San Diego- SD- Idea- Here is one of those marginal situations that comes up every so often that you keep in the back of your mind to try to get just a little edge when needed. The Padres have allowed 100 steals this season. No other major league team has allowed more than 72. So, if you have a lineup decision to make, need steals, and one of the players you are choosing from is playing San Diego, give him the edge.
Aaron Harang- CIN- Caution- It’s looking more and more like Harang’s relief outing on May 25th threw him off track. His mechanics seem fouled up now, as he never recovered his leg strength after pitching three times in 8 days. Harang’s ERA has gone up more than a run since then, from 3.32 to 4.33. Maybe it will take the All Star Break for him to catch up and start getting back into form.
Matt Holliday- COL- Hot- Holliday extended his current hitting streak to 10 games with a 2-for-3 effort in which he hit his first homer of the month. Holliday’s average has been solid, but the homer was only his 9th of the year, not what is expected of him. He has not been getting loft on the ball, and his power seems to follow his GB%. In his rookie year of 2004, he had a 51% GB% and hit 14 homers in 400 ABs. The next year it was lowered to 49% and he hit 19 homers in 479 ABs. In each of the last 2 years, Holliday hit over 30 homers in 600+ ABs and his GB% was no higher than 47%. If he keeps banging the ball into the ground, his power will continue to be sapped.
Wily Mo Pena- WAS- Drop Value- Pena may be looking at the game from the bench more often, as he did yesterday. Improving his month-over-month batting averages from .200 to .210 to .216 is not a way to promote job security. In the short term, Willie Harris may be inserted in the lineup to ride a hot streak as Pena just sees starts against southpaws and in the long term, when Austin Kearns comes off the DL Pena will probably be the outfielder bounced to make room for him.
Chris Young- ARI- Caution- Things have gotten a little better for Young since Fantistics’ Drew Dinkmeyer discussed him last week. He (Young, not Dinkmeyer) has gone 8-for-24 and hit his first homer of the month. However, it is too early to start loading up a bandwagon for Young. He did not walk at all (while striking out 6 times) and has yet to steal a base in June. Young is fighting a .196 singles average this year, but his mark was .192 last year and .212 in his 70 AB trial in 2006. He may be a player who has a meaningfully extreme BHIPx. The key will be whether he turns his Batting EYE around.
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