While Carlos Zambrano earned his 12th win in the opposing dugout, Matt Cain watched his record drop to 3-11. Of course, Cain didn't help his cause this time around, giving up 6 ER in just 4.0 IP against the Cubbies. His ERA has steadily increased from 3.15 in mid-June to 3.87. His WHIP also continues to climb and is currently at 1.38 with a .241 BAA. Don't get too irrational with Cain's performance, but you have to wonder what his W total is going to be at this point. If he can keep his ERA under 4.00 and his WHIP around 1.35, he should see more W's down the stretch, but I'd be shocked if he ends the season with more than 9.
Chris Capuano finally hurled a quality start, easing some of the concerns of fantasy owners of the Milwaukee management. He didn't factor into the decision against the D-Backs, but pitched 7.0 IP and gave up just 2 ER on 4 hits with 5 K's. The Brewers' hurler hadn't thrown a quality start since June 2nd, 5 starts ago because of his DL stint in June, and is only 4-for-12 in QS since the beginning of May. The one positive indication that shows Capuano could make a run at producing decent fantasy value is his solid GB/FB of 1.28 this year, the highest of his career. Last night's start is a good time for him to start turning the season around and for him to step up with Ben Sheets down for over a month. Capuano could be a nice buy-low option right now as the Brewers make a bid for a playoff appearance over the next couple of months.
I picked up Doug Davis for a spot-start last night and, despite the official quality start label for his 6.0 IP, 2 ER outing, it was one of the most stressful outings I have watched in quite some time. He only gave up 3 hits but allowed 5 walks with only one strikeout. He pitched himself out of trouble a few times, but the strikeout seems to have completely disappeared out of Davis' arsenal. Two years ago, Davis posted a K/9 of 8.4 followed by a 7.0 in 2006. This year, those numbers have dropped even further with a 6.1 K/9 and a K/BB of just 1.19. So why did I pick him to start yesterday's game? Well, he has been on a decent QS string lately. He now has 4 QS in the last 5 starts and his one non-QS wasn't terrible with 4 ER in 5.2 IP. I've never been a huge fan of Davis and now with the low K totals, his fantasy value drops significantly.
Marcus Giles will be benched for at least the next three games, according to Padres management. This isn't a huge surprise, considering Giles is hitting .149 in July and just .237 for the season. June wasn't much better either with a .208 average and a .286 OBP. Giles was quoted that he thinks the time off might make his slump worse. Worse? How much worse can it get than dropping your average over 80 points over the last 2 months? Geoff Blum played 2B in his place. Giles should be back for the weekend series against the Phillies.
If you're like me and have used about every 2B in the league this season, take a look at Ronnie Belliard. He's been on fire since becoming the everday second baseman for the Nationals. After hitting .333 in June, Belliard has kept on hitting in July with a .346 average, .407 OBP, and a 1.022 OPS. He's currently in the middle of an 11-game hitting streak. You won't get a lot of power out of Belliard, but he has posted a 0.77 FPI since June 1st.
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