Gary Matthews- LAA- Hot- Matthews is continuing to show that, so far, the Angels were not out of their minds for signing him after what was thought to be a career year in Texas. With 206 at bats so far this year, Matthews is almost right at 1/3 of the 620 he tallied in 2006. This makes some comparisons easier. Interestingly, despite leaving hitter-friendly Arlington, Matthews, with 7 homers, is on pace to slightly exceed the 19 he hit last year. His 2 triples is exactly 1/3 of the 6 he recorded in 2006, so he's right on pace there. He is significantly ahead of his stolen base rate. Last year Matthews swiped 10 and was caught 7 times. This year he has already stolen 7 bases and only been nailed twice. It's true that Matthew's batting average has dipped, from .313 to .291. The difference can be found in his double ratio. Last year he recorded 44 two-baggers. If he had kept that rate this year, Matthews would have five more than the 10 he has hit. Change five outs to five doubles and his batting average goes up to .316. Will Matthews be able to keep it up over the long haul? He has not benefited from excess luck, as his BHIP is almost equal to that of last season. However, his Batting EYE has showed a significant drop, from .59 to .42. The dip is coming from both ends, a drop in walk rate and a rise in K rate. That does not bode well for avoiding a loss of production.
Erick Aybar- LAA- FYI- For those of you with 1-game eligibility, Aybar is now a third baseman. He started the game there yesterday in place of Chone Figgins. Unless Figgins gets his bat untracked, Aybar may get to be a third baseman in 5-game eligibility leagues before too long.
Ryan Shealy- KC- Hot- Shealy's 0-for-2 with a walk last night ended a modest 3-game hitting streak, but he is still batting a whopping .362 with a .412 OBP since coming off the DL earlier this month. Shealy's power numbers are still nowhere near what you want from a corner infielder, as only 3 of his 17 hits in this span have been for extra bases, and only one of them was a homer.
Felix Hernandez- SEA- Cold- Hernandez has yet to throw a quality start in his 4 outings since returning from the DL. Last night the heart of the Angels' order pounded him, going 9-for-12 with 2 homers. Hernandez gave up 3 homers in all as he was charged with 7 runs on 9 hits and a walk in 6 IP. Control was not a problem, as he only threw 34 balls out of 96 pitches, but he was hittable when going into the strike zone. Hernandez' recent performances really raise a question about whether he was rushed back too soon.
Jon Garland- CHA- Cold- Garland may have been feeling the effects of throwing too many pitches his last time out. He was not sharp and ended up walking 5 in the 6 innings he pitched, despite only throwing 39 balls in his 103 pitches. Minnesota batters were not getting blown away by Garland, as they fouled off 22 pitches and only struck out twice. Those fouls prolonged at bats and exacerbated any fatigue Garland was experiencing. He ended up getting charged with 6 runs on 5 hits. We'll have to see if a little rest after a more reasonable pitch count snaps him back.
There are over 100 player news blurbs posted in the member area each morning, members can read the rest of today's player news by clicking here link:www.fantistics.com/baseball00/. Not a member? Join today link:www.fantistics.com/join/join.php3
