Some notes from the first week of MLB action, including Blackmon, Solarte, Bonifacio, Belt, Eovaldi, K-Rod and more. Charlie Blackmon, CF, Colorado - A 27-year-old who just surpassed 500 career plate appearances, Blackmon hit .309 with an .803 OPS in 82 games last season, and has opened this year with 13 hits in 24 at-bats (.542). As long as he hits, and a minor-league batting average of .309 with an .843 OPS in 2222 plate appearances is an indication that is a possibility, then Blackmon should stay ahead of Drew Stubbs in the Rockies outfield rotation. Josh Hamilton, LF, L.A. Angels of Anaheim - After last seasons flameout, Hamilton is an interesting rebound option in 2014. Remember, hes one season removed from 43 homers, 128 RBI and 103 runs scored for Texas. In the crazy small sample of the first week, Hamilton has at least been showing a touch more plate discipline, with 12.5% swinging strikes his lowest rate since his rookie year in 2007. Yangervis Solarte, 3B, N.Y. Yankees - 26-year-old rookie flew under the radar when the Yankees added veteran infielders Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts in the offseason, but Solarte hit .429, with a 1.061 OPS in the spring, hitting .282 with a .736 OPS at Triple-A over the past couple seasons. Hes off to a nice start (8-for-17, .471 AVG, 1.232 OPS) for the Yankees; certainly fortunate with a .500 batting average on balls in play, but also making a lot of contact, with only 2.7% swinging strikes. Chris Colabello, DH, Minnesota - The 30-year-old DH had his first major league plate appearances last year, when he hits .194 with a .631 OPS in 181 plate appearances for the Twins, but he mashed in the minors (24 HR, .352 AVG, 1.066 OPS in 89 GP at AAA last year) and is off to a strong start this year, leading the American League with 11 RBI while hitting .391 with a 1.112 OPS. Hes been more fortunate (.500 BABIP) than can be expected, but Colabello also has higher line-drive and flyball rate, with a lower groundball and infield flyball rate compared to last season. Xander Bogaerts, SS, Boston - Coming into the year as the leading candidate for AL Rookie of the Year, 21-year-old Bogaerts hasnt done anything to slow down that talk, hitting .381 with a .956 OPS, hitting fifth in the Red Sox lineup. Emilio Bonifacio, CF, Chicago Cubs - Its a wonder that a player with a .628 OPS over the previous two seasons would be playing regularly, but such is the situation with the Cubs, and 28-year-old Bonifacio is off to a blazing start, hitting .500 with a 1.120 OPS and tied for the MLB lead with four steals. Bonifacio has always been valuable on the bases, stealing 98 bases on 120 attempts (81.7%) in the previous three seasons, but he hasnt always been able to hit enough to hold down an everyday job. Mark Trumbo, LF, Arizona - Over the last three years, four players -- Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Beltre, Jose Bautista and Jay Bruce -- have hit more home runs than Trumbos 95, and hes crushed five in nine games to start the year. Trumbo, whose outfield defence is not a strength, is hitting enough that he wont have any concerns over playing time. Brandon Belt, 1B, San Francisco - The progress has been steady, if sometimes slow, for the 25-year-old first baseman, but Belt has mashed four home runs early. Not to rain on his parade, since Belt is a nice breakout candidate, but hes been unusually aggressive at the plate early, seeing fewer pitches per plate appearance (3.65) than his standard (3.96 for his career) and hasnt walked once in 31 plate appearances. Yovani Gallardo, RHP, Milwaukee - Responsible for murdering fantasy teams (including one of my own) last season, when he had a career-high 4.18 ERA, Gallardo emerged unscathed from his first two starts. Dont get too carried away with the praise, however, as his strikeout rate (seven in 12 2/3 IP) is way low and hes been fortunate enough to strand every runner thats reached base against him. Nate Eovaldi, RHP, Miami - A 3.46 ERA in two starts is nice for the 24-year-old, but there are more promising results in underlying numbers. For one thing, Eovaldi has been a hard thrower who struggled to miss bats in the past and his average fastball is still up near 96 MPH, but hes missed more bats, and his 14 strikeouts in 13 innings (9.7 K/9) is far better than the 179 strikeouts in 260 1/3 innings (6.4 K/9) to start his career. Francisco Rodriguez, RHP, Milwaukee - The 32-year-old received the early closing opportunities for the Brewers, while they waited for Jim Henderson to find his form. Even without great velocity, K-Rod has six strikeouts in three innings, with a couple of saves, so its not like the Brewers figure to be rushing him out of the role. Pedro Strop, RHP, Chicago Cubs - A 28-year-old journeyman with four career saves entering the year, Strop is pushing Jose Veras, who has six walks in 1 2/3 innings, for the closers role with the Cubs. Strop throws hard enough, though hes been slider-heavy in the early going this year. Jose Valverde, RHP, N.Y. Mets - With word that Bobby Parnell is undergoing Tommy John surgery, the Mets closer role is open for 36-year-old Valverde, who busted out of the role in Detroit last season after allowing six home runs in 19 1/3 IP. With six strikeouts in 3 1/3 IP, Valverde is off to a good start in that spot, but has spent a career walking the high wire as a closer who rarely makes it look easy. