Masa Kobayashi showed that Cleveland might have at least one guy who can get 3 outs in the ninth inning as he secured his first save last night against the Athletics. Kobayashi has been pretty solid this year coming out of the bullpen as he’s allowed just 2 ER in 18.2 IP. His 2-0 record and 1.93 ERA demands that the Indians’ take a serious look at him as the closer with Borowski on the DL and Betancourt tossing meatballs over the plate. The only thing that concerns me is the 19 hits he has allowed but I think at this point hits don’t matter to Cleveland nearly as much as runs. The same should be true for you fantasy managers out there. If you need closing help, I’d pick him up now because I see no reason for the Indians to go away from Kobayashi yet.
After being cleared to pitch back-to-back days on May 5th B.J. Ryan did it last night as he collected his 5th SV of 2008. Ryan earned the W two days ago against Cleveland when Rafael Betancourt blew the game in the 10th inning. The Toronto closer has been very solid thus far as he has not allowed an ER yet and has amassed 13 K’s in 11 IP. The back-to-back clearance was a big deal when the Jays announced it but to actually see Ryan do it and get both a win and a save out of the opportunities is great to see.
F-I-N-A-L-L-Y. Jered Weaver FINALLY showed what he’s capable of last night as he pitched 7 shutout innings against the White Sox, allowing just 1 H and 2 BB. Before his game last night, Weaver had allowed 10 H in 3 of his last 5 starts and had an ERA of 5.59. I’ve liked this kid ever since he was called up in 2006 and scorched the league to an 11-2 record in 19 games. While he was decent in his 161 innings last season, I expected him to come out to a far better start this year and show us that 2006 stuff again. He sorely disappointed me early but it seems like he’s finally found what he’s been lacking in the first month-plus. Weaver said after the game that his arm feels good and is getting stronger with each start. He also stated that he and pitching coach Mike Butcher worked out some mechanical flaws Weaver has been trying to shake off since the beginning of the season. I drafted Weaver in 4 leagues this year, dropped him 2 weeks ago, and picked him back up 2 of those 4 leagues tonight. If a fellow manager was impatient with him and dumped Weaver, I’d go get him if you have room on your staff.
Despite taking the loss, Justin Duchscherer pitched a very good ballgame last night against Cleveland. The converted reliever allowed just 1 ER on 4 H and 2 BB with 6 K’s in 6.2 IP and lowered his season ERA to 2.20. Duchscherer is one of many Oakland pitchers contributing to the A’s league leading team ERA. I like the kid’s ability and I thought he was a pretty solid RP but I’m curious to see how he holds up under the pressure of getting through 6 innings each start. In his first three starts of the season he only pitched 5 innings per appearance. However, he has tossed 13.2 innings in his last 2 games and both have been quality starts. All of his peripherals are pretty much inline with his career numbers but his LD% is high at almost 27%. I think Duchscherer could very well be a good 5th or 6th option for a lot of fantasy staffs and his FPI of 2.00 right now reflects that. I think he’s worth a pickup right now so go out and get him if you need some ERA and WHIP help.
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