Max Scherzer, RHP DET Scherzer is not deserving of the numbers he has posted; he's been much better than a 3.61 ERA. The right-hander has a 1.85 FIP, 11.6 K/9, 1.71 BB/9 and a 0.57 HR/9, but has had some terrible luck with runners on base. Despite inducing 69.2 percent groundballs and just 15.4 percent line drives with runners on, he has allowed a .423 BABIP in those situations and has just a 63.1 percent strand rate. The right-hander is having a career year on the mound, and it's only a matter of time before his ERA reflects that.
Mike Moustakas, 3B KC Moustakas hit zero homers in his first 74 at-bats, but he has four in his last 28, including one in three straight games. The third baseman hits a ton of flyballs - his 58.4 percent flyball rate is the highest in baseball - so if he doesn't hit home runs he isn't going to hit for a decent average. His BABIP is .224 and he's hitting .225. However, the 24-year-old has improved dramatically at the plate, posting a 31.3 percent chase rate and an 8.5 percent swinging-strike rate prior to Friday's game. He had a 37.6 percent chase rate and a 10.8 percent swinging strike rate in 2012. Moustakas has a 12.8 percent strikeout rate and a 1.25 K/BB after recording a 20.2 percent K rate and a 3.18 K/BB last year. Now, it's just a matter of developing the power he displayed in the minors.
Nelson Cruz, OF TEX Cruz hit a towering home run over the railroad tracks in Houston Friday night for his eighth blast of the season. It's appearing more and more likely that the 2012 season, in which Cruz hit just 24 homers in 159 games, is an aberration. Cruz posted his usual flyball rate around 41 percent in 2012, but had a 13.1 percent HR/FB. His career HR/FB is 16 percent, and he has returned to a 19.5 percent HR/FB in 2013.
Hisashi Iwakuma, RHP SEA Iwakuma has a 51/8 K/BB in 51.2 innings this season and is 4-1 with a 1.74 ERA and a 0.74 WHIP after shutting down Oakland Friday night. Iwakuma came into his start Friday with the sixth-best swing-and-miss rate and the No. 1 chase rate in all of baseball. He has allowed line drives on just 14.6 percent of his batted balls.
Joe Mauer, C MIN Mauer is 12-for-25 with eight doubles and four RBI during his current nine-game hitting streak. However, he also has 14 strikeouts during that stretch and a career-high 20.8 percent strikeout rate. Mauer's swing rate at pitches in the strike zone is up by nearly four percentage points from last season, and his swinging strike rate is a career-high 7.2 percent. Perhaps Mauer feels he can no longer be as patient given the sorry state of the Twins' lineup and is cutting loose on more pitches in the strike zone.
