Jeff Francoeur - 3/7 yesterday in the doubleheader to raise his AVG to .290. With his increased walk rate and a slight decrease in his K rate, there's plenty of reasons to believe that he's taken the next step forward in his career and will post an AVG above .280. With only 7 HRs, he's a bit behind his normal power pace, but the HRs should come.
John Smoltz - 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. A nice bounceback after leaving his last start early with pinky/shoulder issues. It looks like he's good to go moving forward.
Armando Benitez/Kevin Gregg - In a 5 run game, Benitez gave up a run in the 8th while Gregg pitched a scoreless 9th. Given Gregg still hasn't blown a save, his job still looks relatively safe...the polar opposite of how it looked at the time of the Benitez trade.
Miguel Cabrera - Posting a great line so far with a .320 AVG, 12 HR, 36 R and 41 RBI. His 12 HRs are a nice sign given that he only his 26 last year.
Matt Capps - 2/2 so far since being moved into the closer's role, with 2 perfect innings. He'll likely be a solid closer the rest of the year, but his K-rate (24 K in 31 1/3 IP) will hold him back from potentially being elite.
C.C. Sabathia - 9 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K. Just what his owners wanted to see against the weak KC lineup...dominance.
B.J. Upton - Just as I mentioned his power had quieted down, he slams a HR last night in going 4/6 with 3 R and 2 RBI. He continues to defy statistics by posting a .323 AVG with 65 Ks in 53 games.
Carl Crawford - 3/6 with 4 R, 3 RBI, a HR, and a SB. What a way to fill up a stat sheet. With 6 HRs so far, he's showing that last year's power surge during the 1st half of the season isn't out of character.
Roy Halladay - 3 1/3 IP, 12 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. Doesn't get much uglier than this. After an excellent return from the DL, he posts one of his worst outings of his season. Given how good he is when he's healthy, you can't help but wonder if something is bothering again.
Chase Utley - 3/4 with a HR, 1 R, and 3 RBI. He's right on pace for what we've come to expect from fantasy baseball's elite 2B.
Jose Reyes - SB #31. The 2008 fantasy baseball #1 pick? He's making a strong case for it...
Corey Hart - Pick him up. He stole his 9th base last night, including 4 in his last 7 games, along with his 3rd HR. He's now hitting leadoff for the Brewers with Weeks on the DL, and he'll retain solid value even when Weeks returns. He might even stay in the #1 hole, although that might be a bit of a long shot.
Ryan Braun - Overshadowed by Hunter Pence, Braun is definitely holding his own by hitting .311 with 3 HR, 2 SB, 8 R, and 8 RBI in 12 games. He's an outstanding keeper and is on his way to being a top 10 3B the rest of the year. He'll have his rookie bumps, so he'll probably be a bit better in rotisserie leagues.
Ted Lilly - 5 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. That's 3 straight outings of 5 or more ER. He'll likely settle back down, but no one would fault you if you benched him (depending on his matchup) for his next start.
Derrick Turnbow - More like Turnblow. He's blown up to a 4.62 ERA after starting the season on fire. He's hurting his chances to close if Cordero should go down.
Aaron Harang - 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. A solid outing for Harang, although his offense didn't do enough to get him a win.
Alex Rodriguez - 3/5 with an RBI double, RBI single, and solo HR. Hopefully the start of another April.
Mark Buehrle - 6 IP, 11 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. This is only his 3rd non-quality start since his first start of the year, so nothing to worry about here.
Ian Kinsler - Hope you sold high after his torrid April. He's back down to .241, although he did steal his 9th and 10th bases last night. He's gone from sell high to buy low, so I'd suggest making an offer for him if 2B is a weak spot in your lineup.
Eric Gagne - Still perfect in save situations. 7 BB in 13 IP is bad, but he's only allowed 5 hits.
Jason Hirsh - 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. One of baseballs unheralded young pitchers, he has the ability to turn into a fantasy factor, possibly next year. He had a very solid April, but fell apart in May. Hopefully he'll use that as a learning experience, so maybe a rebound is on the way.
Eric Byrnes - 2/3 with 2 BB last night, and he stole his 11th base. Up to .314, he's continuing his torrid pace against RHP (.331) which will hopefully allow him to turn in his first .300 season.
Chris Young (OF) - Hit his 7th HR last night. He's been absent since his groin injury, but hopefully this is a sign of a resurgence.
Matt Cain - 5 1/3 IP. 8 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 4 K. He's now up to 40 BB in 76 1/3 IP, and that has to come down for him to take the next step forward. He's walked at least 4 hitters in 6/9 outings.
Randy Johnson - 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. He continues his strong pitching, although his bullpen blew the lead for him last night.
Kelvim Escobar - 9 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Another outstanding start from Escobar. Given his history of arm problems, he's presenting quite a nice sell high window here before his next injury. If only he could stay healthy...
Chris Young (SP) - 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K. 14 scoreless innings in his last two starts, and like I said before, he's another sell high candidate due to his 2.19 ERA and history of fading in the 2nd half.
Jason Schmidt - 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Great start in his return from the DL. It was said he was hitting 90 MPH on the gun, which is a step up from before the injury, but given he was mid-90s a year or two ago, he won't be the dominant pitcher he once was.
Daisuke Matsuzaka - 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. He deserved the win, but the offense did absolutely nothing. It was nice to see him bounce back after 2 subpar outings, so it looks like he'll be just fine.
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