Mark Teixeira put together his 4th multi-hit game in his last 5 with a 2-5 performance last night, including his 22nd HR and 86th RBI of the season. His line for 2008 now reads .287/22/86/73 and I have a feeling we’re about to see another power surge from the raking 1B. When he went on his power spree at the end of June his BB/K was excellent at 1.80 during the bombardment (9/5). Right now, Tex’s BB/K is 1.75 (7/4) and he’s racking up the multi-hit games, doubles and the first homer of what could be a burst of 4 or 5 more. The scary thing is the Angels are already dusting good teams with regularity – but what are they going to do to teams if THIS guy gets going? He’s got the most RBI in MLB collectively over the last 4 years. That’s got to be frightening for every team in the league.
Daisuke Matsuzaka was solid for the Red Sox last night as he pitched 8 strong innings, allowing just 1 ER on 4 H while walking 3 and striking out 4. The win improved his season record to 13-2 while lowering his ERA to an excellent 2.90. I really didn’t think Matsuzaka could sustain this kind of ERA with the amount of batters he walks but he has benefited from some very good luck. Dice K’s BHIP is .247 this season as opposed to .292 last year and his Strand Rate is .80, which is quite surprising for a guy with a K/9 of 7.72. That’s obviously not a bad rate by any means, but .80 is pretty high, especially since his WHIP is over 1.35 and he regularly walks 2-3 batters per game (5.04 BB/9). I still don’t think this kind of ERA is sustainable throughout the course of the season but here I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Whether it will has yet to be seen.
Francisco Liriano narrowly missed the QS mark last night as he tossed 5.1 innings, allowing 3 ER on 6 H with 2 BB and 5 K. Liriano was much better in his second start despite allowing more runs, mainly because his control was far better as he threw 64% of his pitches for strikes. He definitely looks far better than before his Triple A stint and should provide some good innings for your staff in the second half. Also look for him to start 2009 much better than 2008.
Vlad Guererro was a guy I considered trading a couple of weeks back but I decided against it for two very important reason – 1) He is one of my very favorite players and it takes almost the hand of God to pry him away from me (much like Tim Lincecum will be for me in the coming years), and 2) He’s always hit very well in the 2nd half. I’m glad I followed my instincts THIS time because I have made the right decision. Vlad went 2-5 last night with 1 HR and 2 RBI, bringing his season totals to .293/21/67/68. He also is hitting .476 (10-21) in his current 5-game hitting streak with 3 HR, 9 RBI and 7 R. He has also shown his summer month prowess as he’s batted .375, .292, and .391 in June, July and August (thus far) respectively. Vlad’s 30 HR seasons are pretty much done for but he can still provide you with solid productions in each category. However, with the really great up and coming outfielder’s we’re seeing in the game now (Hamilton, Braun, Markakis, Holliday, etc) and injuries in the last couple of years, I think Vlad is now your second choice for OF rather than your first.
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