Melky Cabrera - Fresh off of a 368/410/528 July, Melky Cabrera keeps nosing his way toward a .300 AVG and an .800 OPS as we move toward the home stretch. Cabrera picked up three more hits, including a triple, against the Jays yesterday, and is now hitting 298/349/435 for the year. For a kid that turns 23 this weekend, that's not too shabby...even for a corner OF. I still say that Cabrera has a bit more upside than people are giving him credit for, and that he's a neat pickup in keeper leagues. For the time being, he's an average to above corner OF, which is OK as well.
Lyle Overbay - It's been a long seven weeks for Lyle Overbay since he returned from the DL back in mid-June, and the sub-.700 OPS, .232 AVG, and zero homers since his return aren't making it go by any quicker. Overbay readily admits that his hand probably won't be right until next year, and the way he's hitting, you might be best served by reserving him for the time being.
Danny Richar - Danny Richar has had a decent first week as the White Sox starting 2B, batting 238/360/381 and showing some pretty solid plate discipline (4 BB versus 1 K). Richar has been a middling prospect since being signed out of the Dominican in 2001, but he is only 24 and doesn't have any glaring weaknesses in his game......he just doesn't have any areas of strength either. He probably should be viewed as a stopgap solution only, although it's possible that he has just enough power and patience to be an Iguchi-clone for the next few years for the White Sox.
Curt Schilling - Schilling returned to the hill last night, and if I had to sum up the outing for Sox fans I would say that he looked "good enough." He appeared (from the radar gun anyway) to be down 6 or 7 mph in velocity, and he hung a couple of splitters that ended up doing him in, but overall his control was almost as good as normal, and the five K's show that he is still plenty deceptive enough to fool even the contact-happy Angels. I'd expect him to pitch at the level of a #2 OR #3 the rest of the way, judging from that one outing anyway.
Jason Botts - Maybe Botts is finally getting his chance in Texas, as he's done nothing but hit for the Rangers' various minor league affiliates for the past five years, posting a minor league OBP of just under .400 and an ISO of close to .200. Botts hit his first homer of the year against Santiago Casilla last night to help the Rangers come back against Oakland, and he's definitely shown me enough the past few years to warrant a lineup spot in deeper leagues with his power and patience. A Matt Stairs-type career is a somewhat better than remote possibility.
