Clayton Kershaw (SP-LAD) - Kershaw was spectacular Sunday, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Marlins before being pulled when the leadoff man, Cody Ross, laced a double to left. Kershaw had entered the inning having thrown 108 pitches, so he was wisely pulled. The ever-so-volatile Guillermo Mota (the initials “DFA” come to mind) allowed Ross to score, but it was still a great effort nonetheless. Kershaw walked four and struck out nine, and just needs to be a bit more efficient with his pitches to take his game to the next level. Kershaw now has a 4.60 ERA overall, and is 2-1 with a 2.65 mark in four starts this month. Kershaw continues to miss bats, sitting with a 9.6 K/9 but the 4.8 BB/9 is something he’ll need to push down in order to fulfill his enormous potential. Oddly, Kershaw had entered Sunday’s start with a 9.47 road ERA, a mark that did include a start in Colorado, but also in San Diego and Houston. After watching his outing Sunday, I have two words for that: “sample size”.
Rafael Furcal (SS-LAD) – Furcal got a day off Sunday, and though it was reportedly a scheduled one, it certainly came at a good time. Furcal is hitting an anemic .210/.222/.242 in the month of May with an 11:1 K:BB, no stolen bases, no home runs, two XBH’s (doubles), and just six runs scored. He’s also hitting just .150 in 40 at-bats since the Manny Ramirez suspension. Coincidence? Perhaps, but while the Dodgers head home having gone 4-2 on an East Coast swing, they are going to need to get Furcal going. It’s especially troubling to see the drop in Furcal’s EYE this year from 0.75, 0.81, and 1.18 the first three years as a Dodger to just 0.46 this year. Furcal’s 83% CT% is right about in line with his career average, and assuming nothing is wrong physically, we have to assume things will turn around. Meanwhile, Juan Castro filled in for Furcal on Sunday and homered, singled, walked twice, and scored four times. Fluke.
Ubaldo Jimenez (SP-COL) – Jimenez has given the Rockies, along with Jorge De La Rosa, two reliable starters, though with Jimenez’s history of command issues, that could change at any time. Sunday, Jimenez held the Pirates to one run on five hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out seven, departing with a 4-1 lead before the bullpen absolutely imploded. Jimenez has now allowed one run in each of his last three starts with an impressive 17:4 K:BB in 20 innings. Jimenez now has a 14.04 against the Dodgers (two starts) and 2.15 against the rest of the league. Jimenez’s 4.5 BB/9 is still a bit high, but he’s certainly become a viable 12-team mixed league option, and with a 3.38 ERA at home, it doesn’t appear you need to worry too much about the Coors factor.
Delwyn Young (OF-PIT) – Allow me to be the first this year to give Young a bit of love at Fantistics. Sunday batting leadoff, Young was 2-for-4 with a walk and RBI. He’s now batting .355/.429/.452 in 31 at-bats. It was the first time since May 10 that Young had gotten a start, but he also had two hits in that contest. With Craig Monroe and Eric Hinske also in the mix as backup infielders, at-bats have been few and far between, but those two are batting .250 and .246 respectively, so perhaps Young is in line for a little more playing time. Young won’t hit leadoff too often when Nyjer Morgan returns from a minor hamstring injury, but the Pirates would do well to get his bat in the lineup.
Hunter Pence (OF-HOU) - Here's a guy we haven't written up this year, something that came as a bit of a surprise given the hype Pence has generated since batting .322/.360/.529 as a rookie in 2007. Pence slumped last year of course after plowing through a glass shower last spring, but despite racking up the golden sombrero (0-for-4, four strikeouts) on Sunday, Pence is still batting a more-than-respectable .323/.389/.489 with four homers and five stole bases, numbers that could leave him in line for a 20/20 season. After homering once every 23.8 times at bat last year, Pence is down to 33.2 this year, but otherwise a couple other indicators are trending nicely - 12.1% BB% vs. 6.2%, 0.32 EYE to 0.82 this year. Pence turned 26 last month, so he's right at the beginning of his prime years, and with his tools, there could very well be a couple All-Star games in his very near future. The power isn't quite developed, but though he did play in some favorable home parks and leagues in the minors, Pence did finish his minor league career with a .251 ISO, so there is some pop in that bat.
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