AL Player Spotlight- June 25, 2009

Paul Sauberer

Jun 25, 2009

Luke Hochevar- KC- Hot- Hochevar turned in an impressive performance last night, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk while striking out 4 in 7 IP. This follows up a disaster his last time out, when he gave up 7 runs (6 earned) on 9 hits and 2 walks in 4 IP. Hochevar has maintained his ground ball tendencies, with 12 GB outs and 6 FB outs last night. Still, the lower number of strikeouts can leave him vulnerable to luck. With a BHIP of .220 he has gotten a good amount of it this year, and still has a 5.87 ERA. There still could be some growing pains in Hochevar’s near future.

Armando Galarraga- DET- Caution- In his two starts since throwing 118 pitches on June 8th, Galarraga has given up 8 runs (7 earned) in 6 IP on 16 hits and 2 walks while registering just 1 strikeout. He had looked like he was turning things around prior to that lengthy start, going 14 IP and giving up just 3 BBs in his two outings before it. Galarraga may bounce back today since he has had so little work recently. However, combined with the fact that only once last year did he follow up a 110 or more pitch outing with a quality start in 4 opportunities, be aware from now on whenever he is called on to throw a lot of pitches.

Vernon Wells- TOR- Hot- Wells extended his current hitting streak to 8 games and hit his second homer in 5 days. This may be the beginning of the breakout that was due. Earlier this month, Fantistics’ Schuyler Dombroskie mentioned the inexplicable lack of power Wells had shown. Now it may end up being just some sort of fluke. Wells is a buy low candidate but may not be able to be bought low for long.

Joba Chamberlain- NYA- Hot- Chamberlain made a big step forward against the Braves last night. His last outing against the Nationals had continued a trend of losing touch with the strike zone as he walked 4 batters and lost, as has been the trend. Last night it was different. Chamberlain threw 68 of his 99 pitches for strikes and did not walk a batter. When Joba is in touch with the strike zone he does fine. When he walks batters, not so much. A key will be to see how he follows up last night’s outing and whether he can develop consistency.

Scott Podsednik- CHA- Cold- What did I tell you last week? I have some cosmic negative correlation with Podsednik’s performance. Last Thursday I wrote a positive blurb and he went out and took the collar with an 0-for-5 game. It looked like there might be a breaking of this curse as he went 6-for-12 in Cincinnati over the weekend. However, he has gone hitless since then, including another 0-for-9 last night. The 6-for-26 with 1 steal are not the kinds of numbers that are bonuses. I normally wouldn’t have written anything about Podsednik so soon, but figure I owe it to his owners to get the monkey off his back. Since I have pointed out his recent shortcomings, expect a production surge. I promise I will leave Podsednik alone until he goes through another cold spell and needs a boost.

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