J.D. Drew is having a far better season than I, or anyone else, could have predicted. Drew went 2-3 last night and hit his 18th HR of the year, which surpasses his total from 2007. His 57 RBI are also well above last year's pace (65) and his total line reads .294/18/57/64. His HR/FB rate is way up at 18.4% compared to his minuscule 8% in 2007, while his ISO is up over 100 points from last season. The return of power is legitimate and if you took a chance on Drew early in the season, I congratulate you.
Francisco Rodriguez is pitching out of his mind. Rodriguez picked up his 41st save of the season last night against Cleveland as he tossed an almost perfect 9th, allowing just 1 BB and striking out 2. He boasts a 2.40 ERA with a K/9 of 9.40 and is on pace to destroy the single season SV record of 57. Not only that, but K-Rod has saved 41 of the Angels 61 wins (67%) and has blown just 2 saves since April 7th (only 3 all year). Barring injury or an Angels offensive explosion or meltdown, we should be able to kick back and watch Franky make history in 2008.
Grady Sizemore watch update – he hit his 24th HR of the season last night, tying his total for all of 2007. Sizemore is on pace to his 38 HR and steal 37 bases, not to mention that he has been successful on 16 of his last 17 SB attempts. He's one of the only sources of offense in Cleveland now and with his heightened FB rate this year plus the lack of offense up and down the lineup, I expect him to hit 40 bombs and swipe 40 bags. If only he could get that BA up to the .290 range. That would easily make him one of the top 5 fantasy contributors.
Despite walking 19 batters in his last 30.2 IP, Dice K has been extremely effective since his second start after coming off of the DL. He allowed 2 ER on 6 H last night with 3 BB and 3 K's, earning his 11th win on the season and keeping his ERA under 2.70. Matsuzaka is always going to be a pitcher who walks a ton of batters and I'm always reluctant to draft him or trade for him because of this. However, the spotty control doesn't seem to be hurting him nearly as much as it did last season despite the fact that his BB/9 is is over 2.00 full points higher. The biggest reasons for this oddity is his BHIP of .243 and his improved strand rate of .82 compared to .70 in 2007. However, one big red flag (and a result of his control issues) is the amount of quality starts he's thrown. Dice K has just 7 QS this year, which seems very strange for a guy with a 2.68 ERA. The reason is not ER but the fact that he has failed to go at least 6 innings in 9 of his 18 starts. He's throwing a lot of pitches this season, and while he showed his arm could take it in the Japanese league, I'm not too sure it will hold up as well as he ages.
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