Notes from the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues... Two springs ago Delino DeShields was a Rule V pick who had a strong performance and earned a starting job with the Rangers when they broke camp. He ended up hitting .261 with

Notes from the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues... Results from an MRI conducted on David Price were inconclusive. As a result, the Red Sox have scratched him from his scheduled Grapefruit League debut Sunday. Price is going to be examined in

Jonathan Schoop hit 25 homers last season, 2 more than fellow 2B Jason Kipnis. Schoop also hit 100 singles, and 38 doubles, while Kipnis hit 100 and 41, respectively. Their batting averages were close, with Schoop at .267 and Kipnis

Notes from the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues... A month ago the Rangers' first base slot had a number of potential candidates. Then they signed 1B Mike Napoli for his 3rd tour of duty with them and that issue was resolved.

Dansby Swanson- SS- ATL- Idea- Swanson has performed well against RH pitchers as he gets his first taste of major league ball. He owns a .302/.356/.406 slash line against them. Veteran Jordan Zimmerman has had some struggles in his return

Lonnie Chisenhall- 3B- CLE- Idea- Having James Shields on the mound will give some Indians' hitters a chance to feast. Chisenhall owns a slash line of .308/.346/.471 against RH pitching to take against Shields' .287/.376/.507 slash line against LH hitting.

Lonnie Chisenhall- 3B- CLE- Idea- Chisenhall has played in the outfield almost exclusively this season and that's where he's eligible. His .305/.345/.469 slash line against RH pitching is an asset. Jose Berrios has had problems with LH hitting with a

Daniel Descalso- SS- COL- Idea- Descalso is available at a bargain price to play either SS or 1B. His slash line of .273/.377/.429 against RH pitching is solid, if not spectacular. Matched up against Luis Perdomo and his .316/.369/.498 slash

Clayton Richard- P- SD- Idea- Richard has quality starts in the last 2 of his 3 starts since he was put in the rotation last month. He will be facing a Dodgers team where only Charlie Culberson has a batting

James Loney- 1B- NYN- Idea- Loney has been far more successful against RH pitchers than southpaws this season, with a slash line of .281/.324/.403 and 5 of his 6 homers against them. Jose Urena has had difficulties with LH batters,

Matt Joyce- OF- PIT- Idea- Joyce has hit 11 of his 12 homers this season in 155 ABs against RH pitching. His slash line against them is .271/.402/.548. He will be facing Matt Garza and his slash line of .310/.386/.504

Juan Centeno- C- MIN- Idea- Centeno is 6-for-15 in his last 4 games. He has a slash line of .299/.337/.460 against RH pitching. Edinson Volquez has a .278/.356/.428 slash line against LH hitting. Sundays are a usual day for Centeno

Martin Prado- 3B- MIA- Idea- Prado has scorched southpaws this season to the tune of a .438/.513/.583 slash line. Carlos Rodon has had problems with RH hitting as evidenced by his .308/.371/.507 slash line against them. This is a huge

Cheslor Cuthbert- 3B- KC- Idea- Cuthbert has put up a strong .339/.369/.548 slash line against southpaws. The Royals will be facing newly acquired Francisco Liriano. Liriano had a decent .258 average against RH hitting, but with 15 homers allowed and

Hernan Perez- 3B- MIL- Idea- Perez has posted a .293 average against RH pitching this season. Is power has primarily come against southpaws but Luis Perdomo has a reverse slash line of .339/.409/.511 against RH hitters. This gives Perez a

Chris Iannetta- C- SEA- Idea- Iannetta is hitting below the Mendoza line but against LH pitching he is hitting .258 and draw 18 walks in 113 PAs. He has also hit 3 homers. The Mariners will be facing southpaw Brian

Freddie Freeman- 1B- ATL- Idea- Freeman has hit 13 homers in 237 ABs against RH pitching. Vincent Velasquez has given up 7 HR in 41 IP against LH hitting. That makes a good chance of Freeman launching one. Value play-

A. J. Griffin- P- TEX- Cold- Griffin has yet to post a quality start in 4 outings since coming off the DL. Before yesterday he had not pitched that badly, just hadn't lasted long enough. Yesterday, he only lasted 5

Eric Hosmer- 1B- KC- Idea- Hosmer has shown more power this season against southpaws, but with a .319/.384/.474 slash line against RH pitching he is still in good shape for a solid game. This is because he will be facing

Howie Kendrick- 2B- LAN- Idea- Kendrick has a solid .296/.345/.370 slash line against southpaws. Jorge De La Rosa has a less-than-spectacular slash line of .318/.407/.557 slash line against RH hitters. This bodes well for Kendrick's changes of a solid game.

Lorenzo Cain- OF- KC- Idea- Cain has a slash line of .407/.475/.648 against LH pitching with 3 homers in 61 PAs. Dallas Keuchel has been wildly inconsistent. He only has 7 quality starts out of his 15 this season. Cain

J. T. Realmuto- C- MIA- Idea- Realmuto has had reverse splits this season, with a slash line of .341/.367/.443 against RH pitching. Jon Gray has had reverse splits also. His .241/.310/.351 slash line against RH hitting isn't hideous but it's

Jon Jay- OF- SD- Idea- The lefthanded hitting Jay has reverse splits this year, as he did in 2014, with a slash line of .328/.400/.397 against southpaws. Chris Rusin has had difficulty getting betters out regardless of which side of

Elvis Andrus- SS- TEX- Idea- Andrus has punished LH pitching so far this season, with a .353/.389/.500 slash line. He hasn't hit a homer against southpaws yet in 2016, but last year 5 of his 7 homers came against them.

Michael Conforto- OF- NYN- Idea- Conforto posted a slash line of .275/.341/.531 against RH pitching last year, with all of his 9 HRs coming in his 160 ABs against them. In 101 ABs against them this year he has all

Danny Santana- OF- MIN- Idea- Last year the switch-hitting Santana was better against southpaws than RH pitching. This year he is back to his trend of 2014, when he had more success against RH pitching. Santana's slash line against them

Nomar Mazara- OF- TEX- Idea- Mazara has definitely been doing all he can to show that he is ready to stick in the major leagues. He has an average above .300 against both LH and RH pitching but his .319

Daniel Murphy- 2B- WAS- Idea- Murphy hit 13 of his 14 homers last year against RH pitching and posted a .290/.334/.483 slash line against them. All 4 of his homers in 2016 have come against RH pitching. John Lackey allowed

Melky Cabrera- OF- CHA- Idea- Cabrera hit 10 of his 12 homers in 2015 against RH pitching while accumulating a slash line of .286/.331/.417 against them. The Orioles' Mike Wright doesn't have a large sample size of major league results

Joe Panik- 2B- SF- Idea- Although he hasn't taken off against RH pitching this year (.224 average) that is due primarily to bad luck (.190 BABIP against them.) In 2015 Panik posted a slash line of .318/.379/.473 and hit 7

Matt Adams- 1B- STL- Idea- Adams hit all 5 of his homers in 2015 against RH pitching (150 ABs.) His slash line against them was .247/.283/.400. In the early going of 2016 his slash line against RH pitching is an

