Chris Carter - Chris Carter is back with the A's for his 5th tour of duty, and he's started this one with a bang, going 3-7 with a double and two homers in two games against the Rangers. Carter is what we thought he was: a big, athletic guy with tons of power and a bit of speed that has trouble making contact consistently. He's still just 25, but for the time being the A's have said that he'll be getting the short end of the platoon AB's with Brandon Moss at 1B. Carter has the potential to be a 30+ HR bat if he can get the PT, so watch this situation closely. Brandon Moss is a journeyman that happened to get hot the first week or so that he was with Oakland: for the second half of June he hit 6-37 with 0 walks and 15 strikeouts. He isn't the answer, so let's see if the A's figure that out. I'd take a flyer on Carter already in deeper leagues, and I'd be watching the PT situation carefully in the rest.
Brooks Conrad - Conrad started for the 7th straight game yesterday for the Rays, and with the injuries that they're suffering right now I'd expect him to continue to pick up consistent playing time for as long as Longoria and Joyce are out. Conrad is 32 now and finally getting his first shot at a starting gig, despite the fact that he had over 60 XBH three seasons in a row from 2006-2008 in the minors. He strikes out a ton yet has obvious power and still possesses a little speed, and he can play anywhere in the infield to boot. For the next few weeks he isn't a bad gamble as an injury fill-in in AL-only leagues.
Rick Porcello - Porcello tossed his third straight solid outing last night, this time holding the Rays to just four singles over seven shutout innings. There are a lot of positives in Porcello's performance this year, as the 23 year old has made gains in velocity, swinging strike%, and GB rate, yet for the third straight year the overall results don't match up with the disparate performance parts as his FIP ERA is once again nearly 3/4 of a run lower than his actual ERA. It's pretty clear that Porcello is unlikely to become the ace that he was forecast to be, but he does look like a future solid mid-rotation starter to me, particularly if he can continue to improve at missing bats, as his GB rate is already elite. Perhaps a modest buy-low candidate right now, although he is still just a back-end rotation member in the majority of formats at present.
Scott Diamond - Diamond went eight innings for the 2nd straight start, as the 25 year old moved to 7-3 in a 7-2 defeat of the Royals. The substantial control and GB rate improvements that he's made this year do have value, but he's only faced three decent offenses all season so it's hard to judge just how much impact those improvements have really had. The FIP ERA of 4.14 looks about right to me for expectations going forward, although with the A's, Indians, and Royals all on the July schedule more of the same might be in store first.
John Jaso - Jaso stands to pick up a bit more playing time as Miguel Olivo continues to struggle while the 28 year old Jaso is having one of the better stretches of his MLB career. Jaso already has 10 doubles and 3 homers in just 117 AB's this year, and he's drawing walks like he always does, enabling him to post an .827 OPS through the end of June. Jaso has always had double-digit HR power to go along with his excellent plate discipline, but with the Mariners having three catchers for two spots (Montero is in the mix as well, of course) he hasn't played enough to be worthwhile in most formats. He seems to be getting enough time now to be a viable 2nd catcher in most leagues, and my hunch is that unless Olivo picks it up soon, Jaso is going to be seeing more and more time as the Seattle offense needs all the help it can get.
