Chris Duncan went yard for the 9th time this season and is quietly putting together a solid season of a 0.74 FPI. His HR rate is a solid 16.2 and is posting a .905 OPS while hovering around the .300 mark in batting average. A look at his 280 AB last year shows that his performance in 2007 has been very consistent. He is averaging a walk for every 10.1 PA, compared to 10.3 last season. The same consistency goes for K's, averaging a strikeout for every 4.5 plate appearances both in 2006 and 2007. Duncan has multiple position eligibility at 1B and OF, making him just a bit more valuable as well.
After back-to-back outings of getting roughed up, Barry Zito finally bounced back on Wedensday with a quality start 7.0 IP, 4 H, and 1 ER. Two trends concern me about Zito's 2007 compared to his previous two seasons. Check out his K/9 strike-out trend from 2005 to 2007: 6.74, 6.15, 4.70. You would think a move to the NL would at least stabilize this rate if not improve it. Now, let's take a look at his BB/9 trend during the same timeframe: 3.51, 4.03, 4.40. Ok, so we're talking about less strikeouts and more walks? Not exactly refreshing for fantasy owners hoping for better production out of the lefty now that he's made the move to the NL.
Ok - how many of you ran to the waiver wire late last night or early this morning to check if Ryan Church is still available in your league? Church knocked out 2 HR's and drove-in 6 RBIs in a solid 3-for-5 performance. He has been struggling with a bruised left forearm that started to swell again during the game, but it didn't seem to affect his hitting too much. Before last night's breakout, Church had struggled in May, entering the game with a .222 average for the month with no homeruns, 6 RBI, and a .649 OPS. He's worth a pick-up if last night's game was a sign of him getting hot, but his forearm injury could mean some inconsistent playing time over the next week or so.
The Kooz (Kevin Kouzmanoff) has turned around his season and is finally living up to his reputation. If you look at his full-season numbers, he still looks mediocre. But its time to play the monthly game - let's compare April to May. After hitting just .113 in April with a .354 OPS (I didn't think OPS could drop that far!), Kouzmanoff is hitting .349 in May with a 1.059 OPS, 2 HR, 14 RBI, and 8 extra base hits. San Diego management has trusted Kouzmanoff during this rough spell and the vote of confidence has certainly helped. He should be claimed in NL-only leagues and could be a nice fill-in for mixed leagues while he's swinging a hot bat.
Sean Marshall made a solid fill-in start for the Cubs on Wednesday, going 7.0 IP while giving up 2ER and striking out 8. He was handed the loss despite the quality start. With all of the pitching juggling going on the north side of Chicago the last of couple of days, speculation on any Cubs has some margin of error. However, it looks safe to consider him the starter for Monday's game against the Marlins, but it doesn't look like he'll be a two-start pitcher for the fantasy week. The Cubs have an off-day next Thursday that will probably keep Marshall limited to just one more start. He's worth a flier after this performance.
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