John Jaso- 1B- PIT- Idea- Jaso is off to a hot start, with an average of .351. He did some damage against RH pitching in 2015 with a slash line of .285/.365/.465. The Brewers will be starting Jimmy Nelson, who

Didi Gregorius- SS- NYA- Idea- Gregorius is looking to continue his hot start in Cleveland. Posting a .272/.321/.391 slash line against RH pitching in 2015 (and hitting 8 of his 9 homers against them) as well as a .306/.355/.399 slash

And now the games count! Chris Tillman- P- BAL- Idea- The righthanded Tillman will be facing a Twins' lineup that is weighted towards righthanded hitting and at least one of the lefties had reverse splits in 2015. Tillman didn't perform

Notes from the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues (Ides of March Edition)... After the trade of Jean Segura there was going to be a new SS in Milwaukee. How long the new guy stays there will depend on how much progress

Notes from the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues... The Brewers have a gaping hole at the hot corner. They have brought in several candidates from around the majors to fill it Aaron Hill- 2B- Mil- Hill came over to the Brewers

Notes from the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues... With the Brewers in full rebuild mode there are several positions up for grabs that need to be followed over the course of Spring Training. The corner outfield slots, though, have firmed up.

Justin Turner- 3B- LAN- Idea- Turner has a chance to exploit some reverse splits in today's game. His slash line against RH pitching is .316/.384/.532. Jake Peavy's slash line against RH hitting is .268/.310/.414. This puts Turner in a dominant

Avisail Garcia- OF- CHA- Idea- Garcia has a .284/.338/.379 slash line against LH pitching. C. C. Sabathia has had his problems with RH hitting this year, borne out in his .302/.360/.499 slash line against them. Garcia has an edge in

Daniel Castro- SS- ATL- Idea- Castro has had success against LH pitching in his limited major league experience. He has a slash line of .346/.370/.538 against them in 26 ABs and hit his only homer off a southpaw. Adam Morgan

Tucker Barnhart- C- CIN- Idea- Barnhart has a .285/.352/.392 against RH pitching. He doesn't have much power (3 homers in 158 ABs against them) but his strengths match favorably with the weaknesses of Tim Hudson. His slash line of .317/.378/.429

Shin-Soo Choo- OF- TEX- Idea- Choo has had a solid performance against RH pitching this season, with a slash line of .285/.384/.503 against them. He has slugged 14 homers in 302 ABs against them. That's the same number that Jesse

Logan Forsythe- 2B- TB- Idea- Forsythe has a slash line of .311/.386/.636 with 9 homers in 132 ABs against LH pitching. He will be facing 39-year-old Randy Wolf who in his brief major league experience this season has posted a

Adonis Garcia- OF- ATL- Idea- Garcia has hit 4 homers in 28 ABs against LH pitching. Chris Narveson has allowed 4 homers to RH hitters in 10 IP. In this collision of extreme but small sample sizes Garcia has a

Franklin Gutierrez- OF- SEA- Idea- John Danks was tagged for 7 runs in 5 IP Sunday against Seattle. He faces them again today. Gutierrez has a slash line of .333/.372/.625 with 5 homers in 72 ABs against LH pitching. This

Jean Segura- SS- MIL- Idea- Segura has hit .303 against LH pitching this season, going against a career trend of having reverse splits. He also has not suffered on a pro rata basis in the steal department when facing southpaws,

Preston Tucker- OF- HOU- Idea- Although Alfredo Simon has performed well against RH hitting; lefthanders have smacked him around to the tune of a .303/.366/.540 slash line. Tucker has posted a slash line of .280/.342/.544 against RH pitching. This makes

Odubel Herrera- OF- PHI- Idea- Herrera has performed well as a Rule V pick, particularly against RH pitching. He has a slash line of .291/.323/.435 against them. Veteran James Shields has had some struggles against LH hitting, with a slash

Logan Forsythe- 2B- TB- Idea- Forsythe has broken out this season. Although his AVG and OBP have been slightly better against RH pitching his power numbers are significantly better against southpaws, as evidenced by a slash line of .273/.360/.586. Wade

Ah, trading deadline time. Jake Diekman- RP- PHI- Trade- The Rangers' bullpen ranks 29th in the Rangers in OPS allowed. Diekman will probably become a key part of the attempt to correct those shortcomings. Although he has an ERA of

Jorge Soler- OF- CHN- Idea- Soler doesn't have a great slash line against RH pitching at .257/.298/.411. However, he has hit all 5 of his homers against them and the Cubs will be facing Jerome Williams. Williams has a slash

Jonathan Schoop- 2B- BAL- Idea- Schoop has been hot since coming back from the DL. Before last night's 2-for-4 performance he had a slash line against RH pitching of .324/.361/.735 and had hit 4 homers in 34 ABs against them.

Adeiny Hechavarria- SS- MIA- Idea- Hechavarria gets to face a LH pitcher in Fenway Park today. He has posted a slash line of .350/.409/.533 against them with 6 extra base hits in 66 PAs. Wade Miley has a slash line

Ben Paulsen- 1B- COL- Idea- The Rockies will face Tim Hudson today. He turns 40 on July 14th. He carries a slash line this year of .279/.359/.406 against LH hitting. Paulsen's slash line against RH pitching is .293/.363/.565 and all

Chris Colabello- OF- TOR- Idea- Colabello has a fantastic slash line against LH pitching (.406/.457/.750.) So why are we talking about him when RH Chris Tillman is starting against the Jays? First, it's Tillman's reverse splits, with a .279/.370/.544 slash

Ezequiel Carrera- OF- TOR- Idea- Carrera has put up decent but far from spectacular numbers against RH pitching with a slash line of .275/.338/.348 and 2 steals in 81 PAs (after topping 40 steals in each of the last 2

Delmon Young- OF- BAL- Idea- Young has been tough on LH pitching this season, although he hasn't hit a homer against them. His slash line of .356/.370/378 gives a solid chance at some hits against C. C. Sabathia, who has

Neil Walker- 2B- PIT- Idea- Walker has a .277/.330/.424 slash line against RH pitching, with all of his homers coming against them. With Kevin Correia making his 2015 major league debut against Pittsburgh this is a favorable matchup for Walker.

Kole Calhoun- OF- LAA- Idea- Calhoun has hit RH pitching better than lefties, with a slash line of .265/.304/.401. Nathan Eovaldi has had a lot of trouble against LH hitting this season, with a slash line of .375/.435/.510. He has

Nick Hundley- C- COL- Idea- Colorado will be facing Jerome Williams, who has allowed a higher SLG against RH hitters over the course of his career. This year he has had trouble against them across the board, with a slash

Daniel Murphy- 2B- NYN- Idea- Murphy took a slash line of .283/.336/.433 against RHP. The Mets are facing Jerome Williams, who has a slash line of .307/.366/.43 against LH hitting. Murphy is a good bet to extend his 5-game hitting

Brett Gardner- OF- NYA- Idea- Gardner has had success against RH pitching this season, with a slash line of .304/.379/.424. The Yankees will be facing Colby Lewis, who has a slash line of .282/.356/.470 against LH hitters over his career.

