Michael Bourn (OF-HOU) – Bourn was 2-for-4 with a walk on Sunday, bringing the 26 year-old center fielder to .298/.371/.399 in 208 at-bats. He’s stolen 19 bases in 23 attempts and now has five multi-hit games in his last six, adding nine points of BA in the process. Bourn has really shown progress at the plate this year, bumping his BB% from 7.3% to 9.7% and his EYE from 0.33 to 0.51. Bourn is continuing to maintain a very hit GB% (55.7%) this year, but for a guy whose game is getting on base, running, and scoring runs, that’s probably not a metric to worry too much about. If Bourn can maintain that .371 OBP, he’s going to be quite an asset, particularly factoring in the stolen bases and 82.6% SB%.
Rafael Furcal (SS-LAD) – Loyalty is Joe Torre’s middle name, but even he couldn’t take Furcal anymore, finally dropping him to the two-hole on Sunday. Furcal went 1-for-3 with a walk, and he’ll probably find himself back at the top once Manny Ramirez returns, but for now, it’s the right move with Furcal hitting just .243/.307/.316 in 206 at-bats. Not much else either that you can say regarding Furcal’s batted ball metrics – GB% up from 48.7% to 53.1%, LD% down 2.5 points to 16.7%, and just 4.1% of his flyballs have gone for home runs. There doesn’t appear to be anything wrong physically with Furcal right now, but look for Torre to continue to give him the occasional (weekly?) day off in order to keep him fresh for the stretch run. Furcal is still just 31, so he’s not “done”, but 2+ months is a long slump.
Dan Haren (SP-ARI) – For the seventh time this season, Haren spun a quality start but was denied the win thanks to the “efforts” of baseball’s 22nd ranked offense in terms of OPS. Haren allowed just one run on four hits over seven solid innings in lowering his ERA to 2.33. In 12 starts this year, Haren has allowed more than two runs just three times and more than three just once. He has an eye-popping 83:11 K:BB in 85 innings and has held batters to a .201 AVG. Haren has seen his GB% drop from 44.2% last year to 39.4% in 2009 and a .253 BABIP will probably negatively impact his 2.33 ERA at some point, but there’s really little doubt he’s among the top 10 pitchers in the game.
Willy Taveras (OF-CIN) – Still nursing a hamstring injury, Taveras didn’t start on Sunday, but entered the 14-inning game late and wound up going 0-for-2 to drop him to .257/.315/.324. He has been successful on 12 of 14 stolen base opportunities, but a guy with zero power and a .315 OBP has negative “real-life” value. Fantasy owners have to pay attention for the stolen bases and Dusty Baker’s propensity for giving multiple opportunities for guys that don’t “clog the basepaths”, but with Chris Dickerson sporting a .371 OBP and Laynce Nix having seven home runs in 119 at-bats, it’s hard to make an argument for playing Taveras every day. We’ll see what happens once Taveras’ hamstring is 100%, but figure Dusty gives him another chance (or five).
Tommy Hanson (SP-ATL) – Tommy Hanson, Ryan Braun. Mr. Braun, Tommy Hanson. Hanson, the Braves’ top pitching prospect and my #3 ranked SP in the game behind David Price and Madison Bumgarner, made his big league debut on Sunday. He allowed seven runs (six earned) in six innings Sunday against the Brewers, including three home runs. The good? – just one walk and five strikeouts. Hanson had an impressive 90 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings in Triple-A and should be given a mulligan for this one. He flashed mid 90s heat, exhibited solid control, and threw 61 strikes among his 91 pitches. If this helps make it easier to acquire his service, by all means go for it.
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