David Price (SP - Rays) - David Price's night ended early. After hurling 88 pitches in 4.1 IP, Price left with a 5 ER, 7 hit, 2 BB line. He actually left the game with the score 10-0 in favor of the Phillies, but a few Tampa Bay errors helped erase some of those runs from his ERA. Since being called-up to the big leagues in 2009, Price is 0-for-6 in quality starts, is posting a 4.45 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, and a BB/9 of 5.94. While the K/9 is a solid 9.79 in 30.1 IP, much of that is aided by the 11 K performance back on May 30th against the Twins. We all know Price's potential and the nation got to witness it live during the 2008 post season. Unfortunately for fantasy owners who have waited patiently for his arrival, it has yet to translate into even halfway decent stats. All you can do is stay patient at this point and hope he figures it out in the 2nd half.
Alex Rodriguez (3B - Yankees) - A-Rod's atrocious June continues. He was 0-for-4 (again), bringing his June average to .143 (9-for-63) with four extra base hits and 11 RBI. The one bright spot is that pitchers still throw to him (at times) like he's "A-Rod," so he has walked 12 times to boost his OBP to .315. If you're looking for buy-low candidates, there may be none better than A-Rod. He can't get much worse than he is now. And, with 5 games left this week (including 3 against the cross-town Mets), manager Joe Girardi has not lived-up to his "1-day-per-week rest" promise for A-Rod. My best guess is that it happens Thursday, but we'll have to wait and see.
Jorge Posada (C - Yankees) - Posada is really slumping, hitting just .217 in June with 13 K's in 60 AB. Four of those K's came in last night's game alone and he looked like he couldn't hit the broad-side of a barn. The 37-year old catcher has struggled with some injuries this season and it wouldn't surprise me to see a huge decline in late August and early September as the long season catches up with him. While Posada does offer power and production in a solid Yankees lineup, for fantasy purposes, I'd rather have some more youth for the long fantasy haul (especially in head-to-head leagues). The last thing you need is a Mendoza-line slumping catcher taking days off during the fantasy playoffs.
Carl Pavano (SP - Indians) - Carl Pavano will get the start today (Wed, 6/24) after missing his last one due to neck and shoulder problems. Leading up to that minor injury, Pavano had a few struggles in back-to-back starts. He gave up 15 ER in 9.2 IP in his last two starts before sitting with this injury. Take away those two starts and Pavano has a 4.63 ERA, 1.26, a K/BB of 3.73, and a K/9 of 7.0. He has QS% of 50% (7-for-14) including a complete game shutout to start the month of June. If this shoulder injury was the cause of his last two blow-ups, you'll want to proceed with caution for today's start. But he was definitely becoming a serviceable fantasy pitcher prior to this setback.
Kerry Wood (RP - Indians) - Indians closer Kerry Wood is really struggling this month. While he earned the save last night, it was still a wild ride. He gave up 2 hits, 1 ER, and 2 BB before recording the 2 outs necessary to end the game. In his previous two outings against his former team the Cubs, he blew back-to-back saves, giving up 3 ER in 1.1 innings of work. His ERA is now 5.68, WHIP of 1.62 and a total of four blown saves with 9 successful ones. Lucky for fantasy owners, the Indians bullpen does not have a lot of backup options if Wood's struggles continue. So, while his performance has been shaky, his job should remain relatively secure.
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