Charlie Morton (OF—Pirates) Charlie Morton pitched a complete game on Friday against the Reds, allowing just one earned run on five hits, two walks and struck out three. It took him 110 pitches to dispose of the Reds, throwing over 73% of his pitches for strikes and inducing 15 ground outs. Morton’s victory was his second of the season and now has a very impressive 1.64 ERA. Morton is a pitch-to-contact pitcher who strikeouts out very few batters and came into Friday’s game with a BB/9 of 6.92. His BHIP of .179 is considerable lucky considering his career norm at .314 and his LOB% so far this year is close to 85%. Additionally, his FIP of 5.93 screams that a train wreck is about to take place. Yes, I know we love to pick up guys who come out of the blue and have a great outing that shuts down a strong offense, but buyer beware when it comes to Morton. This hot streak won’t last.
Aaron Harang(SP—Padres) Perhaps this needs to be filed under the category of “Catching Lighting in a Bottle” or “Strange, but True”. But does anyone remember that pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds who had a lot of promise but never lived up to expectations? You know, that guy Aaron Harang. Harang has traveled west and seems to have reinvented himself playing for the Padres. In three outings for the Padres, Harang has three quality starts and has been very consistent allowing just one earned run per outing, going six innings. That comes out to a very nice and tidy 1.50 ERA. Even nicer is that he has yet to give up a home run in those 18 innings and has struck out a total of 16 batters while allowing just five walks. Certainly this trend is unlikely to continue, put if Harang can put together starts like he has on a relatively consistent basis, which coupled with a pitcher-friendly park like Petco, Harang could be a catch in deeper mixed leagues. Certainly, with three solid starts, he’s worth a grab in N.L. formats.
Carlos Lee (OF—Astros) Carlos Lee continues to extend his bad luck from last season to this season. His BHIP going into Friday’s game was .217 and after going 1-for-4, his average is now just .214. So what gives? For his career Lee has been close to a 20% line drive hitter but last year saw him hitting liners at 15.6% rate and so far this year at a 14.9% rate. He’s also been more inpatient at the plate swinging at first strikes 67% compared to the norm at around 53%. Appears that Lee may be pressing and trying to make things happen rather than the game coming to him. At 35 this year, we may also see some declining of skills. If he isn’t careful El Caballo could be El Goodbye-O.
Roy Oswalt (SP—Phillies) It’s only been three outings but Roy Oswalt already has three quality starts under his belt. Friday, he pitched six innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits, a walk with six strikeouts. In fact, in all three of his starts Oswalt has pitched just six innings. The Phillies seem to be limiting Oswalt to around 90 pitches per start which should help to keep his arm from being overtaxed and fresh from start to start. His BHIP of .250 along with his 79.4 LOB% will see some regressions to his career norms (BHIP-.295, LOB 76.4%), so we’ll see that his 2.50 ERA won’t hold over the long haul. Still, Oswalt should be the beneficiary of great run support, converting a lot of wins and as long as he stays healthy. But as luck would have it, Oswalt left Friday game with back strain which has been a lingering condition of his over past seasons. The Phillies will certainly use caution throwing Oswalt back out onto the mound two season. Monitor this situation closely as this could a problem going forward.
Tyler Clippard(RP—Nationals) Notching his fourth hold of the season, Tyler Clippard has been mowing them down this season with a 1.74 ERA. He’s produced excellent component stats with a K/9 of 10.61 and a BB/9 of 3.86. He has yet to allow a home run this year and with a WHIP of just 0.86 and opponents’ batting just .133, he has all the makeup for a closer. He’s a must-have in leagues that are deep and reward middle relievers. But for leagues that don’t he should be watched closely as he may get more save opportunities down the road.
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