Brandon Phillips:
Well I mentioned Dan Uggla last week as "one of"the 2b I missed on this season, the other one I was referring to was Brandon Phillips. Phillips was similar to Uggla in that they each came seemingly out of nowhere to post very impressive numbers their first time through the league, then as the season wore on both players struggled mightily. I interpreted this as the league catching up on them, unfortunately for my predictions it seems both players have made the necessary adjustments to be successful major leaguers. This year Phillips has improved his overall power numbers across the board while showing the same propensity for running that he did last season. The result is a 20-20 threat out of the 2B position and an extremely valuable commodity for fantasy owners. Phillips poor EYE suggests he could struggle in the batting average department ultimately settling in between .265-.275, but that's certainly manageable given the tremendous power-speed combination he brings at a thin position.
Bronson Arroyo:
After allowing back to back HR's to begin the game Bronson Arroyo settled down to limit the Mets to only 1 more run in his 7 innings of work. Arroyo finished with his 4th quality start in a row allowing 3 ER's on 8 hits and a BB in his 7 innings of work while striking out 3. I continue to recommend buying low on Arroyo who's 2007 numbers have been destroyed by a 6 game stretch that came directly after the Reds left Arroyo to die on the mound throwing 130 pitches. If you remove that 6 game stretch where Arroyo was seemingly feeling the effects, Arroyo's numbers are: 2.83 ERA, 1.26 WHIP. Arroyo's essentially been the same pitcher he was last year but was abused by Jerry Narron and then forced to struggle through a 6 game stretch pitching through arm fatigue. He's fine and should be counted on to provide solid numbers the rest of the way even on a bad team.
Orlando Hernandez:
El Duque was solid again on Thursday night despite running up his pitch count early in the game. El Duque finished allowing 2 ER's in his 6 innings of work. He allowed 3 hits and 3 BB's while striking out 7 and improved his record to 5-4. Hernandez has had quite a few things working in his favor this season as a .77 Strand Rate and .221 BHIP% against has helped keep his overall numbers down this season. While Hernandez has some nice K potential and W potential playing for the Mets he's not *this* good and should be treated as a potential sell high candidate. His low 3's ERA and sub 1.20 WHIP aren't in line with his normal levels of production, expect some regression going forward.
Geovanny Soto:
Soto is reportedly being called up to take Felix Pie's roster spot when the Cubs open up the 2nd half of their season against the Astros. Soto's an intriguing prospect in deeper leagues as he's absolutely mashed AAA pitching this year to the tune of .341-.412-.584. Soto's never hit for this kind of power at any stop in the minor leagues but always seemed to be playing at a level above his age. At 24, in his 3rd season at AAA, Soto appears to be putting it together. Word is he'll catch Carlos Zambrano on Friday and with the Cubs struggling to get any offense out of their catching duo of Hill and Bowen, there's ample opportunity for Soto. He's only worth consideration in the deepest of leagues right now, but he's someone to keep an eye on because of how ridiculously hot he's been at AAA all season.
Tom Gordon:
There has to be some concern after Tom Gordon's most recent rehab outing in which he recorded only 1 out and allowed 5 earned runs in rookie league action. Gordon reportedly said he felt fine after the game but allowing 5 earned runs to rookie leaguers isn't very inspiring. This could be considered a setback for Gordon in the short-term and I wouldn't expect to see him activated from the DL this weekend as was hoped.