Adam Lind- 1B- MIL- Idea- Julio Teheran has had difficulties against LH hitters this season, with a slash line of .400/.500/.646. Lind has made himself prime trade bait in Milwaukee with a revival. He is particularly tough on RHP, with

Tim Lincecum- P- SF- Cold- Lincecum exhibited wildness yesterday, walking 5 in 4.2 IP. Only 53 of his 99 pitches were strikes. Lincecum allowed 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 4. He looked more like the pitcher he

Chris Heston- P- SF- FYI- Coming from a team that rode Tim Lincecum's arm very hard for too long, seeing Chris Heston toss a complete game made me take a look at his pitch count. Heston did throw 111 pitches

Jimmy Paredes- OF- BAL- Idea- Paredes carried a slash line .327/.339/.600 against righthanded pitching into last night's game. In 3 PAs against righthanders he hit a homer and walked twice. Today the Yankees will send Adam Warren and his slash

Joc Pederson- OF- LAN- Idea- Pederson's rookie season has started off with a bang. At home against right-handers he has hit (in an admittedly small sample size) .300 with 3 homers and 10 walks in 40 PAs. At a price

Devon Travis- 2B- TOR- Idea- Travis has been very hot in his rookie season. Against southpaws he has posted a .364/.417/1.000 slash line. This is despite a .250 BABIP. Last season Drew Smyly had a slash line of .262/.322/.441 and

Dexter Fowler- OF- CHN- Idea- Fowler has yet to get a hit off a southpaw in 2015, but he added two more against righthanded pitching yesterday. The Cubs are facing A. J. Burnett, who had a slash line of .244/.368/.417

Stephen Vogt- C- OAK- Idea- Vogt has a good chance to keep his hot start going against Roberto Hernandez (the pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona.) Hernandez had a slash line of .246/.358/.387 and FIP of 5.65 against lefthanders last

Mike Fiers- P- MIL- FYI- Watching Fiers Friday night prompted some thoughts. His velocity ranged from 91 mph down to 71. He also had very strong control, with 59 of his 89 pitches strikes and only allowing one walk in

Steve Pearce- 1B- BAL- Stats- In his breakout season of 2014, Pearce feasted on lefthanders, putting up a slash line of .327/.405/.704 against them. In addition he went .329/.416/.600 in Camden Yards. Today the Orioles have their home opener against

Notes from the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues... Down the homestretch With less than two weeks to go until Opening Day, some positional battles are becoming clearer. For the Rangers the main unsettled spots are left field, left handed reliever, and

Notes from the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues... It's déjà vu all over again The Rangers lost approximately 9 million games to injury right now. The big news this weekend is that they have started picking up right where they left

Notes from the Florida and Arizona camps... Padres The Padres were one of the most active teams this offseason, and that's really saying something this year as many teams were wheeling, dealing, and signing. San Diego acquired basically an entirely

Notes from the Florida and Arizona camps... Deep in the heart of Texas Well, Surprise AZ at this time of year. If there was one word to describe the Rangers' 2014 season, it was, "Ouch!." They should have replaced the

Scott Feldman- HOU- Stats- Feldman finished his season Wednesday. He ended up with a 3.74 ERA, the third time in the last 4 seasons he has posted a sub-4.00 mark. The 5.09 he had in 2012 definitely looks like an

Clay Buchholz- BOS- Stats- Buchholz turned in some decent performances before his last klunker where he gave up 5 runs (4 earned) in 4 IP. He is trying to look at the positive efforts as something to build on for

Chris Coghlan- CHN- Hot- Coghlan has gotten some favorable luck this month. Befroe yesterday's 4-for-4 performance his BABIP for September was .378. Yesterday he raised his average 8 points and his BABIP went up 5 points in a single day.

Matt Clark- MIL- Rookie- Clark may have found himself in the right place at the right time. Last season he played in Japan, hitting .238 with 25 homers and 70 RBI for Chunichi. Clark signed with the Mets before this

Derek Holland- TEX- Hot- Holland didn't get a decision but he did throw a quality start in his 2014 major league debut. His freak knee injury during the offseason kicked off an avalanche of health issues for the Rangers, but

J. J. Hoover- CIN- FYI- Hoover is back with the Reds as the season for AAA Louisville is done. Hoover managed to get tagged with 10 losses for Cincinnati in only 46 games covering 55.2 IP before getting optioned last

Dustin Ackley- SEA- Stats- Ackley credits his second half surge to a change in mechanics. It may not be quite correct. He had exactly the same Batting EYE in each half (.40.) His FB% was also precisely the same (34.1%.

Shin-Soo Choo- TEX- Inj Update- The curse that has hovered over the Rangers this season wasn't finished. Choo has been declared done for the season with a bone spur in his elbow. Although he had hit 4 homers in 90

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

Nick Swisher- CLE- Inj Update- Even if Swisher gets a second opinion on his knee that doesn't include surgery, that doesn't mean he will be productive for the final weeks of the season. He has a HR/FB ratio of 8.3%

Yoenis Cespedes- BOS- FYI- Cespedes now has a single homer in his 35 PAs with Boston after hitting one out on Sunday. His HR/FB ratio had risen into double digits by the time of the trade from Oakland, but is

Matt Cain- SF- Inj Update- Cain will have season ending surgery next Monday to remove bone chips. Cain had a stretch for several years where he threw a lot of pitches and a lot of innings. It may be taking

Danny Valencia- KC- Trade- Valencia was dealt to the Blue Jays in a 3-player deal for Erik Kratz and Liam Hendriks. He will get some time at 3B until Brett Lawrie comes off the DL but then will likely return

Xander Bogaerts- BOS- Stats- During the Break, Scott Boras was quoted as saying he still had confidence in clients Bogaerts and Stephen Drew. With Bogaerts, Boras has reason to think that he will break out of his slump before too

Jeurys Familia- NYN- Caution- Familia officially has a tired arm and his use might curtail some. Hopefully this isn't connected with his appearance on July 4th. Familia had been getting into a lot of games but hadn't been worked that

Marco Estrada- MIL- Cold- Estrada couldn't pull off a third straight quality start, lasting only 5 IP and giving up 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5. He also gave up his 27th homer of

Jose Reyes- TOR- Hot- Regression to the mean is in full swing for Reyes. Through June 23rd his BABIP was at .264 and his average at .247. In the 6 games since then he has gone 12-for-29 with a BABIP

Kris Bryant- CHN- Hot- Bryant slugged his 4th homer in 5 games since being promoted from AAA. That move came on the strength of 22 homers for AA Tennessee. All of Bryant's AAA hits have been homers so his average

Mark Buehrle- TOR- FYI- Buehrle will get an extra day of rest before taking the mound tomorrow. Maybe it will help him bounce back from his third non-quality start of the season. Then again, maybe some regression to the mean

Andrew Heaney- MIA- FYI- Just about everyone is expecting Heaney to make his major league debut soon. The Marlins' Director of Scouting said he "is really close on the cusp of the Major Leagues." The question is when. If it

Josh Hamilton- LAA- Hot- Hamilton seems to be getting back into form after a slow start coming off the DL. He had his 3rd multi-hit game in a row yesterday, going 2-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI. Hamilton is

David Lough- BAL- Hot- Lough went 2-for-3 in his first start in about a week on Sunday and hit his first homer of the year. His average is still below the Mendoza Line at .176, suppressed by a .214 BABIP.

