Ervin Santana- LAA- Hot- Santana extended his string of quality starts to 6 with the 2nd best quality start possible, a no hitter. Only a perfect game would have been better. He did allow 1 unearned run, walked 1 and struck out 10. Santana's usage has tailed off as he has only thrown 110 pitches once in this stretch, and that game was exactly 110 pitches. This comes immediately after a stretch in which he exceeded the 110 pitch mark 5 times in a row before leaving a game for a pinch hitter after only 5 IP and 76 pitches. Since that heavy workload period has ended, the control issues Santana was having have disappeared. He has only walked 7 batters in his last 6 starts, covering 50.2 IP. He may be due for some negative regression to the mean with a .269 BABIP, but if his control is strong the impact will be limited.
Felix Hernandez- SEA- Hot- Hernandez put a stop to the Seattle losing streak that had reached over 10% of the season. He allowed just 1 run on 5 hits. He also threw over 110 pitches for the 9th time in 10 starts and in his last 2 outings has 7 Ks and 8 walks in 13.1 IP. I'm still worried about how the surge in workload is going to affect Hernandez down the stretch.
Franklin Gutierrez- SEA- Idea- There might be an inkling of regression to the mean starting as Gutierrez has gone 6-for-21 over his past 6 games. He also has collected 3 steals. A Batting EYE of 1.00 in this small sample size is an encouraging sign. Gutierrez has suffered from a .221 BABIP and that is the main factor giving him an average below the Mendoza line. A turnaround in luck could make Gutierrez a positive down the stretch in average and steals.
Alejandro De Aza- CHA- Rise Value- De Aza hit his first major league homer in his first major league game of the season. He was called up yesterday after hitting .322 at AAA. This marks the third straight .300 season at AAA for De Aza as well as his third straight AAA season with extraordinary luck. His BABIP this year was .373. He has not been able to replicate that good fortune consistently at the major league level and so hasn't been able to produce the average either. Until, he proves otherwise, consider De Aza a AAAA player.
Jason Frasor- CHA- Trade- The White Sox were looking for a reliever to take some of the workload shouldered by set up man Jesse Crain. They think they have found him in trading for Frasor. This will likely result in more innings for Frasor, increasing his fantasy value, particularly in leagues that count holds.
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