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Hydro Flask Black Friday Sale . And I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of my experiences gained through International competition and the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Seven NHL referees and six linesmen will be assigned upcoming games in Sochi by the IIHF as part of their 28-man officiating roster comprised of 14 refs and 14 linesmen. Hydro Flask Cyber Monday Sale .J. -- Tom Coughlin doesnt have many options at halfback for the winless New York Giants. http://www.waterbottleblackfriday.com/. "Its not done, but its a huge step," Hannover general manager Dirk Dufner said. Poor defending allowed the visitors to score in the second minute, when Leon Andreasens header from Christian Panders cross sent the ball inside the far post. Swell Black Friday . On Saturday, the paths of Drew Tate and Kevin Glenn cross again as opposing quarterbacks. Swell Black Friday Sale . According to the sportsbook BoDog, the Stampeders are 8/5 favourites to take home the Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on November 24.BEAVER CREEK, Colo. -- The new Beaver Creek downhill course features a gliding section near the start for a skier to drop into a tuck and build speed. There are technical turns in the middle, followed by a steep part -- maybe the steepest on the World Cup circuit -- and then a giant jump at the finish. An ideal course for Lindsey Vonn -- if she were here, of course. The four-time overall World Cup champion was supposed to make her return this week from a serious right knee injury she suffered in a crash last February. But after hurting her knee again in a training mishap last week, Vonn will sit out to rest and rehab because everything she does is with an eye toward the Sochi Games, which are less than three months away. Her fellow competitors spent the morning learning the nuances of a challenging course called "Raptor" in downhill training on Tuesday, with Lara Gut of Switzerland posting the fastest time of 1 minute, 43.42 seconds. No Vonn now, but there is a chance she could be in the starting gate on Dec. 6 in Lake Louise, Alberta, a venue thats treated her so well that its playfully dubbed "Lake Lindsey." At least, U.S. womens head coach Alex Hoedlmoser remains hopeful that Vonns ailing right knee will be ready for a return to racing in time for Lake Louise. "Its all going to be determined on how her knee feels," Hoedlmoser said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Its up to her. Shes the only one who knows how her knee feels." Hoedlmoser was there the day of Vonns crash at the speed centre in Copper Mountain last Tuesday, when she tumbled going from sunshine into the shade on a tricky part of the hill. Vonn partially tore one of the reconstructed ligaments in her surgically repaired knee. The reigning Olympic downhill champion will continue to go through therapy on her knee and hasnt ruled out Lake Louise. Her good friend and rival, Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, visited with Vonn the other day just to lift her spirits. She fully expects to see Vonn back sooner rather than later. "Shes of course sad she cant be here," said Hoefl-Riesch, who turned in the eighth-fastest training time on Tuesday, 1.01 seconds behind Gut. "But she was positive because shes not out for the season and that she maybe can come back next week already. If anyybody is strong enough in the head, its her.dddddddddddd" This new course -- the site of the 2015 world championships -- appears well suited for Vonn given all the terrain changes. Heres some of the feedback on the hill from the fastest skiers on the circuit: -- "Its quick. A lot of switches are quick and a lot of technical turns -- intimidating sections. Its got a little bit of everything. Its pretty awesome," American Julia Mancuso said. -- "Its really cool. But its one of the hardest," said Austrias Anna Fenninger, who had the second-best overall time. -- "Its one of the most difficult downhills in the World Cup. I love it. Its great," Hoefl-Riesch said. -- "Every downhill in the world should be like that," Gut said. And yet the reigning World Cup downhill champion wasnt around to enjoy it. "I feel really sorry what happened to her," said Slovenias Tina Maze, who captured the overall crown last season by accumulating a record 2,414 points. "We all wish her all the best. You want healthy competitors." Especially one with the instant name recognition of Vonn, who just so happens to be dating golfer Tiger Woods as well. She was way ahead of schedule from the torn ACL she suffered during a high-speed crash at the world championships last February before wiping out again. "Lindsey for sure is very important for Alpine skiing," said Atle Skaardal, the womens race director for the International Ski Federation (FIS). "Thats very tough for everybody. These things happen. Its difficult to avoid. Its a sport where we have speed involved and, unfortunately, accidents happen even though we have a lot of different projects running to make the sport as safe as possible. Something can always happen." The timetable for Vonns return is completely up to her, Hoedlmoser said. Theres no rush for a return even with Sochi rapidly approaching. "Even if it comes down to that shes not going to be able to do much racing before (the Olympics), were for sure going to bring her to do training runs (in Sochi) and then decide from there," Hoedlmoser said. Possible for Vonn not to ski all season and still compete at a high level in Sochi? "Yes," Hoedlmoser said. "Because shes the best in the world." ' ' '