Tom Gorzelanny
After entering Saturday’s game with a 7.22 ERA and 28:40 K:BB, it was hard to be optimistic about Gorzelanny’s chances against the potent Arizona offense. There have even been rumors of a Triple-A stint should his struggles continue. Gorzelanny though rebounded a bit against the Diamondbacks, allowing three runs on five hits over seven innings to lower his ERA to 6.83. The news wasn’t all good: three walks, one strikeout. In addition to the obvious command issues, Gorzelanny’s HR/9 rate has nearly doubled to 1.4 over last year. It’s hard to believe this is the same guy who had sub-4.00 ERAs the last couple years, so either there’s an injury he’s hiding or perhaps a mechanical flaw. Gorzelanny is probably still going to be a viable No. 3 type starter, but perhaps not until 2009.
Justin Upton
Mired in a 2-for-20 slump, Upton has been moved to the eighth spot in the lineup on Saturday. It didn’t seem to help, as he’ll head into Sunday 2-for-24. The talent and upside here is obvious, but the impact of Upton’s talent might not come until 2009 or 2010. The primary culprit of Upton’s .257 average is a 65.5% CT%. He’s walked in an acceptable 12.6% of his plate appearances and a .194 ISO is certainly fine for a 20 year-old. Don’t read too much into this, but in his 19 and 20 year-old major league trials, Justin’s brother B.J. hit .258 and .246, not blossoming as a big leaguer until last year at age 22. Be patient here, but Upton is batting just .190 since the beginning of May.
Jorge Cantu
Picked up off the scrap heap three years after a .286-28-117 season in 2005, all Cantu has had to do this year is “replace” Miguel Cabrera as the Marlins’ starting third baseman. Saturday, Cantu singled, doubled and homered in five at-bats to raise his line to .283/.335/.489 this season. In case you were wondering, Cabrera is batting .270/.350/.446. That level of equality won’t continue of course, but Cantu has been a huge bargain, both fantasy-wise and in real life. Cantu’s 0.61 FPI ranks seventh among NL third baseman, but though the power is legitimate, Cantu’s lack of plate discipline (his 0.43 EYE is actually a nice step up from his 0.30 career mark) will always keep Cantu as an average-at-best weapon, but you could do worse in NL-only and deeper mixed leagues.
Francisco Cordero
Cordero blew his third save in 15 chances on Saturday and did it in spectacular fashion, allowing a sac fly to Luis Gonzalez and then a two-run walk-off homer to Cody Ross. Cordero, signed to a $46 million contract this winter, has been for the most part an excellent closer, but there are some warning signs. First up, a .190 BHIP% is well below the norm (we expect around .290), so he’s getting significantly lucky on balls in play. Second, Cordero’s 5.7 BB/9 ratio is more than double last year’s 2.6. Finally, though his strikeout rate is still strong at just over 10 per nine innings, Cordero continues to allow more flyballs than groundballs, not a good thing in a part like the GAB. The good thing if you’re a Cordero owner is his contract, which is big enough to give him a ton of rope to hang himself, but expect further bumps along the way if Cordero doesn’t reverse some of these ugly peripherals.-
Hunter Pence
Batting leadoff for the third straight day, Hunter Pence went 3-for-5 with his eighth homer of the season on Saturday against the Cardinals. The game pushed Pence’s OBP above .340 and with (perhaps) former leadoff man Michael Bourn sporting a .282 OBP, perhaps Bourn gets an extended look in the one hole. I don’t like this much for Pence’s fantasy value, as he’s not a speedster (5-for-10 in SB), and with his power, batting him in the 2 or 3 spot would give him more RBI opportunities. Still, Pence has been getting a lot of time in the seventh spot, so Pence owners should be pleased should this move stick. Pence has walked in just 6.2% of his plate appearances, but he’s still learning and his 10.4% minor league walk rate suggests improved plate discipline is in store as he matures.
There are over 100 player news blurbs posted in the member area each morning. Members can read the rest of today's player news by clicking here. Not a member? Join today.
