Trevor Bauer (SP-ARI) - You can hardly blame the Diamondbacks for not promoting Bauer despite his carving up of Double-A and Triple-A hitters. Dan Hudson and Ian Kennedy are rotation mainstays; Trevor Cahill has a big contract and has been pitching well, and Wade Miley certainly has done nothing to deserve a demotion, ranking in the league's top-5 in ERA. Saunders has a 3.44 ERA himself, but he's now finding himself on the DL with a sore shoulder. Whether not we think this is a phantom injury designed to give Bauer a shot is speculation best-saved for conspiracy theorists, but either way, Bauer is going to get a look. In 15 minor league starts, Bauer has a 2.19 ERA and 111:46 K:BB in 90.1 innings. The 4.6 BB/9 is higher than we'd like to see, but he has a 3.9 mark in June and this isn't really a long-term concern. Bauer is a top-three overall pick who misses bats. Grab him immediately in all formats. Edit: I was listening to the Reno game (live there) and when I heard Bauer pulled after throwing 50 pitches Sunday, I knew - big league debut: Thursday.
Bobby Parnell (RP-NYM) - With Frank Francisco nursing a sore oblique, there could be an opportunity for someone else to save games for the Mets, at least in the short term. The two obvious candidates are Jon Rauch and Parnell. Rauch has a 4.40 ERA and is coming off serving up a home run to Eric Chavez on Saturday. He has a 6.0 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 28.2 innings. Parnell, who averages north of 95 mph with his fastball, has a 9.0 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 30 innings. Perhaps Terry Collins will use both guys, but if I had to speculate on one, it would be Parnell. Edit: Francisco to DL, Parnell to close. Guessed correctly.
Matt Carpenter (1B-STL) - While the Cardinals await the return of the more valuable Carpenter, let's take a look at what Matt is bringing to the table. Sunday, Carpenter was 2-for-5 with a triple and two runs scored against Kansas City. For the year, Carpenter is now batting a solid .288/.346/.517 with three homers in 118 at-bats. Half of his 34 hits have gone for extra bases, and his EYE is a reasonable 0.40. Carpenter hasn't shown more than average power for a corner infielder, but he can hit for average and take his share of walks. He should continue to see most of the 1B at-bats going forward.
Carlos Beltran (OF-SF) - Imagine where the Giants would be if they had re-signed Beltran. Sunday, Beltran continued carving up his old team the Royals, going just 1-for-5, but that one hit being a three-run home run. Beltran is now batting just 1-for-5, but that one hit being a three-run home run. Beltran is now batting just 1-for-5, but that one hit being a three-run home run. Beltran is now batting .308/.393/.589 with 20 homers and 59 driven in. He's hit in 15 of his last 16 games and has even contributed seven stolen bases after notching that exact total in the previous two seasons COMBINED. He's a top MVP candidate right now.
Aroldis Chapman (RP-CIN) - Is it time to worry about Chapman? Sunday, the flame-throwing left-hander was touched for his fourth loss and fourth blown save, allowing a pair of runs to the Twins via a walk-off home run to Josh Willingham. So after not allowing a run in his first 29 innings, Chapman has allowed eight in his last 6.1 frames. He does have a 9:2 K:BB in that stretch, so he's still missing bats, but he also might be either fatigued or tipping his pitches. His stuff is too filthy to not predict a turn-around, so don't panic just yet. Still, struggles in a couple more games could result in either/both of Sean Marshall and/or Jose Arredondo getting a stint in the ninth.
