Jordan Schafer- ATL- Cold- Schafer is 5-for-21 since getting more playing time due to Jason Heyward's appendectomy. He is 2-for-14 in his last 5 games, 3 of them starts. There may be some regression to the mean happening as even with this cool spell Schafer's BABIP is at .409. Heyward doesn't need to worry about getting Wally Pipped by Schafer.
Scott Feldman- CHN- Hot- In a reverse of last season with the Rangers, Feldman's luck has been good this season. After last night's gem his ERA stands at 3.34 while his FIP is 5.17. Sample sizes are small, but so far he has pitched much better in his 2 starts at Wrigley than his 3 on the road. That is mostly due to yesterday. Feldman has increased his K/9 from 6.99 last year to 7.28 although his BB/9 has risen from 2.33 in 2012 to 3.94. If he can control the walks more like he has in the past that will help minimize the effect of regression to the mean of his .230 BABIP. Feldman has had a sub-4.00 FIP each of the past 2 seasons. His ERA only followed that in 2011. He could see that range again this year when all is said and done.
Marcell Ozuna- MIA- Rookie- Marcell Ozuna has had a successful start in his major league career, going 3-for-7 in his first 2 games. With Giancarlo Stanton out for at least 3 weeks, Ozuna will get a chance to show how ready he is for the big leagues. It might be bumpy at first but Ozuna has significant power potential. He has slugged at least 21 homers in each of the last three seasons and had 5 in 47 AA PAs this year when he was called up. Ozuna's main issue so far has been striking out but he has been improving. He only had 9 Ks at Jacksonville and has only struck out once in his two games with the Marlins. Ozuna also has the potential to hit double digits in steals. For keeper leagues he is an asset and might pay off earlier as well.
John Axford- MIL- Cold- Whenever you give up twice as many runs as outs, things didn't go well. That's what happened to Axford yesterday and at the very least delayed his return to the closer role for the Brewers. It's true that he has experienced bad luck in 2013, with a .364 BABIP and 51.7% but that only shows up in a difference from a 10.32 ERA to an 8.14 FIP. A 4.76 HR/9 will do that kind of thing to a pitcher's numbers, particularly in a small sample size. Axford's xFIP is only 3.53. He really isn't likely to keep surrendering long balls at this rate and manager Ron Roenicke would prefer Axford in the closer role. It's probably just a matter of time before the extreme stats are evened out and Axford is pitching the 9th inning again.
Jordan Zimmerman- WAS- FYI- Despite having quality starts in 5 of his 6 outings this season and throwing at least 8 IP in 3 of them, Zimmerman has yet to hit a game of 110 or more pitches. He is incredibly economical. Zimmerman only threw one such game last year and it was his last start of the season. Fatigue is going to be very unlikely for him.
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