The big ninth-inning story in baseball
right now plays out
north of the border in
Where do you want to look? K/9? Over the
last three seasons
we have 7.11, 7.47, 9.18 … BB/9? … 4.7, 3.3, 3.0
… WHIP? … 1.46, 1.27, 1.28 …
And you know what? So far in 2007 all of
those indicators
are better than they were last year. There is every reason to believe
that
Jason is up for the job and will hold on to the 9th
inning until
Ryan returns unless he simply needs a night off as he did last Sunday.
The only question left is how long Ryan will be out. The range of possibilities is wide in this instance. The current estimate is 4-6 weeks but we are dealing with a ligament sprain, which could ultimately result in Tommy John surgery if things do not go well.
The good news is that no less an authority
than Dr. James Andrews says there
are no
tears in his elbow ligament and the Jays have successfully rehabbed
similar
injuries to A.J. Burnett and Gustavo Chacin without surgery.
The bottom line is that Jason is a worthy claim in all formats, and could pay dividends long term if Ryan’s condition fails to improve.
In
If you need to spec claim for saves Taylor Tankersley still isn’t a bad guy to have at this point should Owens fail.
Coming up behind the two of them is Matt Lindstrom who pitched a scoreless
inning last night for the
Marlins. Matt struck out 70 in 58.2 IP in 2006 over two minor league
levels for
the Mets. In AA Lindstrom pitched 40 innings striking out 54. The rub
is that
he walked 14 and allowed 42 hits for a 1.38 WHIP. His BHIP% in the
minors was
unusually high but the walks are still an issue.
Matt doesn’t warrant much attention unless
Owens and/or Tankersley fail but I’m just bringing up the
name now to get him
on your radar. In leagues that score holds, Matt could be a source for
that
column over the next couple of scoring periods.
Joakim Soria collected his first MLB win last night going two strong innings against the Tigers. He struck out 4 after entering the game with the score tied in the 9th and the Royals won it in the 10th. He threw 31 pitches but the Royals have an off day today so Soria should be available for a save opp on Friday if needed. David Riske remains the Royals second option but Soria looks secure for now as he fills in for Octavio Dotel. Dotel appears to be at least two weeks away at this point with an oblique. We’ll keep you posted.
In
Manny went a scoreless inning last night allowing just a hit. That gets him to 7.2 IP overall this season allowing just 1 run (1.17) with 7 Ks and 2 walks while allowing just 4 hits. He got 8.2 IP in AAA last year but spent most of his time in AA saving 19 games in 34 appearances. Manny struck out 35 in 36.2 IP (8.5/9) allowing just 4 walks (0.9/9) and 22 hits (an 0.71 WHIP). The kid throws ground balls as well.
Again, Fuentes seems solid for the
The Reds claim the dreaded bullpen by
committee but David Weathers is
certainly the
Chairman. Weathers has been handed all the Reds save opps this year and
gone 5-
for -5. Mike Stanton has been shaky
and Todd Coffey and Kirk
Saarloos may be the bridesmaids in
Al Reyes
has
managed to drive a couple of nails into the closers role in
Finally, the Phillies have shaken up their staff giving Jon Lieber a rotation slot and sending Brett Myers to the bullpen to set up Tom Gordon. It is mind boggling, but there it is. Brett pitched a scoreless inning last night in his relief debut but allowed two hits. Myers probably moves to first in line behind Gordon in the closer’s role but Gordon is secure while healthy, and it is hard to imagine the Phillies won’t come to their senses on this one very soon.
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