Carl Crawford (OF—Rays) Carl Crawford left Tuesday game in the first inning and I think the word we are all looking for is: OUCH!! After reaching base on a fielder's choice, Crawford has definitively proved once again that you really shouldn't try to catch a baseball with your groin. OK, so maybe he wasn't trying to catch the pickoff throw, but the blow left Crawford writhing on the ground for a good while. Crawford may need an extra day off, but the injury shouldn't (hopefully) keep him out of the lineup for any extensive time. For the season Crawford has been doing everything right. With a .317 average, 33 stolen bases, 11 home runs and 77 runs scored, Crawford could be having his finest season ever. He's at the top of his game and should continue to excel as he is a must start. Let's hope that an ample amount of ice will do the trick so that he can get back onto the field and continue his terrific season.
John Danks (SP—White Sox) John Danks pitched a stellar game on Tuesday with 7.2 scoreless innings of two-hit ball and striking out 8 batters on route to his tenth victory of the year. Danks is having the best season of his career and is well on his way to being a 15+ game pitcher for certain. His 3.37 ERA underscores his effectiveness as he had a FIP of 3.36 going into Tuesday game which tells us he is no fluke. In fact, he has made great strides this season with being a lot more stingy with the home run ball as he has only allowed 7 on the year compared to a far more generous 28 from last season. Danks has done all of this with a pretty poor LOB% of 69.7% so there is a possibility that if he were to get that strand rate closer to the norm of around 75%, we could see an ERA from Danks below 3.00. Keep him active in all formats and with the Sox picking up steam, Danks could be in line for a very solid second half.
Adam Jones (OF—Orioles) Adam Jones' first half of the season can be viewed from a couple of different perspectives. On the positive side Jones went into the All-Star break with 14 home runs and hit his 15th on Tuesday night. His batting average has been hovering around the .275 mark for about a month which I guess suggest some consistency to a degree. So you have a decent batting average with some good power. But I'm not ready to declare Jones' season a breakout year or anything resembling something close to that. There are certainly deficiencies such as a poor OBP of .302 and only 12 walks in 371 AB's. He been caught stealing more times (5) than he has stolen (3) and his overall WAR is just 0.9 with a wOBA of .320. With a LD% of just 17.3%, we would need to seem some vast improvement if he is going to be a good source for average. But the poor CT% of 75% will make getting an average more than .275 for the year pretty tricky. Look for continue production with power, but don't expect much production in other areas as Jones has yet to live up to all of his early career hype.
Phil Hughes (SP—Yankees) Over the past 6 starts, including Tuesday's game, we have been seeing a different Phil Hughes than we saw from his first eleven. Hughes was shelled by the Angels on Tuesday and took just his 3rd loss of the season against 11 wins. But over those last 6 outings, Hughes has an ERA of 6.20 and has looked far less invincible than he did earlier in the season. His record is somewhat generous when you consider his overall ERA is just bordering on 4.00. Still, on the whole, Hughes' WHIP is still very solid at .123 and opponents are batting just .248. He's still a top rate pitcher despite the recent struggles and should straighten himself out. He may be a little arm weary and he might be worth sitting until he rights himself, but overall he is putting together a solid year.
Tommy Hunter (SP—Rangers) Despite the 7-0 record and the 2.08 ERA, I'm just not buying into Tommy Hunter's success. His WHIP is very solid at 1.10 but he has an overall FIP of 4.22 which indicates that his ERA is more of a mirage than reality. His LOB% is around 85% so he has been able to dance through allowing runners on base without allowing them to score, but this will correct itself and Hunter will probably encounter more difficult times. Additionally Hunter's BHIP is very low at .245 and we should also see that rise closer to .290-.200. Play him while he's hot but be wary going forward as Hunter's luck may soon run out.
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