing a game or two than either of them let on, and if they don't miss any time now, they'll probably end up missing more later. I mean, Chipper's strain is the result of him not sufficiently resting a previous strain. Still, I can't bench either of them. I stand to lose too much. Their statistical upside is so great that ... well, just look at what Chipper did this week. He single-handedly carried a couple of my teams to victory.

Because of their injuries, I expect only half a week from Chipper and A-Rod. But Chipper is so hot and A-Rod is so good that I'll take half a week from either right now over a full week from just about any other third baseman. And unless you, for some reason, have Garrett Atkins or Aramis Ramirez as your backup, I suggest you do the same.

Then again, I've been wrong before. Take Jimmy Rollins.

See, the Phillies finally put Rollins on the 15-day DL after stringing us along with promises of "maybe tomorrow" for, oh, the last two weeks.

So I left him in my lineup ... and left him in my lineup ... and left him in my lineup ... taking zero after zero after zero after zero. But I couldn't bench him, right? He's the reigning NL MVP, and he's coming back ... maybe tomorrow.

And here's the most awesome part: Since Rollins just pinch hit Saturday, the Phillies couldn't make his DL stint retroactive to the day he got hurt, meaning he has to stay on the DL for the full 15 days.

And I love Phillies assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr.'s response to why the team didn't disable Rollins sooner:

"In retrospect, of course it was a mistake."

No, you think?

Oh well. At least you can take Rollins out of your Fantasy lineup once and for all, without all of this toeing-the-water nonsense. But good luck finding a shortstop who can replicate his production over the next two weeks. (In case you care, I scooped up Bobby Crosby in one mixed league.)

That's all for now.

(And just to preclude any scathing e-mails, yes, I would still rather have Wright or Cabrera than Chipper right now in Fantasy.)

I thought I'd dedicate another entry to a quick-paced list of observations from the previous night's box scores. In fact, I think I'll make this analysis a regular feature in my blog and call it "The Observations."

Nate McLouth homered again to increase his season-opening hit streak to 16 games -- and he actually has a hit already Saturday, so make that 17. He looks more legit with each passing day. Honestly, how did the Pirates not find a spot for this guy sooner? And how did Nyjer Morgan even stand a chance this spring?

I want to make this as clear as possible: Tim Redding's 10 strikeouts at the Marlins was a F-L-U-K-E. He set a career high and more than tripled his season high with the mark. He might have some value in NL-only leagues when going well, but he doesn't have the kind of ceiling to justify using him in mixed leagues.

Bill Hall just keeps hitting home runs, connecting for No. 6 Friday at Cincinnati. Of course, he can't do anything else. He's hitting .210 with 20 strikeouts. Still, he's making it awfully har