Scott Rolen - The 34 year old Rolen is having one of his best years (sans power, of course) ever in 2009, courtesy of a line drive rate that rivals the game's best. His .360 BABIP is actually quite a bit lower than you'd expect given that LD%, and his K rate and contact rate are both at career bests. Rolen has always been a solid player, and it seems to me like he's altered his game to compensate for the gradual decrease in power that his constant shoulder injuries have likely engendered. Other than the injury risk associated with him, I don't see a lot of reason to expect regression right now.
Juan Rivera - Rivera is scorching right now, homering last night for the third time in six games and pushing his SLG for the month over .600. His BABIP remains about 20-30 points higher than you'd expect, so some AVG regression is likely, but a career-best contact rate is helping keep his numbers extremely strong. I do expect some slowdown from this pace, but he could easily maintain enough production to start in most formats.
Kendry Morales - Morales continues to rake, cracking an XBH for the third straight game to give himself 37 for the year. His BABIP has regressed almost back to the "median luck point" (or whatever you want to call it), and while he's still fanning a ton it doesn't seem to be affecting his production all that much. The progress of Rivera and Morales has been critical to the Angels' success this year, and I really don't expect a ton of regression from either one.
Kurt Suzuki - Suzuki doubled and walked yesterday in the A's 7-1 victory against the Tigers, giving him 20 doubles for the year here two weeks before the break. At age 25 and taking into consideration the typical later maturity of catchers, I do think that the 20 doubles are potentially indicative of some power later on. Suzuki is also suffering from a BABIP that is about 50 points lower than you'd expect, leading me to believe that he is potentially capable of something like a 300/350/475 line during his peak. I think he's fairly well underrated at present.
Rick Porcello - Porcello had a rough outing last night, allowing eleven baserunners and five runs in 4 1/3 innings to fall to 8-5 for the year. His stats still portend a bit of regression, but the 57% GB rate will keep him on the positive side of things. I wonder if he has a bit of a Verlander step forward in terms of generating swings and misses in him, although his stuff isn't nearly at the same level as Verlander's. I'm not sure I see Porcello as an ace in the making, but more of a #2/#3 guy down the road.
