Coco Crisp - Crisp had four more hits last night, giving him ten in his last three games, and also boosting his July line to 366/430/606. This last flurry has bumped his 2007 line above last year's totals, and although he still has to be considered a disappointment for the Red Sox, the value that he is providing isn't that far off from expectations this year. Crisp is a decent player in depper mixed leagues and AL-only leagues, but isn't ever going to show enough pop to be a consistent performer in shallow mixed leagues.
Shaun Marcum - Interesting tidbit about Marcum: last night's start, in which he allowed three homers and four runs over six innings while picking up the win, was probably the second worst of his 14 starts this year. Marcum has always had problems with the long ball, and since he's allowed 19 this year in just over 100 innings, it's safe to say that particular issue hasn't gone away. He is keeping his BB/9 under 3.0 and his K/9 around 7.0, both respectable numbers, but not good enough (when combined with the huge HR totals) to justify an ERA under 4.00. Marcum has the ability to be a decent mid-rotation starter, but I would be surprised if his ERA didn't rise by about a half a run the rest of the way.
Luis Vizcaino - If your league rewards holds (and vulture wins), take a look at Vizcaino (who actually scored 54 points for me last week in a H2H league in which the average team of 25 active players probably scores 200 in any week). In his last ten appearances including last night, Vizcaino has gone 11 innings, allowing four hits, one unearned run, and no walks to go along with ten strikeouts. Oh, and he's also 4-1 with four holds. He has been incredibly impressive, shedding the control problems that plagued him through the first few months of the year, and in doing so he seems to have taken over the Tom Gordon "bridge to Rivera" role.
Andrew Miller - Miller showed the downside of his lack of control last night against Chicago, allowing fifteen baserunners in just 4 2/3 innings, but somehow working a no-decision out of the deal. Miller is allowing less than a hit per inning and striking out about eight men per nine, but the five walks per nine are absolutely inadequate, and lead me to believe that his future is more of a mid-rotation starter than that of an ace. Sure, there's Randy Johnson to compare him to, but there are a whole slew of other guys (Robbie Beckett, anyone?) that couldn't harness their stuff satisfactorily. A Monte Carlo simulation for Andrew Miller would be all over the place, I know that much.
Chone Figgins - Figgins continued his hot hitting with a single and four walks yesterday against the A's, bringing his averages up to 324/381/411 for the year. Figgins, with his reasonable on-base skills and speed, is more than just an empty batting average, but you have to be careful not to overvalue him as his power numbers are likely never going to be anything to speak of. It really depends on the type of format you utilize as to whether Figgins is an overvalued tradeable commodity or a solid starter.
