Alexei Ramirez- CHA- Hot- Regression to the mean has been Ramirez' friend. He extended his current hitting streak to 8 games and is hitting .321 in September. His .34 monthly BABIP has his season mark up to .289 so there is still room for improvement in the final week of the season.
Mark Reynolds- BAL- Hot- Reynolds hit 2 homers and has 4 in his last 4 games. Notably, he only has 1 strikeout in that span. Reynolds is posting the lowest strikeout percentage of his major league career. Sure, it's still 30.7% but it is his lowest. That's a positive sign and if you can risk the potential hit on batting average, which will be highly luck dependent for Reynolds, those homers he provides will come at a discount.
Kelvin Herrera - KC- Rookie- Reliever Kelvin Herrera made a less than spectacular major league debut yesterday, losing his first decision and giving up 3 runs and a home in his inning of work. Herrera had never pitched above low A in his first 3 pro seasons but rocketed up the Royals system this year, stopping at high A, AA and AAA before being called up this month. He has been plagued by elbow problems in his career, but his delivery problems might have finally been solved. Herrera recorded 70 Ks in his 67.2 minor league IP. He could challenge for a major league bullpen job next year but still has to show that he has the durability necessary.
Neftali Feliz- TEX- Hot- Feliz nailed down another save last night, his 29th of the season. He seems to have gotten a handle on the control issues that plagued him at times this year. He has had more strikes than balls, usually by a wide margin, in every appearance since July 8th. Feliz has walked 11 in 26 IP over that span, but he has only allowed 14 hits and struck out 27 so the damage has been limited. Feliz's role next year is undecided but he should have value whatever it is.
C. C. Sabathia- NYA- Great Player- Sabathia did not get the win yesterday in the division clinching nightcap, but he threw a quality start, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6 in 7.1 IP. Sabathia made 127 pitches and has now thrown 110+ pitches in 5 straight starts. That isn't really anything to worry about in the short or long term, though, as his arm seems to be made of rubber. Sabathia should get a shot at his 20th win on Monday as that would still let him start a possible 2 games in each of the potential postseason series.
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