Jake Peavy- CHA- Hot- In what could have been his last start as a White Sox (or is it White Sock?) Peavy allowed 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7 in 7 IP to run his record to 8-4. Unfortunately 3 of the hits were homers, leading to him giving up 4 runs and not getting a quality start. Peavy has given up 7 homers in his last 5 starts after allowing the same number in his first 8 starts of the season. If Peavy is dealt to a homer-prone park his stats may not get much better.
Justin Verlander- DET- Cold- Verlander had another disappointing start, getting roughed up for 7 runs on 11 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4 in 6 IP. He has only struck out more than 4 once in his last 7 starts and that was 5 Ks on July 4th. He has now given up at least 5 runs on 3 of his last 4 starts. After notching at least 7 Ks in 5 of his first 6 starts he has only done so once in his last 11 outings. This doesn't seem to be a short term slump.
Brett Lawrie- TOR- FYI- For the rest of this year, at least, Lawrie will be a third baseman. The Blue Jays had been experimenting with his at 2B, but that has been shelved for now. Lawrie went 6-for-29 while this trial was going on and Toronto wants him to focus on hitting. The stability didn't help him yesterday as he went 0-for-3. Lawrie's main problem with the bat, though, might be plain bad luck. He has a .230 BABIP.
Jurickson Profar- TEX- Hot- Profar benefited from luck when he was first called up. His .333 average in May was supported by a .391 BABIP. In June his BABIP dropped to .263 and his average was .227. Before yesterday's 2-for-3 effort Profar had a .190 average in July driven by a .235 BABIP. His overall BABIP of .291 is less than you would expect from a player with his speed. Yesterday may have been the beginning of some regression to the mean.
Manny Machado- BAL- Cold- Machado came out of the Break hot, going 4-for-13 in his first 3 games. In his last 4, though, he has gotten cold, with a 1-for-16. The 1 was his first homer since July 9th. There may be some regression to the mean happening as his BABIP is still at .353, far above the .293 he had in his rookie season last year. Machado's projected average was .264 so maintaining a .300+ was a bit of a stretch.
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