Paul Sauberer - Page 12

Chipper Jones- ATL- Old Player- With the season he's been having you couldn't blame Jones for doing a Brett Favre and taking back his end-of-season retirement. He has 10 homers in 266 ABs. Jones' .315 average isn't hugely luck-based since...

Nick Blackburn- MIN- Cold- In the two months since we last discussed Blackburn's horrible season, things haven't gotten any better. His ERA of 7.33 has some bad luck built into it, with a BABIP of 3.26 and LOB% of 63.8%....

Nate McLouth- BAL- FYI- The Orioles didn't add McLouth to their roster yesterday. This means he could exercise his opt out clause and try to sign with another team. McLouth is hitting just .244 at AAA Norfolk but has slugged...

Elvis Andrus- TEX- Hot- Andrus went 4-for-6 with a steal and 3 RBI last night. He was expected to have a career path similar to Omar Vizquel, starting slow offensively and waiting for his hitting to catch up to his...

Justin Smoak- SEA- Idea-Smoak is 1-for-5 with 3 walks in his first 2 games since being sent to AAA Tacoma. It is quite possible that Smoak's minor league stay will be brief. He was hitting just .189 for the Mariners...

Bryan Shaw- ARI- Cold- A key part of Arizona's blowing a 6-0 lead yesterday was a poor performance by Shaw. He only retired 1 of the 5 batters he faced and was charged with 2 ERs (4 overall) on a...

Nelson Cruz- TEX- Hot- Cruz went 2-for-3 yesterday to bring his July average to .341. However, it is being driven by a .441 BABIP. Cruz has yet to hit a homer this month so Fantistics' Drew Dinkmeyer's analysis from late...

David Robertson- NYA- Hot- Robertson gave up a hit, but didn't walk a batter after 3 straight appearances giving up a base on balls. He continued his impressive strikeout pace, fanning 2 of the 4 batters he faced. Of Robertson's...

Matt Harrison- TEX- Idea- Harrison credits his June success to working with the team psychologist. Maybe that helped, but it certainly didn't hurt that Harrison had a BABIP of .260 and a LOB% of 89.5% for the month. His FIP...

Roy Oswalt- TEX- Cold- It wasn't just the number of hits that Oswalt gave up last night, it was how he gave them up that was disconcerting. He wasn't having problems finding the strike zone. Oswalt threw 74 of his...

James McDonald- PIT- Hot- Facing the team with the worst record in the AL, McDonald dominated, allowing 1 run in a complete game. He continued the control he has shown this season, issuing no walks. McDonald's K/9 ratio has dropped...

Yu Darvish- TEX- Caution- Darvish has put together consecutive solid starts after hitting a rough patch. It must be kept in mind that these starts were against Houston and in San Diego. Also, Darvish threw a season high 122 pitches...

Kirk Nieuwenhuis- NYN- Hot- Nieuwenhuis slugged 2 homers last night, giving him 5 on the season. Only 1 has been against LH pitching. He is hitting .200 against southpaws despite a .321 BABIP against them. Nieuwenhuis has a .329 average...

Scott Feldman- TEX- Stats- Feldman takes the mound tonight having lost his last 5 starts and posting an ERA of 7.13 as a starter. He has been the victim of some bad luck, with a 43.1% LOB% when he starts....

Yan Gomes- TOR- Rookie- Gomes is back with Toronto and might get some playing time. He was hitting .349 at AAA when called up. Manager John Farrell has been making noise about using Gomes as a super sub player since...

Ryota Igarashi- TOR- Cold- In his latest call up, Igarashi has again failed to translate minor league success to the major league level. He has appeared in both Toronto games since being called up Friday and has allowed 4 runs...

Felix Hernandez- SEA- Hot- King Felix was back home and took advantage of it. After 2 road starts in which he gave up a total of 10 earned runs over 10.1 IP he handled the Rangers with relative ease in...

Rich Thompson- TB- Rise Value- Thompson (not to be confused with the A's relief pitcher of the same name) was acquired by the Rays and made a pinch running appearance yesterday. This was his first major league appearance since 2004....

Stephen Strasburg- WAS- Hot- Strasburg got a season-high 13 strikeouts in yesterday's start against the Pirates. He now has a 3-0 record and 1.64 ERA on the year. Strasburg has gotten a little lucky, with a .269 BABIP, but his...

Francisco Liriano- MIN- Drop Value- Liriano was moved from the rotation to the Minnesota bullpen. The Twins are having a bad year and they may have pushed the panic button on Liriano too soon, especially since manager Ron Gardenhire says...

Chone Figgins- SEA- Cold- Figgins has been unlucky again this season, as he was in limited time in 2011. His .254 BABIP is over 70 points less than his career average, explaining a lot of his .198 average. His 26.0%...

Huston Street- SD- Hot- Like the Maytag repairman, the life of a closer on a victory-challenged team can be a lonely one. Street got his second save of the season last night and has performed well whenever called upon. He...

Scott Feldman- TEX- Drop Value- If the Rangers' off day this week had been Monday instead of Wednesday, Feldman wouldn't have had to have been used as a spot starter last night. However, that's not the way the schedule was...

Joe Nathan- TEX- FYI- Nathan got into last night's game because he hadn't pitched in a couple of days. He entered the 9th inning with a 4 run lead so it wasn't a save situation. However, a walk, error and...

Ryan Ludwick- CIN- Stats- Ludwick has a Batting EYE of 1.00, which would indicate a marked increase in selectivity. However, it looks like that might be a statisrtical bubble when his plate discipline numbers are examined. His Swing% has actually...

Nick Markakis- BAL- Idea- Markakis has gone 4 games without a hit after opening the season with 2 multihit games. His average now stands at .238. This could be a good time to buy low if you need some help...

Yu Darvish- TEX- Hot- Sure, it was only a AA lineup he was facing, but Darvish was dominant. He allowed only 2 hits and 2 walks in his 4 IP of work, striking out 5. Only two hitters he faced...

News, notes and analysis as the regular season begins in Japan and Spring Training winds down in Florida and Arizona... Julio Borbon- TEX- Borbon's chances of securing the center field spot, and possbily even a roster spot at all, seemed...

New, notes, and analysis as we get closer to the start of the regular season... Zack Britton- BAL- Britton's injury situation hasn't gotten any better as Spring Training has advanced. He is now going to try platelet rich plasma therapy...

News and notes as spring training keeps rolling along... Yu Darvish- TEX- Darvish made his Cactus League debut yesterday against the Padres. In 2 IP he allowed 2 hits and struck out 3 of the 8 batters he faced....

News, notes and analysis from spring training camps, as I celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday... Neftali Feliz- TEX- Control is the big question about Feliz as he moves from closer to starter for the Rangers. His BB/9 rose from 2.34...

Welcome back to the Insider Baseball blog. It's good to be back and see the players start reporting to Spring Training. There have been a lot of changes in theh majors and we will be looking at them and other...

Brian Matusz- BAL- Stats- Matusz' record setting (and not in a good way) ERA of 10.69 this season had a huge component of bad luck in it. His BABIP was .382 and his LOB% was 56.4%. Matusz yielded homers like...

Alfredo Simon- BAL- Hot- Simon allowed 3 run on 6 hits and only 1 walk while striking out 5 in 8 IP last night. For the 4th start in a row he got more ground balls than fly balls. For...

Kosuke Fukudome- CLE- Hot- Regression to the mean had been hitting Fukudome, as he went 3-for-26 in the 7 games before last night. That was to be expected as he came to the Indians with a .330 BABIP. He countered...