Felix Hernandez has had his troubles with the Rangers, his opponent for tonight. He’s 1-3, 5.06 in 5 games, 21 IP against Texas this year and 9-12 lifetime, with a 4.02 ERA in 170.1 IP. Interestingly however, he was 3-2 with a 1.94 ERA in 46.1 IP at The Ballpark in Arlington over the three seasons prior to this year, and 6-5, 2.93 vs. Texas overall in that span. He has had two starts in Arlington this year posting a 6.23 ERA in 13 IP. Felix is a must-start in most formats but you have a right to be a little bit nervous about tonight’s start.
Marc Rzepczynski was strong against the Yankees on Monday allowing 2 earned in 5 IP on 4 hits and three walks while fanning 9. After going winless in 6 starts, Marc has now posted strong starts back to back against the Yankees and M’s. That’s 17 Ks in his last 11.1 IP over those two starts, and of course 6 walks. That gives you a pretty good overview of Marc at this point; fierce stuff that is less than mature. He’s not overpowering in terms of velocity but Marc has four pitches to draw upon … a sinking fastball, rolling curve, a heavy slider and a developing change. His K total over the last two starts belies the scouting knock on him which is that he doesn’t have an out pitch. He still has to control his walks but what we have learned in the last 5 days is that his stuff translates with high-level hitters. Put him on your list of young pitchers to pay attention to next spring.
Brian Matusz held the Rays scoreless over 7 IP last night allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks while fanning 7. Let your fellow owners look at his 9-12 record and 4.40 ERA next spring. What you’ll remember is his 4-1, 2.43 August over 37 IP, and his last 13 IP, in which he’s only allowed a run against the Jays, Rays and Red Sox on 8 hits, 5 walks (1.00) and 13 Ks
The Indians will shut down Jeanmar Gomez for the year, feeling that 173.2 IP between the big club and AAA this year was enough. He finishes 4-5 with a 4.68 ERA for the Tribe. Gomez was pretty hittable in the majors (.310 OBA, .339 OBHIP%), and a 5.3/9 K rate isn’t overwhelming. There is a little peek of better days ahead in his zone rates however. He gets hitters to chase outside the zone 28.1% of the time and hitters only offer at strikes 60% of the time which means they are having a bit of trouble finding the edge of the zone against him. Of course when they do swing they are making contact 77% of time after chasing and 92% of the time inside the zone. He’s fooling hitters a bit but he’s not missing bats so his .339 OBHIP% becomes problematic. When that normalizes things will get a little better, but a sub-6/9 K rate suppresses his capabilities. Jeanmar will be worth tracking next spring especially if he bumps his K rate a bit.
There’s no structural damage to Gavin Floyd’s right shoulder and he’s expected to be ready for the start of spring training after a better-than-league-average 10-13, 4.08 campaign for the White Sox. His 70.3% LOB% and 1.37 WHIP confirms the validity of his ERA. Floyd’s .329 OBHIP% was a bit unfavorable leading to a jump in OBA from .246 the past two season to .274 this year. So basically Gavin’s 2010 was pretty WYSIWYG in terms of what he is at this point in his career.
