Robinson Cano – Cano is very high on my list of bounce back players for the second half of the season. We have said it before, but the fact of the matter remains true: Cano’s current singles average is a result of bad luck and is bound to turn around at some point this season. After posting singles averages of .256, .291, and .265 over his first three seasons, Cano is currently hitting singles at a rate of .203. That is dreadfully low even when comparing it to Cano’s worst singles average. Interestingly, for the 3rd straight season, Cano’s EYE is improving, so his singles average cannot be blamed on poor plate discipline. Also, Cano’s HR/FB% on the year is half of what it has been the past three seasons. With this information in mind, I think we will see Cano go on a tear in terms of both batting average and HR totals. He got his second half off to the proper start last night, going 2 – 4 with a 3-run homer.
James Shields – Shields picked up his 8th win of the season last night. He allowed just one run over 7 IP, outdueling AJ Burnett. The lone run was scored off of an Adam Lind solo HR. Shields struck out 4 and walked 2 allowing only 4 hits. Shields is in for a big second half. He got a little bit unlucky in the wins department over the first half of the season, but with a little more run support Shields could win 15 games. He has an incredible K/BB ratio of 4.55. He is also WHIP specialist thanks partly to his low BB/9 total of 1.62. His current WHIP on the season is 1.15, and nothing abnormal about his BABIP and an absence of past control problems suggest that Shields should maintain or even better that WHIP over the course of the season’s second half.
Luke Scott – Scott’s power numbers continue to impress. He added 2 more to his total last night, giving him 16 on the season. Although not by much, Scott’s HR/FB% is actually worse than it has been the past two seasons. That is not to say that we should see even more power out of Scott, but it is to say that Scott’s current power numbers are not a fluke, just the result of regular playing time. Scott has not been quite so successful hitting for average, though. The past two seasons (including this one) his averages have been .255 and .254 respectively. I believe that those are the results of some unlucky singles averages of .193 and .208. I will never expect to see Scott having a high single average or even a normal one (around .245 - .250), but it is hard for me to accept that his true singles average is as low as it has been over the past two seasons. As a result, I think we could see some batting average upside for Scott to go along with his continued power display.
Mike Mussina – Mussina continues to pile up the victories. He picked up his 12th win of the season last night, giving up only 1 run over 6 innings, despite giving up 9 hits. How did he do it? Well, Mussina, as I mentioned earlier in the season, seems to have finally learned how to pitch with deteriorating stuff. That was on display last night, as his 6 strikeouts and 0 walks allowed him to strand runners and avoid too much trouble. On the year as a whole, Mussina’s control has been brilliant (1.34 BB/9), and his GB/FB ratio is the best of his career at 1.41. So, I would expect Mussina’s run of success to continue throughout the rest of the season.
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