Will Harris- ARI- FYI- Harris was called up after posting an ERA of 0.83 since being sent back down to AAA in June. He got into the game last night and lost, running his major league record to 0-3. Harris allowed a walk off home run in 0.2 IP, increasing his ERA with Arizona this year to 9.45. He hasn't been able to duplicate the success he had in 2013 in 52.2 IP with the Diamondbacks, when he posted an ERA of 2.91 and FIP of 2.74. Harris's performance at AAA this year wasn't as good as it might have looked, as his 0.99 ERA for the season is paired with a 4.24 FIP. His K/9 in his 13.1 IP with Arizona is 11.48, which is more than the 8.67 mark he had in 45.2 IP at AAA. He needs to get a better handle on his control (with a 4.26 BB/9 with Arizona and 3.94 at AAA) to return to where he was last season.
Tyler Clippard- WAS- Cold- With Rafael Soriano having pitched on 4 of the previous 5 days, Clippard got a chance to close yesterday's game. He blew his 4th save opportunity of the season, allowing a game-tying homer. With Soriano having struggles lately, Clippard had an opportunity to make a case for closer and didn't take advantage of it. With a month and a half left in the season, he might have a chance to step up again and give manager Matt Williams a reason to backtrack on his vote of confidence for Soriano.
Dylan Axelrod- CIN- FYI- Axelrod tossed a quality start in his 2014 major league debut in the nightcap of Sunday's game. He allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and a walk while striking out 7 in 6 IP. It wasn't enough to keep him with the Reds for now, due to their schedule over the next few days, but there is a likelihood that he will be back no later than when rosters expand on September 1. Axelrod has performed well for AAA Louisville since being traded to the Cincinnati organization. In 5 starts he posted a 3.06 ERA with a 6.11 K/9 and 1.27 BB/9. The K ratio is lower than he has had for several years at the minor league level, so is probably just an artifact of small sample size. At age 29, Axelrod is at that point where he needs to show he is more than a AAAA pitcher. He had a chance with the White Sox last year and didn't come through. He had a 4.50 ERA and 4.37 FIP in their organization at AAA before the trade, so the odds aren't spectacular that Axelrod will continue showing what he did Sunday.
Peter Bourjos- STL- FYI- A day after recording his first multi-hit game since July 20, Bourjos reached base in his only plate appearance of the game when he was hit by a pitch. He didn't get any farther as he was erased on a double play ball right after. Bourjos has shown marginal increases in ISO and steals over the past 3 seasons. However, he hasn't built on the production he had in 2011 with the Angels, when he hit 12 homers and stole 22 bases while batting .271 in 147 games. He had enough speed that the .338 BABIP he posted didn't seem to be too much of a stretch. Since then, though, Bourjos has not been able to hold a regular job. This was his age 27 season and with a new start in St. Louis it looked like he had a chance to become an impact player. He has only disappointed, though, and his chance to be a sleeper in 2015 is fairly low.
Travis Snider- PIT- Hot- Snider went 2-for-4 to extend his current hitting streak to 9 games. He is 14-for-34 in that stretch with 3 homers and 4 doubles. This looks like a heaping helping of regression to the mean. Before this stretch Snider had a .280 BABIP. His mark for the season is now at .307.
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