Fri May 25, 2012 1:01am
By Keith Hernandez

KFFL.com's Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market gives you candid reviews and ratings of fantasy baseball players making MLB news in your rotisserie or head-to-head baseball leagues. Are they trade bait or worth your FAAB dollars in your fantasy baseball games? Milwaukee Brewers starter Marco Estrada (right quadriceps strain) hit the disabled list Thursday after injuring himself running the bases in his start against the San Francisco Giants. Manager Ron Roenicke expects Estrada to miss three of four starts as he recovers. Manny Parra, who didn't pitch at all last season in the bigs due to back and elbow injuries, is expected to be called upon to replace Estrada in the rotation. His first fill-in start would take place Tuesday, May 29, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Parra, who is 0-1 with a 3.70 ERA with 25 K's and nine walks in 24 1/3 frames this year, has largely been inconsistent in his four-year career with the Brew Crew. The 29-year-old southpaw has started in just over half of his 129 career outings - mostly as a swingman/spot starter/innings eater - and has posted an ERA of 5.06. | Parra | | 10-tm mixed | Pass | | 12-tm mixed | Pass | | 15-tm mixed | Pass | | NL-only | Consider | | It isn't a lock that Parra will replace Estrada in each of the starts that he misses, though, and Roenicke even suggests that another arm could be combined with Parra to get through those contests: 'Maybe we'll try to piggyback somebody with (Parra),' Roenicke said. 'We'll make sure we've got somebody behind Manny that can give us some length.' The Brewers would be wise not to expect much out of Parra in this stopgap starting pitching role - and you shouldn't either - since he hasn't started a game since late August of 2010. He's also fared much better in his career as a reliever (3.34 ERA) with a K/9 of 9.59 compared to a starting ERA of 5.44 and K/9 of 8.05. If Parra doesn't work out initially, promoting Wily Peralta from Triple-A Nashville would be another option. Peralta is much more intriguing in the role, but based on how short his shelf life would likely be, he's probably not a realistic option unless Estrada has a setback. Don't let Estrada's 4.50 ERA in his six starts this year scare you off. He's been severely plagued by the long ball this year (17.3 percent HR/FB rate). His dominance and command have seen positive trends in the past three seasons, and his 8.50 K/9 is serviceable in deep mixed leagues. His splits suggest he's best served in a starting role, and he'll likely have the opportunity to jump back in once he returns from this injury. Remember, Chris Narveson (shoulder) is out for the season after having surgery to fix his labrum and rotator cuff, and Milwaukee may not have any options more intriguing than Estrada. |