Jason Giambi - Giambi now has an OPS of 1.146 for the month of May after a double and a homer last night, and that obviously doesn't count another ball that he hit to the warning track in left-center, which has historically been an excellent sign that he is locked in. He is, finally, once again worthy of using in all formats, although for how long is an open question. He's striking out at almost the lowest level of his career, yet his BABIP is exceedingly low right now, leading you to think that things could get even better for him. Still, he's 37 years old, so this could turn on a dime. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt the way he is swinging it right now, especially in that lineup.
David Murphy - Murphy's minor league SLG, in 1,902 AB's, was .405. Why on earth do we think that he can keep a major league SLG of near .500, even in Texas? His BABIP is .335 with an average LD rate and a fairly high K rate. We're almost into the "countless" area of reasons why Murphy should be expected to slide, so placing him in the "sell high" category is a foregone conclusion.
Vicente Padilla - Padilla moved to 4-0 in May despite only having one outing this month that you would really call "good". Padilla was one of my favorite pitchers back in the early part of this decade, but a string of seemingly minor injuries seem to have robbed him of his then-adequate control. So far this year there is virtually nothing different in his statistical profile....the opposition is just leaving everybody on base. (LOB% of 78% vs. 64% last year) That will turn around at some point in the near future, so as much as I've enjoyed watching the guy over the years I would have to call "sell high" here.
Nick Blackburn - Blackburn's 3.24 ERA in May may seem impressive at first glance, but there are six unearned runs in there as well that illustrate his actual place in the order of things a bit better. That being said, his last four outings have resulted in just two walks and 18 K's over 27 innings, and if he is able to maintain that sort of ratio I think he could actually have a future as a mid-rotation starter. There's just virtually no precedent for a player with his type of stuff and stats maintaining any sort of success as a right-handed starter. I suppose there's always a first time, but betting on that is foolish.
Jeff Larish - The Tigers have a new DH against right-handed pitching for the time being, and for a change they actually brought up a guy that belongs in the majors. Jeff Larish has been tearing the cover off the ball in AAA, hitting 277/372/592. The one knock against him is that he does strike out a ton, but ISO's of .202, .248, and now .315 as a 25 year old moving up a level a year is reasonably impressive. I'm curious to see how he does....he could merit a look in deeper leagues, particularly those with daily lineup flexibility since he will be platooned.
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