Carlos Correa- SS- HOU- Hot- Correa went 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBI last night. In his last 7 games he is 10-for-26 with 5 walks, 7 runs, 4 RBI, a double, and a triple. There could be some regression to the mean at play here. When the hot stretch started Correa had a BABIP of .303. It is now at .312, just a little below his career mark of .314. Correa's slash line of .278/.371/.479 is very close to his career .276/.356/.479. Correa generally ends up fairly close to those career averages and he's there again.
Tanner Houck- P- BOS- Stats- As has happened several times this season, Houck was called up to make a start for the Red Sox. Since being called up on July 15, Houck has been sent back down and recalled 4 times. He has not pitched in a minor league game since July 10 but has made 7 starts for the Red Sox in that span. Boston has used a combination of options and 27th man roster magic to make this happen. Houck has responded well, but not pitched deeply into games. His longest outing has been 5 IP and he didn't make that last night. Houck went 4.2 IP, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits and a walk while striking out 6. For the season he has a 3.43 ERA, 1.89 FIP, 0.46 HR/9, 11.90 K/9, and 1.83 BB/9. With a mid-90s fastball and good control, the 25-year-old may not go down again. For this year, that's what manager Alex Cora has said, but his potential makes a permanent major league rotation slot a strong possibility.
Drew Rasmussen- P- TB- Hot- Rasmussen is making progress in the Tampa Bay rotation. Last night he gave up 1 run on 4 hits and a walk while striking out 1 in 5 IP. It was his longest outing so far this year. In his last 3 starts Rasmussen has allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks while striking out 7 in 13 IP. The Rays have been stretching him out and it appears to be paying off. Last night Rasmussen threw 40 of 58 pitches for strikes. He isn't striking batters out at the same rate as he was coming in form the bullpen but still has a 10.04 K/9 for the season. Rasmussen's velocity is still in the upper 90s, so the Ks may come. His fastball and slider have been effective and if he can last even deeper into games his value will increase.
Drew Steckenrider- RP- SEA- Rise Value- With the Mariners making a push for a wild card spot and employing a closer by committee of sorts, Steckenrider has picked up in value. Yesterday he earned his 6th save of the year and 3rd this month. It was a multi-inning effort, as Steckenrider tossed 2.1 scoreless IP, allowing 2 hits, walking none, and striking out 1. He has also collected 4 holds this season, but only 1 in the 2nd half. Steckenrider has a 1.90, 3.25 FIP, 8.31 K/9, and 2.42 BB/9. He is not missing a huge number of bats, with a SwStr% of 8.8% and Contact% of 81.9%. Hitters have an Exit Velocity of 90.2 against him and a FB% of 44.2%. That is reflected in the difference between his ERA, FIP, and xFIP of 4.25. He's putting up solid numbers in line with what he produced in 64.2 IP in 2019 (3.90 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 4.03 xFIP) than what he did in just 14.1 IP last season. The 30-year-old is on a 1-year contract and may get interest in the offseason for a position in the back of a bullpen.
Jose Berrios- P- TOR- Cold- Berrios was touched for 4 runs on 9 hits in 3 IP. He struck out 6 and didn't walk anyone. In his previous start, Berrios allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 3 in 5 IP. Over his career, Berrios has tended to fade as the season progressed. He has a 3.72 ERA in the first half and 4.57 in the second half. Berrios' K% drops from 24.2% to 22.6% and BB% rises from 6.6% to 9.1%. His performance last night could be the continuation of his normal trend line.
This is just a small sample of our daily analysis, join our member area for over 80 daily player updates sent to your inbox every morning and track your team online. Click here for details: http://www.insiderbaseball.com/baseballsample.htm Click here to register: http://www.fantistics.com/salesbaseball.php3
