Masa Kobayashi secured his second save yesterday afternoon as he replaced Rafael Betancourt in the ninth inning after Betancourt loaded the bases with just one out. Kobayashi threw a wild pitch to Mike Sweeney, which allowed Jack Cust to score, but he then went on to strike out both Mike and Ryan Sweeney to end the game. I’m pretty surprised the Indians gave Betancourt a chance to close the game out. I thought after Kobayashi’s SV in his first op would force Betancourt out of the closer role but apparently not. However, considering Raffy couldn’t get the job done yet again I think it’s time for Kobayashi to be the permanent closer. Get him now before it’s official.
Scott Kazmir put up a solid showing against the Yanks yesterday as he tossed 6 innings of 3-hit ball, allowing no runs and 3 BB’s while striking out 3 batters. If those numbers seem familiar it’s because he was 3 K’s short of matching his exact stats from his previous start against the Angels. Kazmir seems to be healthy and fully recovered from his elbow issues. The thing I love about this kid also is that he’s a giant slayer. He is one of two pitchers that I will NEVER hesitate to start against Boston and NY. The other is James Shields.
Despite allowing only 2 ER, it took Dustin McGowan 101 pitches just to get through the 5th inning as he walked 5 batters and took a no decision against the Twins yesterday. I thought McGowan had regained his control after his two sparkling starts against Chicago and Boston and even after his disastrous game against Cleveland last week. However, it looks as though he’s having trouble locating again when you consider he gave up 9 hits and 1 HR his last start and then 5 BB yesterday. Many pitchers have points throughout the season where they scuffle due to either control issues or velocity problems. I think McGowan right now is simply inconsistent and his H/R splits have also started to show a pretty huge discrepancy as he’s posted a 1.86 ERA at home versus a 6.33 ERA on the road. His split last season was 3.27 to 4.91, which is still a notable difference but nowhere near as wide as this. I would start McGowan only at home for right now until he can pitch some decent games away from Toronto.
Jose Guillen extended his hitting streak to 7 games with his 4th homerun of the year yesterday against Detroit. Guillen also gathered his 5th multi-hit game of the 7-game streak as he went 2-4 with 3 RBI. Guillen has shown some definite power increases during this hitting streak with 5 2B and the HR, which makes for a .307 ISO. Guillen has also raised his BA 59 points from .165 to .224. Guillen’s career BB/K rate is a horrible .29 but he has actually batted over .283 in his last four full seasons, including .290 last season with the M’s. I still think Guillen can be a pretty effective hitter but his value as a fantasy OF is either as a backup or a platoon player in deep leagues. Again though, if you need someone to step in your OF due to injury or cold streak, right now Guillen would be a wise pickup.
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