Andrelton Simmons- ATL- Cold- Simmons went 1-for-4 yesterday, getting only his second hit in his last 6 games to drop his average to .259. On the plus side he drew a walk, his first one since May 7th. At the

Leonys Martin- TEX- Hot- Martin had missed two games due to neck stiffness. He was healthy yesterday but didn't start because the Tigers put a lefty on the mound. Martin was pressed into service when Daniel Robertson was hurt in

Raul Ibanez- LAA- Cold- Ibanez was only hitting .148 and didn't start last night's game. His slow start can mostly be attributed to bad luck, with a BABIP of .181. He has had similar slow starts each of the previous

Aramis Ramirez- MIL- Stats- Ramirez turns 36 next month and this is the second time in 2 years that he has had left leg issues. His durability is definitely in question. Ramirez got off to a very good start due

Daniel Nava- BOS- Cold- Jackie Bradley, Jr. might not be tearing things up for the Red Sox but Nava's performance at AAA Pawtucket recently hasn't warranted serious contemplation of making a switch between the majors and minors. He went 1-for-3

Adam Jones- BAL- Caution- Jones has had a very poor start, with an average of .252 (despite a .322 BABIP) and a single homer in 29 games. This from a guy who hit 30+ in each of the previous 2

Andrew Heaney- MIA- FYI- Heaney has an extra day off before his next start on Thursday, due to an off day in AA Jacksonville's schedule. He will be coming off his first poor performance of the year. Last Friday he

Ben Zobrist- TB- Hot- After having his first hitless game in almost a week on Wednesday, Zobrist bounced back nicely yesterday. He went 3-for-4 with a walk to raise his average to .310. It was his 4th multi-hit game in

Chris Archer- TB- Hot- Archer pitched very well Saturday, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and walking none while striking out 4 in 6.2 IP. It was his 3rd quality start in his 4 outings this season, making his previous

Mike Fiers- MIL- Idea- I went to the Nashville Sounds game on Sunday and saw Fiers pitch. He was dominant, throwing 6.2 scoreless IP and allowing 5 hits and a walk while striking out 5. Of his 96 pitches, 60

Jim Johnson- OAK- Drop Value- Johnson is out as the Oakland closer after a bad start with his new team. He will be replaced by a committee that sounds like a cast of thousands. This isn't very surprising if you've

Adam Wainwright- STL- Caution- Wainwright threw 7 scoreless IP, allowing just 3 hits and striking out 9. However, he did have some control issues, with 43 of his 105 pitches being balls and walking 4 batters, mare than in any

Observations from the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues...Micro sample size edition...I went to yesterday's game between the Nationals and Marlins. It was good to see my first live game of the season, even if there was a constant drizzle. Of course,

Notes from the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues... Johan Santana- BAL- The Orioles signed Santana to a minor league deal. In workouts he was reportedly topping out in the 80s so he is not back to the dominant form he had

Notes from the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues...as all pitchers and catchers have reported and position players for the Tigers, Phillies, Pirates, Cardinals and Mariners report today. Ryan Dempster- BOS- Dempster will not be pitching for the Red Sox or anyone

Observations from the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues...Pitchers and catchers will be reporting today for the Braves, Orioles, Cubs, Tigers, Angels, Padres and Nationals. Derek Jeter- NYA- The biggest news of yesterday was that the last of the Core Four will

Dan Straily- OAK- Hot- Straily finished his season with a loss but it was a quality start. It was only the 4th quality start in his last 12 outings as he has gone through some regression to the mean. Straily

Addison Reed- CHA- Cold- Reed blew his third save of the month, giving him a conversion rate of only 50% in the last month of the season. He came close to pulling it out, striking out 2 of the batters

Tim Beckham- TB- Rookie- Beckham debuted as a pinch hitter and got a single in his first major league at bat. The pessimist would say he has nowhere to go but down. But that would be depressing. Realistically, Beckham hit

Matt Harvey- NYN- Inj Update- If Harvey isn't going to stretch out his final surgery decision beyond the month of two reported then there isn't much further impact on next year. If he ends up having the surgery, then it

A.J. Griffin- OAK- Hot- Griffin tossed his second quality start in 3 outings. He is still gaining help from good fortune as his ERA for the game was 1.29 while his 1-game FIP was 3.05 Griffin's Season differential between the

Jean Segura- MIL- Stats- Segura has gone 15-for-55 in his last 13 games so he might be showing signs of reviving a bit from his second half slump. He has also swiped 2 bases in his last 5 games after

Chris Sale- CHA- Caution- Sale had a quality start last night but his usage pattern is worrisome. He ended up throwing 114 pitches, a dozen of them in the 8th inning after it looked like he was tiring. Extending pitchers

Henderson Alvarez- MIA- Hot- Alvarez threw his first quality start in his last 5 outings, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk while striking out 3 in 6 IP. Prior to his cold streak he had thrown 5

Jason Vargas- LAA- Hot- Vargas has now tossed two straight quality starts and appears over the blood clot issue that landed him on the DL earlier this season. He threw 7 shutout innings yesterday, allowing just 2 hits and 3

Nate Freiman- OAK- Rookie- Frieman, possibly the tallest ever major league position player at 6' 8", reached base three times last night, singling as a pinch hitter and walking twice after staying in as the DH. Freiman has managed to

Ryan Doumit- MIN- Hot- Doumit is 10-for-31 with 2 homers in 7 games since coming back from the concussion DL. The time off didn't slow him down at all. In fact, he has picked up his game. In the first

Jason Giambi- CLE- Old Player- Giambi still has some pop in his bat on the rare occasion he gets to play. He went 2-for-3 with a homer, walk, 2 runs and 3 RBI. The homer was his 8th of the

Ethan Martin- PHI- Rookie- Martin gave up 3 runs in 5 IP and took the loss yesterday. He walked 2, his lowest total so far in 3 major league starts. Control will be the key to Martin's eventual success or

Mark Reynolds- CLE- Drop Value- Reynolds was designated for assignment yesterday but there is a good chance he will catch on with another team soon. That team could be Baltimore. The Orioles' DHs have hit a collective .210 with 16

Wilmer Flores- NYN- Rookie- It wasn't an auspicious debut for Flores, who went 0-for-4 and committed an error last night. He was hitting .321 with 15 homers in 463 ABs at AAA Las Vegas when he was called up. Flores

Elvis Andrus- TEX- Hot- Andrus extended his hitting streak to 14 games by going 1-for-4. He is 17-for-51 in that span. This may e a continuation of some regression to the mean. Last month, Andrus hit .287 after a mark

Brian Wilson- SF- FYI- Wilson had been working out in front of people connected with the Giants but ended up heading to southern California, but not to be one of the Beach Boys. He signed with the arch rival Dodgers.

