Dustin Pedroia - Pedroia had a single, double, and two walks yesterday to extend his hitting streak to 10 games in the 12-5 win over the Twins. Pedroia is having an interesting season, hitting .341 with a .433 OBP but showing virtually no power, as he's hitting the ball on the ground with a ridiculously high (57%) frequency. If you look closely, Pedroia appears to be a player in decline, which is not all that uncommon for players of his build as they near 30. His AVG has been bolstered this year by a very high number of infield hits , which of course has helped him post a BABIP of .392 despite an LD rate right around 20%. His swinging strike% and contact rate have continued to deteriorate, although the speed (8 SB already to go along with all of the infield hits) seems fully intact. I still love Pedroia as a player, and I'd expect some of these extremes (both power and BABIP) to level out as we move through the year, but despite my affinity for him I suspect that we have seen his peak value already.
David Phelps - Phelps threw his third straight quality start yesterday, holding the Jays to one run on six hits over seven innings, walking three and striking out eight. He's rapidly becoming more and more trustworthy in my eyes, as that K rate of 9.8/9 remains enticing, and after a start against the Rays Thursday he gets the Mets in the last week of the month, as Andy Pettitte's move to the DL has nearly ensured Phelps a rotation slot through the end of May at a minimum. I'm inclined to keep putting faith in Phelps until he burns me right now, although the ongoing control issues do limit his ceiling a bit.
Jake Odorizzi - Jake Odorizzi is getting the call to replace David Price in the Rays' rotation, and he'll start right off with a two start week against the Blue Jays and Yankees next week. Odorizzi is a RHP that has fanned more than a batter per inning while walking less than 3 per 9 over 526 minor league innings, and while his stuff is probably only a tick above average, there's plenty of reason to think that he could be a mid-rotation starter down the road. The HR rates that he has allowed in the high minors concern me a bit, and I also can't help feeling like Chris Archer would be a much better option for the Rays for both now and the future, but Odorizzi is good enough that he demands a look during this two-start week. With a relatively weak Yankee offense and a Toronto team that has been struggling, he's not a bad injury fill-in right off the bat, although my expectations are a bit more muted than most.
Hector Santiago - With John Danks only a start or two away from returning to the rotation, Hector Santiago picked a bad time to have a rough outing yesterday. The 25 year old had trouble finding the strike zone against the Angels, requiring 80 pitches to get through just 3 1/3 innings, allowing four hits, four walks and three runs while striking out two. I love Santiago's upside, particularly the K rate, but the occasional bouts of wildness combined with a high FB rate give him some pretty substantial downside risk as well. It appears that he's going to get at least one more start, which should come late next week against the Marlins....a must start if there ever was one. From there, he's locked in a struggle with Dylan Axelrod to remain in the rotation. If he stays, he's a solid spot-starter in most formats. If he goes back to the pen, he's waiver bait.
Johnny Giavotella - I think it's time to start putting Giavotella back on your radar in deeper leagues, as the Chris Getz/Elliot Johnson thing just isn't really working out in KC. Giavotella is hitting for a bit more power this year down in AAA at the expense of some AVG, but he still remains the player with the highest ceiling of the available options at 2B for the Royals, and I can't imagine that they're going to stick with the other two for very much longer. Johnson is a career reserve, while Getz has typically been a source of some cheap steals without killing you anywhere else in the past, but this year he looks awful, chasing pitches outside the zone at over a 30% clip. I like Giavotella's upside potential if he gets the call from Omaha, and I'd immediately snatch him up in deeper mixed leagues and all AL-only formats once that occurs.
