Chipper Jones- ATL- Hot- Jones went 2-for-3 to raise his 2011 average to .333. That is also his BABIP, which explains a lot. He hasn’t stuck out in 25 plate appearances, but he has also only walked once. Jones is hacking away. He happens to be hitting the ball and it happens to be falling. Don’t count on this to continue indefinitely.
Kevin Correia- PIT- Hot- Correia threw 7 shutout innings yesterday yielding 5 hits and 2 walks, bringing his ERA for the young season down to 1.38. His peripherals weren’t that great, with only 3 Ks, more fly balls than ground balls, and 36 of his 89 pitches out of the strike zone. Correia won’t keep his ERA in the same range pitching like that but he will probably not suffer that much as his peripherals will probably not be as bad. Last year’s 5.40 ERA was driven in large part by an anomalous 17.1% HR/FB ratio at his then-home in Petco Park. That was just freaky.
Chris Young- ARI- Hot- Young finally got a little untracked yesterday, going 2-for-5 with a double and triple. He has yet to homer or steal a base but those aspects to his game will come. His struggles so far this first week can be seen in an uncharacteristic .17 Batting EYE, driven by a 4.3% BB%. Young had his best year as a major leaguer in 2010 and is at the peak age of 27. Expect him to be knocking on the 30/30 club when the season is over.
Alfonso Soriano- CHN- Hot- Soriano has gone 6-for-22 so far in 2011 and half of his hits have been homers. That probably wouldn’t be the case if his luck were better. With a BABIP of just .200 he should have at least a couple more base hits. It’s way too early to be drawing firm conclusions about Soriano recapturing some of his magic. He had a couple of similar power surge stretches last year. If you have him, it is time to think of selling high already.
Chad Billingsley- LAN- Stats- There is something about Billingsley’s pitches that don’t find the strike zone well in the mile high air. In 27.1 career IP at Coors Field, Billingsley has given up 20 walks. Don’t judge him by yesterday’s outing in Colorado.
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