Jake Peavy- CHA- Hot- In what could have been his last start as a White Sox (or is it White Sock?) Peavy allowed 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7 in 7 IP to run his record to

Tim Lincecum-SF-Cold- When Lincecum needed 148 pitches to throw a no hitter that was a sign that his stuff wasn't back to form yet. Although only 52 of those pitches were balls he still allowed 4 walks in his 9

Wily Peralta- MIL- Hot- For someone who threw a 3-hit shutout last night, Peralta wasn't as impressive as his line looks. He threw 113 pitches, 71 of them for strikes. After the first 4 IP, though, Peralta had thrown 29

Giancarlo Stanton- MIA- Cold- Stanton has cooled off since the calendar flipped to July. He is 2-for-18 in the early days of the month, with no extra base hits. Stanton has drawn 5 walks in 5 games already this month,

Wily Peralta-MIL- Hot- Peralta had finally started coming around but had to leave last night's game with a hamstring injury. He had allowed 10 ER in 23.1 IP across his previous 4 starts but only struck out 9 batters. Last

Chien-Ming Wang- TOR- Stats- Wang has a 2.18 ERA since signing with the Blue Jays earlier this month but it is built on good luck. His FIP is 4.07 and his K/9 is 4.35. During Wang's minor league time with

Edwin Jackson- CHN- Cold- Jackson gave up 6 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 1 in 4.2 IP. He was lucky to get as far as he did. For the first few innings his Strike/Ball ratio

Matt Cain-SF- Hot- Cain tossed his third consecutive quality start. His control was superb as 74 of his 110 pitchers were strikes and he struck out 10 batters without issuing a walk. The only downside is that the 2 runs

Anthony Rendon- WAS- Hot- Rendon went 3-for-4 yesterday to bring his average up to .361. Underlying that is a .447 BABIP, so expect some negative regression in that department. Power should increase, though. Rendon had 6 homers in 152 PAs

Jeff Baker- TEX- FYI- For those of you in 1-game eligibility leagues, Baker added 2B to his list of positions that already included 1B, 3B and OF. He went 0-for-4 last night but is still batting .317 with 9 homers

Chris Withrow- LAN- Rise Value- A move to the bullpen seems to have jumpstarted the 20th overall pick from 2007. Withrow had spent 3+ mediocre seasons at AA when the Dodgers' put him in the pen late last season. At

Julio Teheran- ATL- Hot- Teheran continues to improve as the season progresses. His near no hitter is his 6th straight quality start and the 7th time in his last 8 games where he has walked no more than 2 batters.

Alex Rodriguez- NYA- Warning- ARod's season may be over before it even began. He is one of the names in the Biogenesis scandal and is reportedly facing a 100-game suspension. MLB is looking to hit him with the penalty for

Jonathan Papelbon- PHI- Stats- Papelbon picked up his 11th save of the season and second against his old team, Boston, in as many days yesterday. He has yet to blow a save this year. Although the run Papelbon gave up

Alejandro De Aza- CHA- Cold- De Aza has gone back to his whiffing ways, striking out 6 times in 15 ABs in his last five games. He had seemed to be making progress, only striking out 3 times in 22

Vance Worley- MIN- Drop Value- Worley was sent to AAA right after getting pounded for 8 runs in 3.2 IP yesterday. That increased his ERA to 7.21. He has had some bad luck as he has an FIP of 5.52.

Zack Greinke- LAN- Cold- Greinke's control was suspect from the start last night. I went to the game, figuring I would write about him today. I made a note on my phone after 24 pitches that half of them were

John Axford- MIL- Cold- Axford retired the only batter he faced yesterday, which is a distinct improvement for him over his recent appearances. He hasn't had a full inning facing the minimum number of batters since April 23rd. An inordinate

Mitch Moreland- TEX- Hot- Moreland added two homers last night, giving him 6 in his last 9 games. His average is up to .296 for the year. Moreland has had some luck recently, but not of the outrageous kind. His

Michael Cuddyer- COL- Hot- Cuddyer is on a 6-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games. Luck plays a major part, as his BABIP is .365 this season, compared to .287 last year. However,

Ian Kinsler- TEX- Cold- Kinsler went 0-for-4 to snap an 11-game hitting streak. He is 2-for-13 over his last 3 games. Although the sample size is small this might be the start of some regression to the mean. Kinsler's BABIP

Jordan Schafer- ATL- Cold- Schafer is 5-for-21 since getting more playing time due to Jason Heyward's appendectomy. He is 2-for-14 in his last 5 games, 3 of them starts. There may be some regression to the mean happening as even

Jordan Lyles- HOU- Rise Value- Lyles had a horrible spring, posting a 17.74 ERA in Grapefruit League play. He has settled down some at AAA. He has a 5.32 ERA in his first 6 games, 5 of them starts, but

Brett Cecil- TOR- Hot- Manager John Gibbons might credit Cecil's increased velocity and mix of pitches for his early success, but there are other factors in play. Cecil has a BABIP of .200 and a LOB% of 93.8%. As a

Martin Prado- ARI- Stats- Prado's versatility may become an asset once his luck turns around. His current .241 average is being driven by a .239 BABIP. Prado has been more selective, swinging at 22.1% of pitches out of the strike

Cody Ross- ARI- Hot- Ross went 2-for-4 to give him a .333 average in 4 games since coming off the DL. In this micro sample size he has a .444 BABIP and hasn't walked yet, so don't get all excited

Oswaldo Arcia- MIN- Rookie- Arcia was recalled a day after being sent down. With Darin Mastroianni on the DL Arcia could get a chance to show how close he is to being ready for a full time major league slot.

Robert LaFromboise- SEA- Rookie- LaFramboise came from nowhere to join the Mariners' bullpen yesterday. He isn't on anyone's top prospect list that I can find. LaFramboise did make a big jump last year in strikeout rate, fanning 87 in 79.1

Tim Lincecum- SF- Cold- Last year Lincecum wasn't quite as bad at home (4.15 ERA as he was on the road (6.43 ERA.) However, a return to San Francisco didn't help him last night. Lincecum gave up 6 runs to

Tim Lincecum- SF- Caution- To say that Lincecum had control issues last night would be an understatement. Not only did he walk 7 in his 5 IP, but the slimmest majority of his 91 pitches were strikes (46.) Lincecum gave

Yu Darvish- TEX- Hot- The most impressive thing about Darvish's outing last night might not be the near perfect game. Ok, maybe that is the most impressive. Very close, though, is that he struck out 14 and didn't walk anyone.

