Twi-Night Doubleheader - Week 18

After a five-week hiatus (for personal reasons), we're back in business. Because of the hiatus, we'll do a player of the past week and a player of the past month.

Fantasy Players of the Week

• AL Hitter: Mark Teixeira, 1B, Yankees (.320, 5 R, 4 HR, 10 RBI) - Tex is slugging .724 in the month of August, a relief to everyone who drafted him early and watched him meander through the first three months of the season.
  
• NL Hitter: Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Rockies (.423, 7 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 3 SB) - Four multi-hit games in a week will generally put you in a good position to make my list.
  
• AL Pitcher: Brandon Morrow, SP, Blue Jays (2-0, 26 K, 3.14/0.84) - Morrow actually had a very average game against Tampa Bay on the 2nd (W, 5 ER, 9 K), but yesterdays' complete game 1-hitter with 17 strikeouts nudges him above Trevor Cahill, who gave up no runs in two starts but managed just 6 K over 17 innings.
  
• NL Pitcher: Ted Lilly, SP, Dodgers (2-0, 11 K, 2.77/0.54) - It was neck-and-neck between Lilly and Tim Hudson (2-0, 9 K, 0.64/0.93), but the extra strikeouts along with the insane 0.54 WHIP set Lilly apart. Also, what an impressive first two starts for Lilly after being traded to L.A. at the deadline. He looks like he'll be a nice acquisition down the stretch.
  

Fantasy Players of the Month

• AL Hitter: Jose Bautista, 3B, Blue Jays (.323, 21 R, 11 HR, 30 RBI, 1 SB) - Admit it. We all expected Bautista to fade away like so many other first-half phenoms. But he's hitting .260 now, after hitting just .233 through July 18th. Since then he's had eight multi-hit games, and his power hasn't faded at all, hitting ten home runs in that stretch. I don't know how to look at him going forward, but he's a superstar hitter right now.
  
• NL Hitter: Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Rockies (.375, 21 R, 9 HR, 20 RBI, 6 SB) - He's had three 4-hit games in the past two weeks, including a game in which he hit for the cycle. Most notable about that game is that his final hit was a walk-off home run. He's clearly not fazed by pressure.
  
• AL Pitcher: Francisco Liriano, SP (4-0, 39 K, 1.62/1.14) - Gavin Floyd has provided a nice rebound for loyal owners (or more likely speculative wavier-wire crawlers), but I'm going with Liriano. The extra strikeouts overcome the difference in ERA and WHIP in my book. The Twins will be counting on Liriano to anchor their staff (with Carl Pavano???) down the stretch.
  
• NL Pitcher: Roy Halladay, SP, Phillies (4-1, 49 K, 2.35/0.89) - As if I needed another reminder of how foolish it was for me to trade Halladay for a second round pick in our keeper league (which translates out to a 10th round pick in a normal league). I got backed into a corner, and nobody would trade for Ian Kinsler...oh who am I kidding, there's no excuse. Enjoy him if you've got him.
  

In case you were wondering, yes, this means I'm back. So look forward to a couple more posts later this week.