Aaron Cook was dealt his 2nd loss of the season with a 7.0 IP, 5 ER performance against the Cardinals last night. It was his first loss since April 19th and his QS % is now 58%, 7-for-12. Cook is an NL-only guy that gets some mixed-league love from a pitch-and-ditch standpoint. Maybe its because he pitches in Colorado, but Cook still posts a 4.31 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. His strikeout numbers are basically non-existent with a K/BB of 1.08 and a K/9 of 3.2. But because Cook is a solid groundball pitcher with a GB/FB of 2.5 in 2007 (160 GB : 64 FB), he keeps the ball in the park with a HR/9 of 0.57 and gives the Rockies and your fantasy team a decent shot to earn the W.
A good sign from Lance Berkman on Thursday - he hit his first HR since May 9th. His OPS has dropped all the way to .740 on the season and, after hitting homeruns in three consecutive games at the beginning of May, he has shown little power. After averaging a HR for every 11.9 AB in 2006, he's on a pace of 30.0 for the season. His FPI has suffered, dropping from superstar levels of 0.87 down to a sub-.60 level. So what can you do other than be patient? I think we are all in agreement that he probably won't end the season with a HR/AB of 30.0. While its easy to say that most slumping hitters will begin to return to their normal production at some point in the season, there are also always a few outliers who simply have down years. Another few weeks of this kind of production and I'm going to start thinking in those terms for Berkman. For now, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but he needs to turn it around soon.
Ryan Zimmerman has had his struggles, but has shown some pop recently. With his 7th HR of the season last night against the Dodgers, he posted 6 in May and 3 in the last 10 days. Zimmerman's glaring deficiency is his righty/lefty split. Take a look at his performance against lefties and he's great - .360 average, .418 OBP, and .958 OPS. Against lefties, he's hitting just .213, .278 OBP, and .651 OPS. The oddity here? 6 of his 7 HR have come against righties. Not sure the cause of the occasional power against righities other than the possible hanging curveball to Zimmerman (if you have any theories, feel free to e-mail me with them).
As Lou mentioned in yesterday's closer report, Brad Hennessy is the next-in-line candidate to assume the closer role in San Francisco now that Armando Benitez has been traded. He got the save opportunity on Wednesday night against the Mets and pitched a perfect 9th. Hennessey has been a decent middle-reliver for the Giants this season, posting a 2.82 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and a BAA of .226. He's the logical guy to get the job for now. It won't be Randy Messenger who was just traded from the Marlins to the Giants for Benitez. And it certainly won't be the rookie Tim Lincecum, as some rumors have suggested. If you're chasing saves, Hennessey is a decent option if he hasn't been grabbed in your league yet.
Mike Cameron is part of an inside joke between some friends and myself. He burned me a couple of years ago when he hit 5 HR in week in a head-to-head matchup. Since then, whenever I pick him up, he's good for 0-for-4 (it happened again last Thursday). So, not learning my lesson, I picked him up off the free agent wire for a Thursday fill-in yesterday. The streak is broken! Cameron broke out in a big way, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, a homerun, and 2 RBI. Its been a tough season for Cameron and he hasn't been able to put it all together for an extended period of time. But he has 6 hits in the last two games and is beginning to show some signs of life. Power and SB potential is a valuable combo for the fantasy playoffs. If he can bounce back and have a good 2nd half, he'll be worth the risk today.
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