Carlos Pena:
I told you the best was about to come with Pena back at the beginning of August and Pena’s rewarded my faith. On Friday night Pena launched his 8th HR of the month and 13th extra base hit of the month in 2-5 effort that included 2 runs and 2 RBI’s. Pena’s now scored 14 times in August and driven in 20, offering owners really strong production in all the counting categories. Pena’s power has always been unquestioned, but his plate discipline was lacking earlier in the year as the BB Rate has risen, Pena’s gotten back on track in all the other categories and he’s now producing at a similar pace to last season. Look for a continued strong finish for the power hitting 1B.
JJ Putz:
Putz notched his 8th save of the season but it wasn’t pretty. He allowed 2 base-runners before inducing a game-ending DP ball from the Big Hurt to end the game. His line finished with 1 inning, 1 BB, 1 H, 0 ER’s, 0 K’s. The continued inability to keep runners off the base-paths and command the strike zone suggests Putz still isn’t himself. He’s now walked 9 batters in his last 8 1/3 innings and allowed 17 base-runners. It’s not a good formula for success going forward and one that makes Putz a back-end closing option at best.
Denard Span:
Denard Span remains ridiculously hot! He went 3-5 last night in Anaheim with a HR and 4 RBI’s and is now posting an OBP over .400 in August and an OPS above .900. He’s been the answer atop the Twins lineup and providing strong 4-5 category production for his owners. He’s scored 14 runs and driven in 15 in 20 August games, while hitting 2 HR’s and swiping 6 bases. His high GB Rate (58%) is helping feed a favorable BABIP, so expect some slight regression in AVG, but the rest of the skills (Good EYE) suggest Span’s a legitimate top of the order threat who should offer great Run production with 5-10 SB’s the rest of the way.
Glen Perkins:
Perkins improved to 11-3 on Friday night with 8 shutout innings against the Angels. It gave him 3 consecutive quality starts and 3 consecutive wins. Perkins performance really doesn’t support an 11-3 record. He doesn’t strike out many batters (around .5/inning) and his sub 40% GB Rate leads to HR issues. His next start is a favorable one against the Mariners so feel free to ride the hot streak but realize Perkins 1.39 WHIP is much more indicative of his skill level than the 11-3 record or the 3.90 WHIP. Perkins improved to 11-3 on Friday night with 8 shutout innings against the Angels. It gave him 3 consecutive quality starts and 3 consecutive wins. Perkins performance really doesn’t support an 11-3 record. He doesn’t strike out many batters (around .5/inning) and his sub 40% GB Rate leads to HR issues. His next start is a favorable one against the Mariners so feel free to ride the hot streak but realize Perkins 1.39 WHIP is much more indicative of his skill level than the 11-3 record or the 3.90 WHIP.
Alex Gordon:
What seemed like a minor quad injury which removed Gordon from Thursday’s game against the Indians has turned into a possible season-ending injury. Gordon apparently has a tear in his right quadriceps which would likely end his season. As Paul mentioned earlier in the week, Gordon’s actually been making some pretty big improvements in his game despite not showing much difference in the actual way of production. His EYE has nearly doubled as he’s cut down some of the K’s and jumped his BB Rate by over 4%. Along with the improved plate discipline has been an improved ability to elevate the ball, dropping his GB Rate to just 31.4% this season. The extra base hit rate has stayed the same 10.1% vs. 10.0%, but the elevating FB Rate suggests an improvement in that area will come soon as well. The hype surrounding Gordon led to some inflated expectations in each of the first two seasons and I’d imagine he’d actually be a pretty good draft day value heading into 2009.
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