Chris Archer threw a gem against the Angels, going 8 innings with 15 strikeouts in the win. He's taken the proverbial "leap" this year. His swinging strike rate jumped from 9.3% last year to 12.2% in 2015, giving him a K rate of over 11 per 9! Everything he's done this year is supported by the peripherals. His approach changed a bit this year, as PITCHf/x has shown that he's throwing his two-seam only 5% of the time this year. Either way, Archer looks poised for an incredible 2015. Try to target him if you can; there may be some owners that aren't believing in the numbers thus far.
Clay Buccholz is in the midst of some serious mean reversion. Coming into last night, he sported a 4.33 ERA vs. a 3.06 FIP. His 8 innings of no earned runs improved those numbers even more and lessened the gap. Buccholz has notably improved since last year; the one thing that sticks out seems to be his command. He's locating his pitches much more effectively than last year, so he's limiting his walks and home runs. I like Buccholz as a mid-rotation starter the rest of the year, with the potential to be a #3. I'm still concerned with his injury history; let's not forget he's only pitched a max of 170 innings in one year at the major league level. Still, when he's on the mound, he's a great asset.
Good god! That's Albert Pujols' music! Pujols has an incredible six home runs in his last six games, which reminds me of the Pujols of old. Impressively, he took Chris Archer deep last night, who was nearly unhittable. Owners absolutely love the power stroke from Pujols, but it will take more than a week of solid play before I buy into a resurgence. The biggest thing going for Pujols is that the Angels offense has been struggling so far, so if that picks up, he'll be a large beneficiary in the middle of the lineup. It's weird to say that Pujols is a low-end 1B, but with all the talent at the position, we need to see more weeks like this last one to consider him a top option.
The move to the American League has not been kind to Jeff Samardzija, at least in comparison to his NL numbers. The Shark gave up 9 ER in just five innings against the Texas Rangers last night. Samardzija's "stuff" hasn't been the same this year. Hitters are still swinging at pitches outside the zone, but they're making contact at an alarmingly better rate; his career average is just 63.4% vs. 67.6% this year. To boot, he's giving up more line drives than ever while striking out a disappointing 7.15/9. I expect more the same from Samardzija the rest of the way - an ERA around 3.70 to 3.90. Without an impressive K rate, this makes him a very low end option unless he can turn things around.
If you've heard of Joey Gallo, you know that the kid can rake; that's exactly what he did in his major league debut last night, teeing off his first home run of the season as part of a 3-for-4 effort. Given the potential, he needs to be picked up immediately in all leagues, but temper expectations. He's still an incredibly raw talent with serious flaws in his approach. The power will be there, but so with the strikeouts and a terrible average. He's only 21 years old, so you can't expect much more, but if you're in need of power, grab him if you still can.
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