Notes on the last day before real games start... Jason Frasor- TEX- RP- Frasor looks to be the prime setup man for the Rangers, He has been very tough against righties in his career, so could have some value in

Notes from around the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues... Mike Fiers- P- MIL- Fiers lack of stuff has caused him to be underestimated by many scouts. However, he has consistently struck out more than a batter per inning in his pro

Notes from around the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues... Michael Kirkman- TEX- RP- Kirkman is finally going to assume the prominent role in the Texas bullpen that he was expected to last spring. A diagnosis of skin cancer and subsequent treatments

Observations from the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues... Nelson Cruz- TEX- OF- Cruz woke up with chest soreness yesterday and spent the day in the hospital undergoing tests. If the stress test he had went well then he will be released

Mitchell Boggs- STL- FYI- In leagues that count holds, Boggs has been golden, picking up 34 of them after last night. Boggs has had good fortune this year, with his 2,21 ERA well below his FIP of 3.43. However, that's

Matt Cain- SF- Great Player- Cain needed only 91 pitches to get through 7 shutout IP. He has only thrown 110 or more pitches 10 times this season, two fewer than last year. Cain hasn't had the same work load

Blake Beavan- SEA- Stats- Beavan has experienced a roller coaster ride this season. In his two June starts before being sent to the minors for a month he had a BABIP of .379 and LOB% of 43.9%. That's not to

C. J. Wilson- LAA- Cold- Wilson experienced a lot of regression to the mean in August, when his 7.99 ERA was well above his 5.03 FIP. Even after getting knocked out early last night Wilson is still experiencing some good

Carlos Santana- CLE- Stats- Santana is experiencing some regression to the mean. His .314 September BABIP is a driving force in his .316 average this month. His power returned after a weak start to the season, with 28 of his

Tim Lincecum- SF- FYI- I'm not sure what the writer on the Giants' official site was looking at, but Lincecum doesn't have a 3-game winning streak. He has won twice in his last 3 starts, with a no decision mixed

Joe Nathan- TEX- Hot- Nathan picked up his 32nd save of the season with a perfect 9th inning. It was his 30th consecutive converted opportunity. After going through a stretch in August where he had retired every batter he faced

Donovan Solano- MIA- Stats- Solano ended a 5-game hitting streak by going 0-for-2 with a sac fly yesterday. His .293 average in 73 games this year is very luck dependent. He has a .347 BABIP and has followed his .354

Travis Blackley- OAK- Hot- Blackley threw 3 scoreless innings of emergency relief after Brandon McCarthy was hit in the head with a liner. If MCcarthy can't make his next scheduled start, Blackley would be a prime candidate to sub for

Mike Carp- SEA- Inj Update- Carp is likely to be activated from the DL today. With Justin Smoak not exactly tearing it up since he was recalled from AAA, there will probably be opportunity for Carp to get playing time

Tom Wilhelmsen- SEA- FYI- Wilhelmsen may be feeling some fatigue from his 61 appearances this season. Whether it is physical or mental is still a question. He has walked at least one batter (for a total of 8) in his

C. C. Sabathia- NYA- Hot- Sabathia seems poised to finish strong as usual. Since 2005 he hasn't had a monthly ERA in September higher than 3.35. He has posted quality starts in each of his 2 games since coming off

Tim Lincecum- SF- FYI- When I saw the headline on mlb.com, "Giants stretch out lead behind stellar Lincecum" I had high expectations. "Stellar Lincecum" to me would mean something like 8 IP and double digit strikeouts. Instead, seeing 4 Ks

David Murphy- TEX- Hot- Murphy went 2-for-4 yesterday after going 3-for-5 on Thursday. That puts his August average at .345, driven by a .365 BABIP. Murphy has benefited from luck this year, with a .335 BABIP. That has been mostly

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

Freddie Freeman- ATL- Hot- Freeman went 2-for-4 with his second homer of the young month. This broke a 3-game hitless streak for him. His Batting EYE has dropped this year from .37 to .29 but is at .67 over his

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

Alexei Ramirez- CHA- Hot- Regression to the mean has been Ramirez' friend. He extended his current hitting streak to 8 games and is hitting .321 in September. His .34 monthly BABIP has his season mark up to .289 so there

Rich Harden- OAK- Cold- After registering only 1 K in 5.1 IP in his last start, the 1.0 K/IP ratio last night might seem good. The problem is that he only lasted 3 IP because he was getting hit hard

Javier Vazquez- FLA- Hot- Vazquez has said he is going to retire after this season. If he keeps pitching the way he has been latterly, though, there will undoubtedly be several million reasons for him to rethink that decision, all

Joel Hanrahan- PIT- Cold- After going 8 games without allowing a run, Hanrahan has been scored on the last two games. He has given up 3 runs on 5 hits and a walk while striking out 1 in 1.2 IP.

Ben Zobrist- TB- Hot- Zobrist went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles, a run and 3 RBI. It extended his current hitting streak to 6 games in which he has gone 8-for-26. That's not a very hot streak and yesterday was his

Justin Verlander- DET- Hot- Verlander might be showing a little bit of fatigue as he only has 1 quality start in his last 3. He only gave up 4 runs in each of the non-quality starts so it hasn't been

C. J. Wilson- TEX- Hot- Wilson threw his first career shutout last night, giving him 6 quality starts in his last 7 appearances. His only non-quality start happened after he had thrown 4 consecutive outings of 110 or more pitches.

B. J. Upton- TB- Hot- Upton went 2-for-4 with 5 RBI last night. This breaks a 4-for-40 slump in his previous 13 games. Upton's average has been dragged down by a .273 BABIP this season and has in fact been

Eric Hosmer- KC- Hot- Hosmer hit 2 homers last night, his first multi-homer game in the big leagues. He has had a solid rookie season, batting .278 with 14 homers since being called up in May. Hosmer still needs to

Javier Vazquez- FLA- Hot- Vazquez shut out the Mets In his 7 IP last night, allowing just 3 hits. He exhibited the traits that have led to his resurgence, striking out 6 and walking only 1. Vazquez looks solid for

Prince Fielder- MIL- FYI- For the first time in 5 games, Fielder wasn't walked and he hit a homer. His last 3 homers have come in games where he didn't have a BB. It looks like teams are careful with

Michael Bourn- ATL- Hot- Bourn tied his career high for hits in a game with a 4-for-5 effort yesterday. He has pretty much picked up right where he was with Houston after being dealt to the Braves at the deadline.

Kyle Seager- SEA- Hot- Seager has raised his average to .313 on the strength of a 6-game hitting streak in which he has gone 15-for-25 with 2 homers, 5 doubles, 7 runs scored and 3 RBI. Seager's .397 BABIP is

David Price- TB- Hot- Price has thrown 2 straight quality starts against the teams at the top of the AL East, allowing just 1 run on 16 IP. This came after his usage eased up a little bit, with 3

J. J. Putz- ARI- Hot- Putz doesn't seem to be having any effects from the tendinitis that landed him on the DL last month. He recorded his 30th save of the season yesterday, allowing no hits, striking out 2 and

Andy Dirks- DET- Hot- Dirks went 4-for-4 for the first time in his young career, hitting a double, scoring a run and knocking in a run. He also walked for the first time since July 15th. Dirks is hitting a

Matt Harrison- TEX- Cold- Harrison may be experiencing some regression to the mean. He has had 2 starts of the non-quality variety in his last 3 outings. His ERA hasn't suffered much as he has allowed only 4 runs in

Derek Lowe- ATL- Cold- Lowe has only 1 quality start in his last 10 appearances. He suffered some bad luck last month with a .359 BABIP but didn't help himself with a K/BB ratio that dropped to 1.40 as he

Hunter Pence- PHI- Trade- The Phillies acquired Pence as regression to the mean may have been raising its ugly head. He has gone 9-for-46 since the All Star Break and with a BABIP still at .368 there is room for

Ervin Santana- LAA- Hot- Santana extended his string of quality starts to 6 with the 2nd best quality start possible, a no hitter. Only a perfect game would have been better. He did allow 1 unearned run, walked 1 and

Ricky Nolasco- FLA- Caution- Nolasco wasn't as bad as he was in his last outing, but he didn't pitch a quality start yesterday. He came close, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks in 5.2 IP while striking

Hunter Pence- HOU- Cold- We may be seeing some regression to the mean in action. Even with a 3-for-22 in his last 6 games Pence still has a BABIP of .374. He has been extremely lucky so far this season

Jordan Walden- LAA- Caution- Although he has been saving games with regularity, Walden's strikeout numbers have been decreasing lately. After getting at least 1 K in 26 of his first 32 appearances this season, he only has strikeouts in 4

Dontrelle Willis- CIN- Rise Value- In some senses yesterday's start was better than his 2011 debut. He only lasted 4.2 IP, but there was a rain delay in there that threw things off. He allowed 5 hits, but only walked

Felix Hernandez- SEA- Caution- Hernandez gave up 10 hits and 3 walks leading to 5 runs in 7.2 IP while striking out 6. This was his second non-quality start in his last 5 and 3rd in his last 7 starts.

