In most head to head leagues playoffs are now starting.  Now is the time that decides championships.  Who to start, who to sit?  It’s so important to look at your pitching matchups now.  When deciding who you’re going to sit, look at each team’s schedule, know how many games they play that week, look to see if your offensive player is going up against a few tough matchups.  Check to make sure your young pitchers will actually pitch and haven’t been sat down.  You don’t want to fall asleep at the wheel now.

The Yankees will now allow Joba Chamberlain to pitch more than three innings in a start as they prepare him for postseason play, but not much more.  He pitched four innings against the Angels on Monday night, and may go five in his next start.

The enigma that is Daisuke Matsuzaka will start on Tuesday for the Red Sox.  Daisuke is pretty much auditioning for a starting spot in the postseason with these starts.  Jon Lester, John Beckett, and Clay Buchholz are the clear top three starters with Matsuzaka and Wakefield in the running for the final spot.

What has happened to the Rays?  11 straight losses, are you kidding me?  The offense has pretty much disappeared over the past few weeks.  Losing Carlos Pena for the season with a couple of broken fingers seems to have been the final nails in the coffin.  The big question is what to do with BJ Upton?  Rumors are flying around that he hasn’t been giving it his all the past week or so.  Lord knows he hasn’t hit at all since the All-Star break.  Could he be a player that needs a change of scenery?  Problem for the Rays is that Upton is not one of the players with a big salary that would reduce their payroll.  Trading him would still leave the team in a financial bind, and they would still have to discuss the possibility of trading Carl Crawford as well.

It doesn’t seem like anyone wants to win the American League Central.  The Tigers have been slumping of late, but neither the Twins nor the White Sox have taken advantage.  In all likelihood the Tigers will face the Yankees in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, and they can’t like the way they have played lately.  Jarod Washburn has been a bust since being acquired from Seattle.  Edwin Jackson has not been all that reliable of late.  Justin Verlander can only pitch two games in the first round. There will be a lot of pressure on him to win both of those games in order for the Tigers to advance.

Justin Morneau is killing a few fantasy teams right now with his slump/back injury.  Morneau who has had a fantastic season up until September has slumped badly with a bad back.  He is supposed to miss a game or two this week, forcing fantasy owners to bench him.  Bad timing for the Twins as they are having a tough time scoring runs without him.

For those of you that have held onto Jake Peavy, looks like you might get rewarded for a couple of starts late in the season.

You have to feel bad for the Texas Rangers.  They have been in a battle with the Red Sox for the wildcard position for a couple of months now, but the loss of Michael Young and Josh Hamilton the past couple of weeks and now the possibility of Kevin Millwood missing a start or two just may be too much for the Rangers to handle.  The good news is that both Young and Hamilton are hoping to return this coming weekend.

Ichiro Suzuki reached 200 hits for the ninth straight season, not to mention becoming the second fastest player to reach the 2000 hit plateau.  Would’ve been pretty interesting to see what might’ve happened to Pete Rose’s hit record if Suzuki played his entire career in the United States.

The Closer situation in Philadelphia is a mess to put it nicely.  Brad Lidge was finally removed from the role after blowing his 10^th save of the season.  Ryan Madson was given the job for the time being, but it wouldn’t surprise anyone if Brett Myers is also given a shot at the job.  Problem for fantasy owners is that you can’t roster them all, and it’s unlikely Madson keeps the gig all season.  As it was Lidge was given the chance to close out a game on Sunday, he got the save although gave up two runs in the process.  Myers was unavailable.  The Phillies want Lidge to be the closer as their bullpen is much stronger with him in that role, so there is little doubt he will get at least one more chance to regain that role.  If you’re going to claim Madson and or Myers, you will want to hold onto Lidge if possible.

Carlos Beltran and John Maine have returned for the Mets.  Yeah, I know it’s a little too late for them to help the Mets this season, but it gives the Mets a preview of how next season may go.  Carlos Delgado is also said to be close to returning.

Chipper Jones is said to be contemplating retirement after next season if he is unable to turn things around.  Chipper has had an injury plagued season that seems to have worn him down.  There are some rumors that he will be moved to First Base to take some wear and tear off his body.  That would mean that Adam Laroche won’t be back.

Alfonso Soriano has elected to undergo knee surgery that will end his miserable season.  He looked awfully old and slow this season and his contract in an anchor around the Cubs franchise right now.

If you’re thinking of starting Roy Oswalt this week, I’d think again.  The Astros want him to pitch, but Oswalt doesn’t think his back is well enough.  He could easily start and then leave the game after a few innings once again, not worth the risk.

Jay Bruce has been activated off of the disabled list.  He was only hitting for power before his wrist injury but will probably have a difficult time even doing that for the remainder of the season.  His value is only as a possible keeper right now.

The Dodgers pitching staff seems to be crumbling around them.  Chad Billingsley doesn’t look like he has any clue out on the mound right now.  His confidence has to be at a career low.  Clayton Kershaw still must recover from his dislocated shoulder that he received shagging fly balls in the outfield, and Randy Wolf is dealing with a sore elbow.  Joe Torre and company need to solve these problems if the Dodgers have any hope of advancing deep into the playoffs.

Tim Lincecum will start on Monday for the Giants.  Lincecum had a back injury last week, but actually may help fantasy owners this week in their playoffs as he is lined up for two starts.