Johnny Damon has been absolutely incredible since May 20th and his multi-hit frenzy reached its peak yesterday when he went 6-6 with 4 RBI, including the game-winning single in the bottom of the 9th. Damon has raised his BA from .250 to .326 in this span and he has 10 multi-hit games in this 17-game stretch. His BHIP has really brought Johnny down this season but his .349 mark recently is boosting that to right around his average. All of his periphs are also finally in line with his career and we’ve seen a huge spike in his performance because of that. His numbers now stand at .326/6/31/38/9. Several of us have wrote on Damon this year and questioned his ability to produce at a fantasy-worthy clip because of his injury history and the fact that he’s aging, but he seems to be showing us he can still play at a high level. Damon has just one strikeout in his last 71 AB, a big reason for this increase in production. I do believe with A-Rod and Posada back in the lineup as well as the year that Matsui is having, Damon will score a ton of runs from here on out.
Ichiro Suzuki is starting to put it together at the plate and has raised his average from .272 on May 16th to .295 with a 3-4 performance yesterday. In that 20-game stretch, Ichiro is hitting .345 with 9 SB and 16 R. Ichiro’s main problem this year has simply been a regression in his BHIP, which is normally an outstanding .323 or so. Right now it stands at .270 but I would expect that number to continue to rise. Also, with 27 SB through 62 G compared to his 35 all of last year, Ichiro has raised his value enormously.
John Garland posted his 6th quality start in 7 appearances as he allowed 5 H and 2 ER in 7 IP with 8 K and 1 BB. Garland has lowered his ERA to 3.87 but his WHIP is still pretty bad at 1.45. The fact that he walked just one batter is great but I wouldn’t expect it to continue considering he’s walking batters at a clip or 3.24/9. I honestly have never been a Garland fan because he has allowed more H than IP in almost every season as a pro, his WHIP has only been under 1.30 once, and he’s not at all a strikeout pitcher. He has been good lately and I do think he’ll keep his ERA in the 3.80-4.20 range by the end of the year, but I’m not high on picking him up.
Jeremy Guthrie continued his solid 2008 campaign yesterday with his 11th quality start of the year. Guthrie allowed just 1 ER on 6 H in 7 IP with 6 K’s and no walks. Guthrie has shown a good skill set the previous two years and I think he’s certainly for real as an ERA and WHIP helper in any rotation. He’s a decent number 3 but a great number 4 or 5 to have. His peripherals are all in line with what he’s been doing the last couple seasons but his IFFB% is almost 6% higher than last season. I think the main reason for this is the development of Guthrie’s changeup, which he is mixing into his regular array of pitches far more this season.
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