Scott Feldman- TEX- Drop Value- If the Rangers' off day this week had been Monday instead of Wednesday, Feldman wouldn't have had to have been used as a spot starter last night. However, that's not the way the schedule was set up, so Feldman took the mound and didn't impress. He was hit hard, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 3 in 3.1 IP. Feldman needed 62 pitches to get through his abbreviated outing, but at least 41 of them were strikes. Feldman didn't look like he was prepared to move from a long relief role to starting on any kind of consistent basis. If the Rangers need an emergency starter if there is an unfortunate injury, they will probably look to the minors rather than give Feldman another shot. He is probably stuck in a bullpen role with little fantasy value.
Yoenis Cespedes- OAK- Rookie- Cespedes had gone 5-for-20 in 6 games since he had hit his last homer. Yesterday he went 3-for-5 with his 5th homer of the year. It seems like Cespedes might have a roller coaster year in his first season in the majors. One promising thing is that, even in that homer drought he walked 3 times and added another base on balls yesterday. Cespedes is still striking out at a prodigious rate, but it only took him his last 7 games to get 4 walks, when that was his total for the first 12 games of his big league career. If he learns to take a walk more frequently that shows an improvement in Batting EYE. Cespedes didn't strike out yesterday, the first time in 6 games that has happened.
Paul Konerko- CHW- Hot- Konerko hit his 400th career homer and is currently batting .338. That is driven in large part by a BABIP of .365. Konerko tends to extreme streaks and he's on a good one right now. This is despite a Batting EYE that has dropped from .87 last season to .50 so far this year. That, combined with how lucky he has been means that regression to the mean will be painful for Konerko.
Chris Davis- BAL- Cold- Davis went 1-for-3 with his second homer of the year yesterday, but that comes after 3 straight 0-for-3 games. Davis' Batting EYE has sunk to .13, low even for him. He has walked only twice while striking out 15 times in 16 games. Davis is cementing a reputation as a AAAA player.
Jason Hammel- BAL- FYI- Hammel had a GB% of 59.2% entering last night's start. With a 13/4 GB/FB ratio against the Blue Jays last night that number only goes up. This is not sustainable for a pitcher with a career 45.4% GB%. Once the balls stop getting banged into the ground at such a rate, Hammel's numbers will regress.
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