Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners - Felix Hernandez found his way to the 10 day DL with bicep tendinitis that is thought to have started in his last start against Texas. Hernandez battled with it all week before deciding to shut it down for a period of time hours before he was slated to start. The Mariners don't have any sort of a timetable for when they think he'll be back in the rotation, but the newly acquired lefty Marco Gonzales was called up from AAA Tacoma to make the start on Saturday before the game was rained out. He'll start the first game of the double header Sunday and likely will be where the Mariners want to stay replacement-wise as long as he can perform.
Rajai Davis, Oakland A's - Rajai Davis was a terror on the base paths Saturday swiping three bags (23) while going 2-for-4 at the plate. Davis has been excellent at stealing bases this year but that's about it as he has just a 78 wRC+ over 300 plate appearances. Davis doesn't do much in the way of average as he's hit just .249 and .236 over the last two season, but has a little bit of pop at the plate as there's a chance he can reach double digit homers for the second straight year. The only thing he does at an elite level is swipe bags where he sits comfortably In the top 10 in all of baseball.
Cole Hamels, Texas Rangers - Cole Hamels spun a gem against the Twins throwing a complete game while allowing one loan unearned run. Hamels struck out five and allowed just four hits while picking up his 6th homer of the season. Hamels' stat line is a perplexing one as he's striking out just 5.5 per nine which is 3 down from his career average thanks to a 8% swinging strike rate. He's also allowing a near 40% hard contact rate combined with a .235 BABIP which tells me the regression monster is lurking and eyeing that solid 3.59 ERA that he's sporting. There's a chance for the numbers that make it look like regression is coming to rebound though as he has thrown just 85 innings this year, but that does feel like a bit of a longshot.
Danny Salazar, Cleveland Indians - Danny Salazar has been absolutely dominant since returning the to rotation in July and continued that form Saturday with seven innings of one run ball while fanning 12 Yankee hitters. In his last three starts Salazar has struck out 28 hitters in 20 innings while allowing just three runs over that span. Salazar has always been an excellent strikeout pitcher but has taken it to new heights his year averaging 12.5 per nine while walking slightly more batters than his career rate. However we may see his K% drop a bit because I don't know how sustainable a 16% swinging strike rate is over the course of the season for a non-Kluber/Scherzer pitcher.
Drew Pomeranz, Boston Red Sox - Drew Pomeranz has had back to back solid outings now with a 6.1 inning, one run effort against the White Sox to earn his 11th win of the season. Pomeranz had a nice backup in terms of strikeouts with 8 after punching out four or less in two of his last three starts. He also has walked just two batters in these last two outings after he had walked nine batters across 11 innings in the two starts prior to that.
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