Melky Cabrera (OF - Braves) - Melky had an atrocious start to the season and was quickly written-off. But the Melk-Man has quietly put together a nice June and, if you look at his numbers since May 1st, they really haven’t been that bad. Let’s take a look. He has hit safely in 7 of the last 8 games and is hitting .329 for June with a .365 OBP and an OPS of .794. Since May 1st, he’s hitting .312 with a .354 OBP and a .767 OPS. While the average has been decent (especially considering the Mendoza-level average he had in April), the other parts of his game have been weak. He has just 9 XBH over the last two months, leading to an ISO of .101. The speed hasn’t really been there either with just 3 SB during that time frame. In all, he’s been good for about a 0.64 FPI. Not terrible, but without power and speed, he becomes a strictly average play for now.
Jorge De La Rosa (SP - Rockies) - The Rockies starter made his first step to returning to the Rockies rotation last night, appearing in a rehab start for Triple-A Colorado Springs. He went 4.0 IP and gave up 4 hits, no walks, 1 ER, and struck out 5. He will slowly beef-up his pitch count and make two more rehab starts before rejoining the club. That should put him on schedule to make one start before the All-Star Break (unless he suffers setbacks). If my calculations are correct, that should put him on schedule to pitch against the Cardinals or the Padres the week of July 4th. When healthy, De La Rosa is a strikeout machine. Before getting injured, he posted 26 K’s in 23.0 IP which is obviously more than a K per inning. Last year, with a larger sample at-hand, he had 193 K’s in 185.0 IP for the same K-rate.
Stephen Strasburg (SP - Nationals) - I’ll do my best not to add to the hype machine, but Strasburg’s strikeout totals are historic. He now has more K’s through his first 4 starts than anyone in the history of the game had in their first four starts. Just to put it in perspective, his K/I is 1.62 which equates to a K/9 of 14.6. His K/BB is 8.2 and he has only allowed a walk in one start (his second start he gave up 5 BB). He’ll be a two-start pitcher next week against the Braves and the Mets, which should be the most challenging of his previous four starts that have been against the Pirates, Indians, White Sox, and Royals.
Josh Willingham (OF - Nationals) - Proving to be a cheap source of power, Willingham has 13 HR for the seaason. “The Hammer” has been slumping through June and was 0-fer again last night, dropping his average to .243 for the month of June and .270 for the season. But does that really matter? If you’re looking for power, Willingham has an AB/HR of 17.4, an OPS of .906, an ISO of .230, and an FPI of 0.75. His OBP of .406 is driven by an EYE of about 1.0 as well. Despite the recent slump, he deserves full ownership in all mixed leagues.
Madison Bumgarner (SP - Giants) - Madison Bumgarner may be on his way up. SP Joe Martinez, who is scheduled to start on Saturday, pitched in relief on Wednesday, pehaps setting up the perfect storm for Bumgarner to be called-up to make the start this weekend. He is currently scheduled to start Friday at Triple-A Portland, but those plans may change. Keep an eye out on the news to see if he gets the call. Bumgarner is one of the top pitching prospects in the Giants organization (and in the game) and could provide an instant bump to your rotation. To add to the drama, manager Bruce Bochy indicated catcher Buster Posey would be behind the plate on Saturday, which could make for a youthful battery for the weekend.
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