Chan Ho Park- LAN- Rise Value- Park’s shift in role to setup man and second closer option boosts his value, particularly in leagues that count holds. Maybe I am still bitter about his Texas years, being a Rangers’ fan, but I have my doubts about his ability to continue to perform well enough to hold onto that role. Although his luck pendulum has swung the other way in one respect from earlier this season (he now has a BHIP% of .306) without doing severe damage to his ERA, he has been fortunate in another way with a strand rate of .87. That likely explains why he still has an ERA of 2.59 with a WHIP of 1.38. His XERA is 4.35 and seems to more accurately reflect his performance. Midnight is probably going to strike sometime for this Cinderella.
Ian Stewart- COL- Hot- Stewart has been on fire in his 3 games since being recalled. He is 6-for-14 with 3 doubles, 4 runs scored and 6 RBI. Although he hasn’t walked in any of those games, his strikeout total of 4 in the 3 games represents a major improvement in K ratio over the 28 whiffs in his 55 earlier major league ABs this season.
Francisco Cordero- CIN- Cold- Things have not gone well for Cordero since the All Star Break. In 4 appearances he has blown more saves (2) than he has registered (1). In 3 IP he has allowed 7 runs on 10 hits and 5 walks while striking out 2. Prior to last season Cordero had consistently posted better second half numbers. In 2007 his ERA was 2.86 in the first half and 3.14 after the break and his WHIP went from 1.07 to 1.15. These were not large increases but they did buck his normal trends. Cordero is going to have to pitch extremely well for quite a while now to mitigate the damage these last 4 games have done to his numbers. His performance is so poor it has one wondering if there is an injury lurking there somewhere.
Jorge Campillo- ATL- Hot- Campillo was pitching in another hurler-friendly ballpark and put in another impressive performance. He blanked the Marlins for 7 innings, allowing just 2 hits and a walk while striking out 6. Campillo has drawn some very favorable venues on the road, and that is reflected by his splits of a 1.53 ERA and .81 WHIP away from Atlanta and 4.17 ERA and 1.30 WHIP at Turner Field. His K/IP ratio is up over last season and his BB/IP ratio is way down, but he has to keep turning in performances like last night, no matter where he is pitching, to have consistent success.
Randy Johnson- ARI- Hot- The Big Unit can still look impressive. Yesterday he shut out the Cubs for 7 innings, allowing just 2 hits and a walk. Johnson was extremely efficient, needing just 86 pitches to get that far. He has a history of success against the Cubs, and ran his career mark to 13-0 with a 1.84 ERA. Look a little below the surface, though, and the outing was not enough to get you excited about owning him. Johnson only struck out 4, and has registered just 7 Ks in his last 2 starts, covering 13 IP. He also got 15 fly ball outs and only 3 ground ball outs. Those are the kind of numbers that usually spell disaster in Latest Financial Institution to Come Out On Top In a Merger Field. This is the second straight start the Johnson has gotten more fly ball outs that ground outs plus strikeouts put together.
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