Scott White

No day is better made for The Observations than SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!

Here's the mother-approved edition:

Aaron Boone has started over Nick Johnson on consecutive Sunday afternoons against consecutive left-handed pitchers. Which is the deciding factor?

Dan Uggla hit two home runs Sunday and has three in his last two games, bringing his season total to a Chase Utley-like 11. Of course, he also has a Ryan Howard-like 39 strikeouts and a Ray King-like Jabba-the-Hut neck. Sorry, I should have thought of another Phillie. I have a hard time believing he'll sustain his .279 batting average, but he is only 28. We'll what kind of improvements he can make.

Streaky, streaky Carlos Beltran is about to go bananas, I foresee. He went 5-for-11 over the weekend with four extra-base hits, including his third home run Sunday. What are the chances he ends May with fewer than 10?

Johnny Cueto didn't look great-o, but I suggest you wait-o before beginning to debate-o because of the rate-o at which he gets the ball over the plate-o.

... And now you know why I can't get a date-o.

OK, so Ervin Santana had a bad start on the road just like he did all of 2007. Don't look too much into it. His shutout last start came on the road, and he entered Sunday's game with a 2.54 ERA on the road.

So who gets the first save for the Brewers after Eric Gagne gets ousted? Why, Brian Shouse, of course. Unless your league has a category for headaches, avoid the Brewers bullpen situation if at all possible.

You might have missed it, but Ryan J. Braun's two home runs Sunday came on the heels of two consecutive multi-hit games. Surely, you didn't bench him, but might he finally start to reward you? (For the record, don't count on him replicating last year's stats.)

I don't care how many times Brian Bannister two-hits (part of speech: verb) a team, he is not a Fantasy ace. OK, I do care, but two doesn't set the mark for me, especially when he has so many crummy starts in between.

Jose Guillen is batting .571 over his last four games. I'm just saying don't forget about him. Once he gets going, he can help you in Rotisserie for sure.

So much for Sidney Ponson.

I don't know how long he can sustain this pace, but Emil Brown's 33 RBI are awfully impressive for a guy with a wimpy .721 OPS. As many OBP guys as Oakland will bat in front of him, I could see the trend continuing to an extent. Then again, I can proudly say I don't own Brown in any Fantasy league.

Rich Harden's third start had a stunning correlation to Spider-Man 3. More buildup than the first two, and for what? Really, what?

Don't look now, but Kerry Wood has allowed one baserunner over his last five appearances. With the Cubs looking good and him looking healthy, I'm looking his way with saliva running down my chin.

A favorite of mine, Jonathan O. Sanchez, has now gone less than six innings in three straight starts, walking a total of 13 batters over that stretch. His ERA is now 4.89 and I'm quickly losing faith. Anyone who strikes out more than a batter per inning deserves an extra look, though, so I'm not giving him the ax yet, not even in my 10-team Head-to-Head league.

For all the J.J. Putz owners out there upset about him just now getting his third save, remember he didn't get his first last year until April 23. He made up for lost time then.

Blake Dewitt is the ... well, like I said, mother-approved edition. Let's just say I like what he's doing. With three more hits Sunday, he has a batting average of .323 and an unheard-of-for-a-rookie 12-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio. I'm not so sure I want Andy LaRoche to take the job from him.

That's all for now.