Stephen Strasburg- WAS- Rookie- Talk about living up to the hype. Strasburg wasn’t perfect in his major league debut, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits in 7 IP, but he was close enough, striking out 14 batters and walking no one. Strasburg needed just 94 pitches and 65 of them were strikes. The Nationals don’t look like they are going to push Strasburg beyond where he should go in terms of pitch count, which is a good sign. He looks like the real deal and not the second coming of David Clyde.
Jason Jaramillo- PIT- Cold- Jaramillo went hitless for the 5th consecutive game. This dropped his average down to .182. A BHIPx of .176 is a huge part of his performance, but if you are in a deep league where backup catchers have some value, you can’t necessarily wait for regression ot the mean to kick in. Given the small sample size of at bats Jaramillo is likely to get, he might stay in the extremes. There isn’t enough solid performance there to view Jaramillo as a sleeper candidate.
Chase Utley- PHI- Great Player- Utley had his first multihit game since May 23rd, going 2-for-3, scoring 3 times and knocking in a run. With a BHIPx of .207, regression to the mean will get Utley’s average up from the current .266. Before it does, if his owner in your league is one you can schmooze, point out his low average and the fact that he hasn’t hit a homer since May 20th. Offer to take Utley off his hands. With a Batting EYE of 1.10 in addition to the bad luck, it is likely you will get a handsome return. If you are an Utley owner, don’t fall for that kind of talk.
Tim Lincecum- SF- Caution- The results of overwork may be manifesting themselves in Lincecum. A drop in velocity as well as the command issues he exhibited during his 4 start stretch in which he walked 5 batters in each start are not good signs. Last year Lincecum threw at least 110 pitches 17 times and crossed the 120-pitch barrier 4 times. This season he already has 3 games of 120 or more pitches and another 3 of 110 or more. That’s a heavy workload and puts him at risk of injury or severe performance drop.
Chris Heisey- CIN- Cold- Heisey got a rare start and didn’t capitalize on it, going 0-for-3 with 2 strikeouts. Heisey has some potential, after hitting 22 homers in the minors last year, but he hasn’t gotten any consistent playing time in the Reds’ lineup. Another area where Heisey could help if he gets an opportunity is steals. Although he hasn’t swiped any bases in the majors yet, he had at least 21 thefts in each of the past 3 minor league seasons. If circumstances line up, Heisey could be a sleeper.
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