Doug Davis- CHN- Cold- Pitching the first game of a doubleheader, Davis needed to eat a lot of innings. He didn't. Davis ended up in there longer than he otherwise would have because of the twin bill and it ended

Zach Britton- BAL- Rise Value- Britton continues to improve. Over his last 3 starts he has given up 5 earned runs in 17.1 IP on 16 hits and 5 walks while striking out 15 batters. In his start last night

Chris Perez- CLE- Hot- Perez picked up his 17th save yesterday as the Indians pulled into a percentage points lead in the AL Central. The most significant thing about the performance was that Perez has now gone 8 games (covering

Chris Volstad- FLA- Cold- Volstad lost his 6th consecutive decision, getting battered by the Phillies. He allowed 8 runs on 10 hits and 2 walks while only striking out 2. Volstad has had problems keeping the ball in the park

Danny Duffy- KC- Rookie- Duffy looked worse in his second start than he did in his first. Control is still an issue for the 22-year-old. He threw the same 54 strikes in the same 96 pitches as he did in

Felipe Paulino- KC- Hot- Paulino exceeded expectations in his first start for the Royals yesterday, throwing 5 shutout innings, allowing just 4 hits, walking no one and striking out 4. The conversion from relief back to starting may require a

Cliff Lee- PHI- Cold- Lee's record is below .500 again, at 4-5, after he had a poor performance in Washington. He allowed 6 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4 in 5.1 IP. Lee has continued

Elvis Andrus- TEX- Hot- Andrus was supposed to have the day off yesterday but instead ended up smacking a walk off single to win the game for the Rangers in the 9th. He had gone 2 for 15 in his

C J. Wilson- TEX- Hot- I have just about completed the crossover from skeptic to believer where Wilson is concerned. He had two starts where he walked a total of 9 batters in 12 IP, but has only walked 2

Bartolo Colon- NYY- Hot- Colon had perhaps his best start yet of his comeback. He needed only 87 pitches to throw 8 shutout innings in which he gave up 3 hits and a walk while striking out 7. Colon keeps

Brian McCann- ATL- Hot- On a day that he was supposed to be taking off, McCann doubled his homer output of the season, slugging two after entering the game in the 9th as a pinch hitter. The appearance also broke

Scott Baker- MIN- Cold- After 4 consecutive quality starts, Baker had his worst outing of the season so far. He allowed 5 runs on 6 hits and 5 walks while striking out 6 in 4.1 IP. Baker's control overall wasn't

Jeremy Guthrie- BAL- Hot- Guthrie tossed 6 shutout innings against the Red Sox, but didn't factor in the decision, leaving his record at 1-3 while his ERA is a sparkling 2.53. Guthrie gave up 7 hits and 1 walk while

Jeff Francoeur- KC- Hot- Francoeur raised his average to .333 by going 2-for-4 and hitting his 3rd homer of the season. His average is being boosted by a .345 BABIP so that may not hold. The power numbers have a

Roy Halladay- PHI- Cold- Halladay got lit up for the first time in 2011, allowing 6 runs on 10 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 in 6.2 IP. He got hit hardest in the 7th inning and ended

Francisco Liriano- MIN- Cold- Liriano’s Grapefruit League issues (20 H and 9 BB in 18.2 IP) have continued in the regular season. A good thing from yesterday’s effort was that his control was much improved. Liriano only walked 1 in

Chipper Jones- ATL- Hot- Jones went 2-for-3 to raise his 2011 average to .333. That is also his BABIP, which explains a lot. He hasn’t stuck out in 25 plate appearances, but he has also only walked once. Jones is

Pedro Borbon- TEX- Caution- There is a threat of resurrection of an old joke, “What do Pedro Borbon and Michael Jackson have in common?” “Both wear a single glove for no apparent reason.” Borbon’s fielding woes continued yesterday as he

Injury news, positional battles, a retirement announced. Lots of things happening in spring training. You can follow me on Twitter @fantisticspaul (http://twitter.com/fantisticspaul - for the full link) for occasional (and hopefully increasingly frequent) baseball insights. Neftali Feliz- TEX- Feliz will

Another day, more happenings at major league Spring Training. You can follow me on Twitter @fantisticspaul (http://twitter.com/fantisticspaul - for the full link) for occasional (and hopefully increasingly frequent) baseball insights. Opening Day is right around the corner! Chris Davis- TEX-

Here are some news, notes and glimpses of the future from spring training... I have finally joined the twitterverse. I'm sure I won't be as frequent with my tweets as our resident Twitter king, Drerw Dinkmeyer, if you would like

Punxatawney Phil said we'd have an early Spring. I don't know whether that's holding true for you but at least we have some baseball to talk about. We'll start off with some insights dealing with the Orioles, defending AL Champion

Alex Gordon- KC- Cold- There was more frustration with a silver lining for Gordon last night as he went 0-for-1 but walked twice. This month Gordon is hitting just .187, but a BABIP of .235 can explain a lot of

Roy Oswalt- PHI- Hot- With a 7-1 record and 1.65 ERA for the Phillies, Oswalt was successful trade acquisition, to say the least. Don’t expect him to continue that kind of production in 2011, as he had a BABIP of

Derrek Lee- ATL- Stats- Lee has improved his average significantly since coming over from the Cubs, hitting .283 for Atlanta after posting a .251 mark in Chicago. Although Lee’s Batting EYE has gone up from .51 to .62 the most

Kevin Millwood- BAL- Cold- Millwood has given up twice as many homers (20) in Camden Yards as he has on the road this year. His ERA at home (5.08) is almost half a run lower than his road mark (.252)

Trevor Cahill- OAK- Cold- We may be starting to see some regression to the mean kick in here. In 2 of his last 4 starts, Cahill has gotten bombed and his BABIP has risen up a bit to .224. Also,

Dan Hudson- ARI- Rookie- Hudson threw another gem for the Diamondbacks, throwing 8 shutout innings in which he allowed 4 hits and a walk while striking out 8. What’s the big difference since Hudson came over from the AL at

Brad Bergesen- BAL- Hot- Bergesen has been making positive steps in realizing his potential. Since July 31st he has posted quality starts in 5 of his 8 outings. That may not seem that great, but it is an improvement over

