Danny Valencia- KC- Trade- Valencia was dealt to the Blue Jays in a 3-player deal for Erik Kratz and Liam Hendriks. He will get some time at 3B until Brett Lawrie comes off the DL but then will likely return to a backup role. Valencia has only 4 hits in his last 9 games, covering 25 PAs. He has hit .354 against lefties this year, continuing a career trend. In very deep leagues that kind of extreme split might have value in the stretch.
Adam Jones- BAL- Cold- Even after hitting two doubles on Sunday, Jones has to be said to have started the second half cold. He is hitting .211 since the break. However, his BABIP is .192, so this is probably a matter of regression to the mean. His season mark is .316, which is now exactly equal to his career BABIP. Jones' K% since the break has been 21.4%, but he started the season with an elevated K rate and got his plate discipline back under control. Expect that to happen again.
Jake Odorizzi- TB- Hot- Odorizzi continues to experience positive regression to the mean. He hasn't given up more than 3 runs in a start since June 5th. Last night he allowed only 1 on 3 hits while walking none and striking out 5 in 7 IP. Odorizzi's ERA is now down to 3.80 and his FIP is at 3.40 so he may still have more solid performances in store before things even up. With a 10.21 K/9 Odorizzi is helping in multiple categories.
Billy Burns- OAK- Rookie- Burns was called up when Craig Gentry was placed on the DL. He made his major league debut pinch hitting last night and lined out. Burns will get starts against lefthanded pitching while with the A's. Burns' main talent is blazing speed. He swiped 74 bases and was only caught 7 times between High A and AA in 2013. Burns repeated AA this season and had stolen 51 bases while getting caught 5 when he was called up. His main challenge will be getting on base to make use of that speed. His AA average dropped from .325 last year to .250 this year as his BABIP fell from .381 to .298. Expect him to get some steals while he is with the A's somehow but how well he leverages his speed will determine his long term value.
Yu Darvish- TEX- Great Player- Darvish seems to have bounced back from a stretch of 4 non-quality starts in his last 5 before the Break. In the three starts since then he only failed to record a quality start in the one that was shortened by rain. Last night he threw only 28 balls in his 108 pitches and struck out 8 in 7 IP while allowing 2 runs, both on solo shots by his new nemesis, Brett Gardner. Darvish has struck out 25 in 18 IP over his last 3 starts.
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