Khalil Greene went 2-for-3 last night with a double, a homer, three RBIs, two runs, a walk, and a partridge in a pear tree. He's hitting .254 on the season with a career best 26 homers and 96 RBIs, but he's sacrificed his OBA (a career worst .290) for slugging (a career best .462). As Joe mentioned, Greene's improved totals are mostly due to his increased at-bats. His HR/AB number has improved, but only slightly, from 27.5 last year to 23.6 this year, while his EYE has plummeted from a career mark of .41 to .25 in 2007. He also posts extremely low BHIP% year after year and this year is no different; his BHIP% over the last three seasons are .209, .206, .198. If his BHIP% ever creeps towards the league average, he may hit .300 some day.
Ryan Zimmerman went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts last night, but his sophomore season has been a success as he's improved upon two key statistics, home runs and strikeouts, and is on the verge of scoring 100 runs for the first time in his short career. He's hitting 20 points lower than he did last year, but much of that can be attributed to a poor BHIP% (.226), which is 30 points lower than it was last year and 20 points lower than the MLB average. He's hitting home runs at a better pace this year (one every 26.9 at-bats) than he did last year (one every 30.7 AB) and his K rate has improved slightly from .18 to .17. Unfortunately his BB rate has declined from .09 to .08 as has his EYE (from .51 to .48). Originally Zimmerman looked like a guy who might challenge for a batting title some day, but he more closely resembles a guy who'll hit 30 homers and fan 100+ times a year.
Adam Wainwright is a must start today as he faces a Pirates team against whom he's had success this year-he's 2-1 with a 3.75 ERA in four starts-and which ranks in the bottom half of the league in offense. Even if he wasn't facing the Pirates, he'd be a good play. He's 6-5 with a 2.62 ERA since the All-Star break and has improved in virtually every category. He's fanning more batters, walking fewer, allowing fewer homers and has improved his WHIP, posting a 1.27 mark in the second half vs. a mark of 1.53 before the break.
Jeff Bennett is back in the majors after a three-year absence, in which he toiled in the minors then missed all of last year while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Bennett will earn his second start of the year after starting on September 20 against the Brewers (he won after allowing only one run on six hits and a walk and striking out eight in 5 2/3 innings) and appearing out of the bullpen against the Phillies on September 25 (W, 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K). Throughout most of his career, Bennett has had more hits allowed than innings pitched (not a good sign), but he's turned that around in Triple-A and allowed 7.7 H/9 IP in almost 150 innings since 2005. His strikeout numbers haven't been overwhelming and his K/BB ratio has been in the 2/1 range since '98 when he began his career in the rookie league. He'll be facing an Astros team that ranks in the bottom half of the league offensively, so it looks like he'll be a good play today.
Rich Hill has been tabbed to start today's game against the Reds, which is good news for Hill owners. The Cubbies southpaw is 1-0 against Cincinnati, his only win against them coming way back on April 14 in his second start of the season. But he pitched well against them on July 27, earning a no-decision in a game where he allowed only two runs on six hits and three walks while fanning eight in five innings, and earned another no-decision against the Reds with a not-so-stellar effort on September 17, in which he allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out seven in only 4 2/3 innings. On the season Hill has a 3.24 ERA against Cincy and has fanned 20 in 16 2/3 innings. On the flip side he's been knocked around this month-he's 2-1 with a 6.18 ERA in five starts-pitching primarily against the Astros and Pirates, both of whom rank in the bottom half of the league in hitting.
