Joe Blanton - Joe Blanton has been whining about the presence of rookie Kurt Suzuki behind the plate for his last few starts, but there are a few other factors at work in his last five starts that aren't likely the fault of Suzuki. First, the numbers: after working his way to a 3.09 ERA in his first 18 starts with well under a hit per inning despite a below-average K rate, Blanton's last five starts have totaled 32 IP, 52 H, 26 R, 24 ER, 2 BB, and 14 K. First of all, the left-side of the infield has gone from Crosby/Chavez (one of the best in recent memory defensively) to Murphy/Scutaro (no comment). Secondly, his K/9 have dropped from around 6.0 prior to July to around 4.0 during this streak. Thirdly, his GB% has dropped a reasonable amount in his last five starts. Finally, he's probably spending a bit too much time worrying about who is putting the signs down instead of what he is actually throwing. All of these things combined have resulted in a rotten month for Blanton, and it may end up getting him shipped out of town (a rumored trade with LA, with the Dodgers sending three better than average prospects to the A's, would seem far-fetched if Ned Colletti weren't the Dodger GM. Remember Pierznyski for Liriano, Bonser, and Nathan?) All in all, a guy like Blanton that possesses a below-average strikeout rate is always a minor flaw away from a month like this, and that's one of the main reasons why he shouldn't be considered a top-tier arm, and why a guy like Billy Beane would certainly consider sending him away for the right price. It isn't that Blanton is bad....on the contrary, he's an above average starter. He's just likely a bit overrated because of the combination of his excellent control, his ability to keep the ball down, and the tremendous Oakland defense (from their starters, anyway).
Scott Baker - Baker was dominant last night, holding the Royals to one batter over the minimum for eight innings (and only 99 pitches) in a 3-1 victory. Baker is now five for his last seven in quality starts, and has allowed no more than one walk in any of those seven outings. In a stunning repeat of the past, oh, five years or so, the Twins waited a few months into the season to realize that some combination of their younger players would do a better job than the retreads that they acquired to block them. In this case, the Garza/Baker/Slowey trio could easily have been expected to outperform Sir Sidney Ponson and Ramon Ortiz from minute one, yet the Twins seem to want to wait until they are ten games back every season to come to their senses. This year I think they've bitten off more than they can chew, but that doesn't mean that Baker and Garza in particular won't be helpful to you down the stretch. Baker is a mid-rotation guy in all likelihood, while Garza is a potential stud. Both are helping in most formats already, and can be expected to continue to do so going forward.
Alexi Casilla - The Twins are handing the 2B to Alexi Casilla in the wake of the Luis Castillo trade, banking on Casilla being a younger version of Castillo during the home stretch. I think that's overly optimstic, seeing as how Casilla hasn't really hit at all above A-ball yet and is already 23. Casilla will likely offer you some stolen bases if he can get on at all, and because the current alterenatives are Brian Buscher, Luis Rodriguez, and Nick Punto the leash might be a bit lengthy for Casilla, so he's worth a flyer if you have a glaring need. As you can tell, I'm not entirely optimistic.
Dustin McGowan - McGowan shut down the Rays for six innings last night in earning his seventh quality start in his last ten outings, and even though his performance was a bit lost in Carl Crawford's late-game heroics, you can't help but be impressed with the steps forward that McGowan has made this season. His control was really the only thing that was a negative during his minor league tenure, but he has been close to average in walks allowed so far in 2007, and more importantly he has increased his GB:FB ratio to 1.72, up almost 0.5 from his past two major league trials. Consequently, the homers are down substantially, allowing him to escape with his average control more often than not. He seemed to be pitching to contact a bit more last night, using his 94-96 mph sinking fastball to induce grounders instead of constantly going for the K. His changeup could use some work, but I think that McGowan is clearly a part of the front half of Toronto's rotation for the next five years.
Ben Zobrist - The trade of Jorge Cantu is going to open up a bit of playing time for the recently recalled Zobrist, who began the year as Tampa's starting SS but quickly lost the job to Brendan Harris after hitting .159 through his first 63 AB's. Zobrist is a fantastic defensive SS that has shown some solid on-base ability in his minor league career (.427 minor league OBP in 1249 AB's), but so far he has looked overmatched at the big league level, and he's already 26. He might be worth a flyer in deeper leagues as a reserve, but in all likelihood he's a 4-A type player that just isn't quite good enough to make an impact at the highest level. When a player's best skill in the minors is drawing a walk, that's generally a good indication that they will struggle if called up to the majors, because the pitchers at the top level just aren't going to give in to a player that can't hit their way on consistently.
Miguel Batista - Batista was magnificent last night in shutting down the Angels over seven innings, and even though his home/road splits aren't extreme for the entire season, he hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last five starts at Safeco. As hot as he's been, I would certainly consider putting him in for any of his home starts right now, regardless of the format. He's an average starter at best at this point in his career, but Safeco can turn even the average pitcher into someone worthwhile for fantasy purposes.
