Cliff Lee – The Mariners’ lefty toes the rubber later today against Minnesota in search of his 4th Win of the season. Through 6 games in 2010, Lee is actually pitching much better than a season ago. He’s improved his K/9 mark from 7.03 to 8.46 while lowering his BB/9 from 1.67 to 0.60. A major reason why Lee has only walked 3 batters in 44 innings is thanks to a 69% first pitch strike % compared to the MLB average of 58%. Lee also hasn’t allowed a home run and has induced 4% more infield fly balls than a season ago (15% compared to 11% in ’09). All said, Lee’s FIP of 1.44 indicates he’s pitching significantly better than his 3.22 ERA. With Seattle’s defense behind him, Lee should continue to be one of the better SP options in all league formats.
Kurt Suzuki – The Oakland catcher finished Tuesday’s game 2-for-5 with a triple and a double against the Red Sox. Entering last night’s game, Suzuki had just a .239 BA to go along with 4 HR and 18 RBI. Despite the unsightly BA, Suzuki is a buy-low candidate right now as his key indicators are all in line with last year’s numbers when he bashed 15 HR and drove in 88 while hitting .274. Suzuki’s BB/K ratio is 0.54 (compared to 0.47 in ’09), his OBP is .317 (compared to .314 in ’09) and his ISO is .150 (compared to .147 in ’09). The biggest difference between 2010 and 2009 is that Suzuki’s BABIP has dropped from .280 to .240. Once this stat improves (and it certainly will), Suzuki should see his BA creep toward the much more acceptable .270 range. Don’t forget Suzuki also had solid OBP numbers in the minors (.351 at AAA, .392 at AA), so I expect him to improve on his current .317 mark as well. Catcher is a tough position to fill, so don’t give up on Suzuki just yet.
Javier Vazquez – The Yankees' right hander shut down the Orioles’ offense Tuesday, by allowing 1 ER in 7 innings while striking out 7 and yielding just 4 Hits and 1 Walk. Vazquez has struggled in his second stint with the Yankees, entering Tuesday with a 6.86 ERA and 1.62 WHIP. It’s hard to put a good spin on Vazquez’s numbers as he’s posted some ugly stats including a 4.71 BB/9 (compared to 1.81 in ’09), 1.93 HR/9 (compared to 0.82 in ’09) and 7.71 K/9 (compared to 9.77 in ’09). However, don’t forget that Vazquez has posted the following FIP marks since 2005: 3.31, 4.05, 3.72, 3.85 and 2.82. It’ll take more than a dominant outing against Baltimore for Vazquez to right the ship, but last night was a good first step.
Kevin Gregg – There are blown Saves, and then there’s what Kevin Gregg did Tuesday night against the Rays. With a 5-3 lead, Gregg struck out the first batter of the inning before walking the next two. He then struck out Evan Longoria for out No. 2. After a walk to Carlos Pena loaded the bases, Gregg proceeded to walk in a run by issuing a free pass to John Jaso. Predictably, Ben Zobrist then hit a bases clearing double to give the Rays a 7-5 lead. But Gregg wasn’t done. He threw a wild pitch and then walked Sean Rodriguez before going out in style with an ejection from home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. For the season, Gregg had converted 14 of 16 Save chances prior to Tuesday and posted a 3.20 FIP and 10.41 K/9. However, after recording a 4.93 FIP in 2009, it’s far from a safe bet that the right hander can hang out to the Blue Jays’ 9th inning duties all season. Gregg has certainly built up some security with his strong start but another couple outings like last night and Cito Gaston might give some other relievers a chance to close out games.
Rich Harden – Once again, Rich Harden looked completely inept on the mound as the White Sox torched the Rangers’ right hander for 4 ER on 7 Hits and 3 Walks in 5 innings of work. He struck out just 1 batter. You won’t be believe this but Harden frequently fell behind batters 3-0. No, really, he did. When Harden did throw the ball in the strike zone, it was usually right down the middle and subsequently crushed by one of the White Sox hitters. For goodness sake, he had 67-year old Omar Vizquel in the hole 0-2 and couldn’t strike him out in the 2nd inning, allowing a single to right field. For the season, Harden is walking 6.24 batters per 9 and striking out just 8.82 (compared to 10.91 in ’09). He owns a 5.40 FIP, 1.29 HR/9 and may very well lose his spot in the rotation soon. If you own Harden, he should be on your bench or cut until further notice.
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