Magglio Ordonez - Ordonez continues to be ice cold at the plate. He went 1 for 4 last night, which actually slightly raised his average to .241. So, is age catching up the 35 YO outfielder or is he simply suffering bad luck over a relatively small sample size? Well, in terms of power, Ordonez's HR/FB% is only slightly lower than normal; the real problem is his GB/FB rate. Ordonez never put the ball in the air enough to be a huge power threat (career GB/FB mark of 1.18), but his current 1.81 mark is disturbing and severly limiting those power numbers. In terms of average, Ordonez's current singles average is .275, which is not that far off his mark from the past four seasons: .273/.265/.309/.286. There's not much reason we should see it rise. Magglio's EYE of .75 is almost identical to his career EYE, but his LD% of 16.9% would be his lowest since they started keeping the stat in 2002. So, the only cure to Magglio's
woes is to put the ball in the air more and increase his extra base hit numbers (his 2 HR are his only EBH so far), but if he does not do that his current numbers may hold as little to no help in terms of regression in HR/FB% and singles average is expected, which certainly should be a concern for Magglio's owners.
Jarrod Washburn - Washburn pitched 7 solid innings of 1 run ball last night, bringing his ERA down below 3 to 2.97. His K/BB ratio is currently a decent 2.56, and he has
a solid WHIP of 1.08. However, I would stay away from Washburn. His K/BB ratio has been under 2 for 4 seasons in a row, and I trust that data more than the data he has compiled one month into this season. He has a bad GB/FB ratio of .73, which he is yet to pay for thanks to a lucky HR/FB% of 6.3. Also, his BABIP of .253 is well below his three average of .297, and his 78.6 LOB% is well above his three average of 70.57%. Enjoy the low ERA and WHIP now while they last, as they are going nowhere but up from here on out.
David Aardsma - With Morrow landing on the DL, Aardsma receives a temporary boost in value. He will fill in as Seattle's closer over the next week and a half, or for ever how long Morrow's stay on the DL winds up to be. This will not be completely new territory for Aardsma who already has 3 saves in as many opportunities this season. Still, he may struggle. He has a 2.61 ERA despite an FIP ERA of 4.73. Thus, we can expect his current ERA to rise soon thanks to a horrendous 6.10 BB/9, lucky 84.9% LOB% (career rate is 72), and a .36 GB/FB ratio. So, while Aardsma is currently being presented with opportunity, it does not appear that he has the skill level to be consistently successful, at least over the long run.
Hank Blalock - Blalock hit his 7th HR of the season last night, and he could be a sleeper to hit 25 HR this season if he stays healthy. Blalock has just 17 HR the past two seasons combined, but he only played in only 58 and 65 games in '07 and '08 respectively, due to injuries. Still, his career HR/FB% of 12.7 is better than the major league average (around 10%), and currently Blalock's GB/FB ratio of .58 is conducive towards maximizing that power, especially when considering he plays in a pretty good hitter's ballpark down in Texas.
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