Scott White

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 hard for me to stand behind my prediction of 15-20 home runs.

David Purcey might have the cutest name in baseball, and considering he walked seven in his major-league debut against the Tigers, he did a pretty good job of damage control by allowing only one run in 4 1/3 innings. He blamed the wildness on nerves, which is understandable, I think. The Blue Jays only needed him for a spot start, so they sent him right back to Triple-A after the game, but they could always call on him again. Don't take him completely off your radar in AL-only leagues.

Pick up Cliff Lee if you haven't already. That is all.

I don't want to believe in Todd Wellemeyer, because his success just doesn't make any sense, but when a pitcher continues to strike out a batter per inning through four starts, at some point I have to come to accept he might really be a strikeout pitcher. Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan has orchestrated a few miraculous career turnarounds in the past, so why couldn't he do the same for a journeyman like Wellemeyer? I'm giving the 29-year-old right-hander one last start to come back down to earth, but if he dominates again, I have to pick him up wherever I can.

I think we can finally, finally say Conor Jackson has arrived as a power hitter. I know he's teased us in the past, but he did so by showing off his power stroke in the second half, not in April. After hitting a home run and two triples Friday, he's now slugging .750. He obviously won't maintain that percentage all season, but 25 home runs with a batting average around .320 or so looks like a distinct possibility.

I'm not willing to say this means anything for Fantasy purposes, but I can't help but see the humor in Daniel Cabrera's steadily decreasing walk totals. He started the season by issuing five free passes to the Rays on April 2 and has since issued exactly one fewer in each of his three successive starts, finishing with two Friday against the Yankees. If the pattern holds, he'll walk zero two starts from now, and after that, I guess he'll have to go negative. (Does that mean more strikeouts?) Of course, knowing Cabrera, he'll probably just bounce the other way after hitting zero, increasing his walk total by one each time out, which by my estimation, puts him at 26 in his final start of the season. Make note.

I know I have that Braves tomahawk in the upper-right-hand corner of this blog page, but maybe the rest of the country is starting to get a reminder of just how good Chipper Jones is. His injury problems the last few years have kind of taken him out of the spotlight, but hitting two home runs on back-to-back days has no doubt put himself back in it. We're nearing the end of April, and he's hitting .455 with six home runs -- numbers that dwarf those of the other hot starters, like Derrek Lee, Pat Burrell and McLouth. Since the beginning of July 2006, Chipper, in 740 at-bats -- about a full season for Jimmy Rollins, mind you -- is hitting .355 with 53 home runs.

And I bet you didn't want to draft him, right?

That's all for now.