Chris Perez- CLE- Hot- Perez picked up his 17th save yesterday as the Indians pulled into a percentage points lead in the AL Central. The most significant thing about the performance was that Perez has now gone 8 games (covering 6.1 IP) without walking a batter. That is a huge improvement over his early season outings, when he walked 12 batters in 19 IP. His strikeout ratio is also improving, with 6 in those same 8 appearances. Perez has yet to give up a homer, which explains the difference between his xFIP of 4.44 and his ERA of 2.49, but even if he does end up giving up the occasional long ball his peripherals are getting strong enough that he should remain solid.
Brennan Boesch- DET- Hot- Boesch hit his 9th homer of the year, his 5th of the month of June. He remains hot, hitting .368 this month with 13 runs and 11 RBI in addition to the homers. Boesch has improved his Batting EYE this season, posting a .51 mark, up from .40 in 2010. He was flying under the radar before June, but is probably snagged in most leagues. If not, he is worth owning.
Ian Kinsler- TEX- Hot- Kinsler has gone 9-for-24 in his last 6 games with 4 walks and 2 strikeouts. He hit his 8th homer of the year last night. This might be the start of the turnaround that is to be expected of Kinsler. His BABIP is still at .237, so there is still plenty of upside to his average.
Ricky Romero- TOR- Hot- Romero struck out a season high 12 batters as he held the Orioles to just 4 hits and 1 run over 8 IP. Even with the voluminous amount of Ks his K/9 ratio for June isn't as good as it was in April. Romero also issued 3 walks last night and that continues the month over month increase in BB/9 he has had all year. He hadn't struck out more than 5 batters in any of his 4 starts before last night. This could be a good time to sell high.
Mark Reynolds- BAL- Cold- Reynolds went 0-for-2 with a walk and (surprise!) 2 strikeouts last night. This makes him 1-for-8 with 4 Ks in his last 3 games. Reynolds has walked once in each of those games, so his Batting EYE isn't horrendous. Still, he is continuing his usual pattern of prodigious strikeout numbers. His current average of .202 is being held down by a .231 BABIP but unless you are looking for homers and nothing but homers for your team, Reynolds doesn't have much value.
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