Mark Hendrickson
No, Mark Hendrickson isn't going to carry the Dodgers to the pennant or fantasy owners to their league title, but he's looking like a nice little bargain right now. Last season, Hendrickson lost his rotation spot due to his 5-15 record and 4.44 ERA (including a mediocre 1.47 K:BB and 0.56 K/I). He seemed to find new life as a reliever with a 0.84 ERA and 12/3 K/BB in 11 2/3 innings. He was putting up more solid numbers out of the bullpen this year with a 1.64 ERA through 11 innings and an 11/1 K/BB. Moved into the rotation in place of the injured Jason Schmidt, Hendrickson tossed 5 2/3 solid one-run innings against the Rockies in his first start. On Saturday, manager Grady Little announced that Hendrickson would indeed get another start, but that it wouldn't come until April 28. He'll work out of the bullpen until then, and by April 28, the Dodgers will have a better idea on Schmidt's status.
Oliver Perez
Well, so much for Perez falling off the map after his last start (2 2/3 IP, 7 BB). Perez looked sharp on Saturday in beating the Braves for the second time this season. He did allow nine hits in 6 2/3 innings, but Perez allowed single runs in the sixth and seventh innings and the key to his success - no walks and nine strikeouts. For the season, Perez has a 1.04 K/I and all seven of his walks came in the same game. Perez is very unlikely to approach his 2004 season (2.99 ERA, 239 K's, 1.22 K/I), but if he can develop some consistency in his mechanics, a solid season should be in the works.
Chuck James
James has continued to defy statheads who point to his 0.60 minor league GB/FB rate, but despite an even more concerning 0.50 last year in his first full major league season, James managed a 3.78 ERA and an 11-4 record. Prior to Saturday, James' success was continuing with a 2.25 ERA through his first three starts, but Saturday was a different story. Facing the Mets, James surrendered six runs on 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings with three of those 10 hits being home runs. Only two of the 16 outs James recorded were ground balls, pretty much par for the course with him. Those sort of component numbers tend to catch up with you at some point as they did with James on Saturday. Finally, you like to see a K/BB in the 3/1 range, but James' was a tick less than 2/1 last year (91/47 K/BB). Those hoping James develops into a #2 type starter had best temper their expectations.
Jason Marquis
The great start for Jason Marquis continued on Saturday, as the Cubs right-hander shut out the Cardinals for seven innings, allowing seven hits, no walks, and five strikeouts. The lack of walks is significant, as Marquis entered the game with an 8/9 K/BB over 17 innings in this first three starts. He lowered his ERA to 1.88 on the season. In case you were wondering whether Marquis had a history of fast starts, he has April ERAs of 3.73, 3.27, and 5.04 the last three years. July has been his best month. As awful as Marquis was last season for the Cardinals (6.02 ERA, 4.5 K/9, but somehow 14 wins - nice run support), he did have ERAs of 3.71 and 4.13 the preceding two years and with the confidence he's shown to date, it's easy to see another 13-15 wins and an ERA near 4.00, especially if he's able to continue generating ground balls (1.65 GB/FB so far this year vs. 1.16 in 2006). It's very noteworthy that after allowing 35 home runs last season, Marquis has not surrendered a single big fly in 2007.
Edgar Gonzalez
Gonzalez probably sealed Micah Owings' Triple-A fate (once Owings comes off the DL) this Saturday by tossing seven strong innings in a losing effort against the Giants. Gonzalez allowed just one run on five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts, the lone run being a Barry Bonds home run. Gonzalez was sharp all game, throwing 69 of his 98 pitches for strikes in lowering his ERA from 5.40 to 4.26. Though Gonzalez's career record is just 6-15 and this was his first quality start of the year in four attempts, he's now struck out seven twice and is sporting a fine 21/5 K/BB in 25 1/3 innings. The six home runs allowed speaks to where his troubles have come from this year, and unfortunately that number is right in line with his career HR/9 rate of an alarming 2.2. Gonzalez is generating more ground balls this year (1.41 GB/FB vs. 1.11 career rate), so Arizona has to hope the home runs become less frequent.
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