Matt Thornton (RP—White Sox) Nows the time to grab Matt Thornton as his stock has just risen. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen announced that the 9th inning duties will be split between Bobby Jenks and Thornton. Thornton has been superb this season with a 2.20 ERA and 0.78 WHIP. His K/9 is through the roof at 14.3 and his BB/9 is very low at 1.6. Thornton is a ground ball artist with a GB% of 44% and has yet to give up a home run this year in 14 appearances. He has been equally effective against right handed hitters and left with opponents batting just .156 and making contact just 65% of the time. Expect Thornton to get a good opportunity to nail down saves and if you are in a league that values holds, Thornton may be able to accumulate a few of those as well. Grab him now while he is still available.
Brian Matusz (SP—Orioles) OK, so Brian Matusz got pretty roughed up his last time out against the Twins allowing 6 ER in 3.2 innings. It was his worst start of the year and as a result his ERA took a hike up to 4.91. Matusz is an extremely talented lefty but still a little raw. But the Orioles as a team have provided him with little run support and little opportunity to notch wins. The good news is that there are some trends that are positive for Matusz and could show signs of improvement. First he has a BHIP of .353 which is very high and a LOB% of 63.6%. So right now, his defense is doing him no favors. His FIP is also significantly lower than his ERA at 3.20 which indicates that he has pitched much better than his ERA would indicate. He has allowed only 2 home runs this season and although he does give up a lot of fly balls, as indicated by a FB% of 51.6%, he does have the strikeout pitch to back it up with a K/9 of 7.36. Matusz will continue to mature and improve but playing in the A.L. East is a pretty tough lesson in reality and the while Matusz is a definite keeper in long-term leagues, you may choose to pitch him when the match ups are a little more favorable.
Colby Lewis (SP—Rangers) One of my favorite sleeper picks at the start of the season was Colby Lewis. He took a no decision on Tuesday but pitched 7 solid innings, allowing just 3 ER. Going into Tuesday's game, Lewis had held opponents to a .198 batting average and had a 10.2 K/9 that dipped just a little after his recent outing. Batters are making contact on his pitches just 75% of the time and with a BHIP of .278, one would expect a rise in his ERA. But Lewis has an elevated LOB% of 79% which offsets the low BHIP so it appears that his ERA is pretty sustainable. If he is available in your league and owners have clued in to his success, you should grab him while you can. He should contain to help in most pitching categories and should also provide a decent amount of wins pitching for the potent Ranger offense.
Daisuke Matsuzaka (SP—Red Sox) Chances there were a lot of gun-shy fantasy owners this week who were reluctant to start Daisuke Matsuzaka this week. There confidence should be renewed as Matsuzaka put together a dominating performance on Tuesday against the Blue Jays relying on his fastball to strike out 9 batters in 7 innings. What made the outing even sweeter is that he didn't walk a single batter after struggling with control in his previous two outings. The 9.90 ERA heading into the game Tuesday was much worse than it should have been as he had a FIP of 6.08. Still not good, but more encouraging that it was almost 4 runs lower. Matsuzaka was getting done in by the big inning in prior games and with a LOB% that was under 40%, you knew that he was better days were coming. While future performances of Matsuzaka may not be as dominant, you should expect continued improvement on his ERA which is now down to 6.35. Wary owners should feel comfortable enough to get Matsuzaka back in the game.
John Buck (C—Blue Jays) It doesn't take much for a catcher to get on the fantasy radar. Unless your catcher is one of the few elite, it tends to be a pretty fluid position where you are likely to pick up whoever is the hot player of the day. This month's hot catcher is John Buck. Buck has been on a tear for the month of May even by non-catcher standards batting .371 with 4 home runs. He's smacked 8 home runs total on the year putting him second amongst catchers. But even if you do grab Buck off your waiver wire, be prepared to find your next hot catcher of the month pretty soon because Buck has pretty undesirable LD% of 11.6 that doesn't really help with the average and his plate discipline is next to nothing as he has only walked two times the entire season with an EYE of 0.07. So while the home runs and the average continue to climb, make the most of his but be prepared to jump ship as soon as Buck sputters.
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