Homer Bailey (SP-CIN) – Bailey was optioned back to Triple-A Louisville on Sunday and at this point, you have to wonder whether the Reds are running out of patience with one of baseball’s best pitching prospects circa 2006/2007. Bailey allowed just three hits on Saturday, but mix in six walks and you get six runs allowed. You also get a guy who now has a 7.01 career ERA and 49:51 K:BB in 86 starts (18 innings). Bailey’s age (23 just last month) and potential would tempt a lot of teams, and at this point a trade seems best for both parties. Perhaps Jim Duquette could come out of retirement, sign Victor Zambrano, and deal him for Bailey.
Jeremy Hermida (OF-FLA) – Hitting second in front of Hanley Ramirez can do wonders for many struggling hitters and it’s certainly not hurt Hermida. Three more hits on Sunday leaves Hermida with his highest BA since April 26, and a .271/.383/.387 line overall. The biggest disappointment with Hermida has been the lack of development in the power department, a trend continuing this year with a 21.4% XBH%. In addition, Hermida’s ISOs the past three years (including 2009) don’t paint a pretty picture: .205, .157, .116. He’s also a guy who, prior to developing some leg problems, was a guy I had pegged for a 20/20 season by this point, but after over 1,400 major league at-bats, he has a total of just 19 stolen bases. Hermida is starting to get expensive, so expect the Marlins to shop him either this July or in the offseason and perhaps the change of scenery will do him some good despite the recent string of success.
Joel Hanrahan (RP-WAS) – Out of options, Manny Acta has returned to Hanrahan as his closer, at least for now. The pecking order in Sunday’s win was: Ron Villone in the seventh, then Joe Beimel, and Hanrahan to close it out. It was Hanrahan’s fifth save of the season and more importantly, his third consecutive scoreless appearance, a feat that may not be possible for any other Nationals reliever. Hanrahan’s ERA remains ugly at 5.91, but a 26:9 K:BB in 21 1/3 innings and if he could just figure out how to pitch on the road (9.53 ERA in an admittedly very small sample size), perhaps things turn around quickly. Remember, this is a guy who struck out 93 batters in 84 1/3 innings last year.
Joel Pineiro (SP-STL) – Pineiro lost his fourth decision in five chances on Sunday, allowing three runs on eight hits over seven innings against the Royals. Most encouraging, as while his shutout against the Cubs in his last start was obviously a better effort, Sunday’s start was the fourth consecutive outing in which Pineiro did not walk a single batter. Of course he’s not striking out many either (12 in those 26 innings, 3.2 K/9 on the season), but NL-only leaguers will take a 3.52 ERA and five wins before the end of May from Pineiro any day. Pineiro is now 3-1 with a 1.60 ERA at Busch Stadium and 2-3, 4.99 on the road. From a fantasy perspective, I have a hard time investing in a guy with such a low strikeout rate, but Pineiro could be a cheap source of wins and ERA the rest of the way.
Andy LaRoche (3B-PIT) – Don’t look now, but even after going just 1-for-4 on Sunday, the younger LaRoche brother is still batting .287/.357/.404. He’s working on a nine-game hitting streak and after opening the season hitless in his first 18 at-bats, LaRoche has turned his AVG around rather nicely, batting .331 since that start. What’s not there as is obvious by the .117 OPS is LaRoche’s power – just 12 XBH (two homers on the year). LaRoche did demonstrate HR ability in the minors (18.9 AB/HR) and despite a significant number of his 1,800 minor league at-bats being in the PCL, scouts have long projected LaRoche for 25-homer power, so be patient and just enough the fact that at least he’s hitting for average now.
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