Rich Harden – The Rangers’ right hander, perhaps saved by his impressive final start in AAA, will start today against the Angels, bumping Scott Feldman from the rotation. Prior to his strained glute injury that’s kept him from pitching in the majors since June 11th, Harden had posted some pretty atrocious numbers. He had an incredibly bad BB/9 of 5.95, his K/9 had dropped from 10.91 in ’09 to just 8.17 and he was yielding 1.94 HR/9. Simply put, Harden was a train wreck. Still, as bad as he was, remember that Harden stunk for the entire first half of 2009, posting a 5.47 ERA and 1.54 WHIP only to recover in the second half with a 2.55 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. I’m not saying Harden will suddenly transform his 2010 campaign, but he has shown an ability to salvage a poor start to a season. The key will be whether Harden can regain his strikeout form and drastically reduce his walk totals. At just 29, Harden still has plenty of upside and a track record of success during his career so he’s worth a speculative pickup in any deep league format.
Jose Bautista – It’s Tista Time! The Blue Jays’ third baseman connected for a grand slam off Justin Masterson Friday for his league-leading 31st HR of the season. Bautista’s BA (.262) and OBP (.373) are both well above his career averages but it’s the newly discovered power stroke that has everybody talking. Bautista entered yesterday’s game with a .585 SLG% and .329 ISO. He tweaked his approach in the offseason and now starts his swing sooner which has resulted in this season’s HR binge. It’s hard to argue that the power isn’t real since we’re entering August and Bautista is showing no signs of slowing down. He’s also cut his K% by 4% while maintaining a decent 13% BB%. It’s difficult to imagine a guy with a career .190 ISO and .431 SLG% maintaining this type of production, but Bautista continues to prove doubters wrong.
Matt Capps – That collective sigh of relief you heard last night around 11 EST were all the Matt Capps fantasy owners exhaling after the recently-traded reliever recorded his first Save as a Minnesota Twin. Yes, manager Ron Gardenhire stated Capps would close but if you’re a Capps owner, it’s still good to actually see him (and not Jon Rauch) out on the mound in the 9th inning. Capps entered Friday’s outing with solid indicators including a 7.43 K/9, 1.76 BB/9 and 0.98 HR/9 to go along with an 8% improvement on his GB% (40% in ’09/48% in ’10). Perhaps a coincidence, in Capps most successful seasons – 2007, 2008 and 2010 – he’s thrown between 76% and 78% fastballs and 14% and 17% sliders. In his two “down’ seasons – 2006 and 2008 – Capps threw between 68% and 69% fastballs and 25% and 27% sliders. If Capps begins to struggle, it’ll be interesting to see if there’s a shift in the number of fastballs and sliders he throws. But, for now, Capps owners have nothing to worry about.
Justin Masterson – An up-and-down, roller coaster season continued for Justin Masterson Friday night against the Blue Jays as the righty allowed 8 ER on 13 Hits (including two HRs) in just 5 1/3 innings to drop to 3-10 on the season. At times, Masterson will show an ability to shut down opponents by racking up the ground balls and strikeouts but too often he’s been knocked around the yard and looked like an AAA pitcher. The good news for Masterson is that he’s recorded a 64% GB% and his FIP (4.01) is more than a run lower than his ERA (5.19) prior to Friday’s start. He’s also limited his HRs allowed, posting a strong 0.69 HR/9 mark. However, Masterson still walks too many batters (3.89 BB/9) for a guy with a 7.17 K/9. If he’s going to be consistently successful, Masterson must improve his pedestrian 1.84 K/BB mark. He may be worth a roster spot at some point next season, but right now Masterson is too erratic to be owned in any league format.
Jose Valverde – The Tigers’ closer nearly blew a 5-run lead in wild fashion Friday against Boston, yielding a grand slam to David Ortiz and issuing 5 walks while striking out 4 in 1 1/3 innings and throwing 61 pitches. However, he managed to escape without any further trouble as Detroit won 6-5. Entering Friday’s game with a 1.81 ERA and 0.92 WHIP, Valverde finished with a 2.54 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. Valverde’s 2009 and 2010 numbers look nearly identical. Last season, he posted a 9.33 K/9, 3.50 BB/9 and 0.83 HR/9 good for a 3.50 FIP. This season he’s recorded a 9.27 K/9, 3.50 BB/9 and 0.60 HR/9 which translates to a 3.27 FIP. While Friday’s outing was pure ugliness, Valverde remains one of the better closer options in any league format.
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