Cliff Lee- TEX- Caution- Lee’s heavy usage the past two seasons may be catching up with him. The Rangers have treated Lee far better than did the Indians, Phillies and Mariners. With 20 starts if 110+ pitches last year and

Derrek Lee- ATL- Hot- Three days ago Fantistics’ Drew Dinkmeyer said, “He’ll eventually get hot for a little while…” It looks like “eventually” came pretty quickly. In the two days since Drew’s pronouncement Lee has gone 5-for-8 with a double,

Evan Longoria- TB- Idea- Longoria’s decrease in power may be coming from a lack of proper plate discipline. He is taking more pitches, swinging at only 43.9% of them, down from 44.7% last year. However, he is swinging at 25.7%

Derek Holland- TEX- Cold- Holland’s control issues continued in his first start since May 30th. In his last rehab start, Holland gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks in 2.1 IP. Yesterday against the Rays he was

Michael Stanton- FLA- Rookie- Stanton may be picking up some plate discipline. This month he has struck out 12 times in 50 ABs, after fanning 30 times in 86 July ABs. He has also walked 9 times in 59 PAs,

AJ Burnett- NYA- Caution- On July 29th, we talked about how when Burnett throws a lot of pitches his next starts (he had thrown 114 on July 28th) aren’t so good. In his start after that he allowed 8 runs

Alex Rodriguez- NYA- Great Player- Yes, ARod has had a great, if somewhat tainted, career. His 600 homers is quite the milestone. However, that doesn’t really do you any good in the 2010 fantasy baseball season. Looking just at this

Jose Tabata- PIT- Hot- Tabata has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games and raised his average to .297. He also has cut down on his strikeouts, not fanning in his last 4 games and only striking out

Chris Davis- TEX- FYI- The Rangers are reportedly interested in acquiring a righthanded bat who can play first base. Prominent names are Jorge Cantu of the Marlins and Ty Wigginton of the Orioles. With Davis hitting just .148 against lefthanders,

Ben Zobrist- TB- Cold- Zobrist is having a tough July in a lot of ways. With a .196 average and no homers for the month so far, he is a drag in those two categories. Zobrist has stolen 6 bases,

Casey McGehee- MIL- Cold- McGehee’s power has evaporated. During the month of July his FB% has dropped to 30.8% and his lone homer yields a HR/FB ratio of 6.3%. Both of those numbers are well below the monthly marks he

Matt Diaz- ATL- Hot- Diaz had his best game of his injury-impacted season, going 3-for-5 with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored and an RBI. This raised his season average to the Mendoza line. Diaz has been a .300 hitter in

Jamie Moyer- PHI- Hot- Moyer gave up 1 run on 2 hits in 8 IP last night, walking 1 and striking out 5. He has enjoyed good luck this year, with a .236 BHIP, but he has also made some

Ted Lilly- CHC- Cold- With a .208 BHIP headed into yesterday’s contest, Lilly had been blessed by good luck. Regression to the mean may have raised its ugly head as he gave up 8 runs (6 earned) on 9 hits

CJ Wilson- TEX- Cold- I was in Sun Life Stadium Tuesday night and got to see Wilson up close and personal. He managed to qualify for quality start, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits over 6IP while striking out 6.

Justin Masterson- CLE- Hot- Last night might have been a heaping helping of regression to the mean for Masterson. He carried a .368 BHIP into last night’s start, where he shut out the Red Sox on 2 hits and 2

Stephen Strasburg- WAS- Rookie- Talk about living up to the hype. Strasburg wasn’t perfect in his major league debut, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits in 7 IP, but he was close enough, striking out 14 batters and walking

Miguel Tejada- BAL- Hot- With a BHIPx of .234, some regression to the mean is expected for Tejada. Yesterday might have been the beginning of that. He went 3-for-4 against the Yankees with 2 doubles and a run scored. Since

Mike Redmond- CLE- FYI- Redmond has turned into Fausto Carmona’s personal catcher. That predictability can be good in a backup catcher, since you can figure out when to insert him in the lineup if you own him. But, is Redmond

Anibal Sanchez- FLA- Caution- Sanchez threw 116 pitches yesterday after throwing 119 in his previous start. This kind of workload is unprecedented in his major league career. Sanchez did have a quality start, but was a bit wilder (4 BB

Trevor Crowe- CLE- Hot- Crowe (who I haven’t seen yet in Robin Hood), is hitting .350 after yesterday’s 2-for-5 performance. He also has a homer and 2 steals in 5 games since being called up. Crowe has shown a trend

Randy Winn- NYA- Hot- Winn has been getting more playing time lately and producing. For the month of May He is hitting .316 in 8 games and has a whopping 2.50 Batting EYE. It’s doubtful that Winn can help in

Adrian Gonzalez- SD- FYI-A year ago Gonzalez had 10 homers and was about to go on an incredible tear, hitting another 10 before the end of May. That kind of run is highly unlikely in 2010 due to scheduling. Last

Cliff Lee- SEA- Caution- Including the postseason last year, Lee threw a total of 4111 pitches. That is 750 more pitches than in any other season. He hit the 110+ pitch barrier 20 times. His previous high in that category

Eric Chavez- OAK- Cold- With a GB% of 54.0% and a FB% of only 24.0%, it looks like Chavez may still have back problems plaguing him. He just is not getting enough loft in his batted balls. Chavez has yet

Edwin Jackson- ARI- Cold- Jackson got squashed yesterday at Coors Field, getting charged with 10 runs on 11 hits and 2 walks in 2.1 IP. At this point in the season it skews his stats way out of whack, but

Alex Gordon- KC- FYI- Gordon got his first homer of the season yesterday, and now has one in only 10 ABs, a far better ratio than his 6 homers in 164 major league ABs in 2009. Gordon is now 26

Joel Pineiro- LAA- Hot- After yesterday’s start, Pineiro’s GB% stands at 67.5%. His BABIP is at .245. This explains his 2.77 ERA. The odds of both of those factors being sustained are low. Pineiro’s performance will probably deteriorate. Joba Chamberlain-

Chad Billingsley- LAD- Caution- Billingsley’s usage patterns and his performance over the past couple of seasons raise some red flags. In 2008, his first full season as a starter, he sparkled, posting a 3.14 ERA and striking out more than

Evan Longoria- TB- Hot Player- Longoria is on pace to shatter the home run record with 162 long balls this year. Yeah, it’s an old and bad joke, but someone had to do it. Longoria won’t keep up at pace

Nelson Cruz- TEX- Cruz is hitting .358 in the Cactus League with 5 homers and 18 RBI. This indicates that his power explosion of last season, when he hit 33 homers, should keep going, and is reflected in his projected

C. J. Wilson- TEX- For now, Wilson appears headed to the Texas rotation on the strength of his performance this spring. In 14 IP Wilson has allowed 10 hits and 2 walks while striking out 10. On the down side,

Elvis Andrus- TEX-Andrus gets most of his notice for his Web Gem work at SS. His .267 average during his rookie season was somewhat of a pleasant surprise. However, it is quite possible that it is sustainable, given his

Jarrod Saltalamacchia- TEX- I might be a little biased since I met Saltalamacchia’s in-laws at a local grocery store (standing out in my Ranger fan gear made it easy for them to brag on him to me) but even I

Michael Young- TEX- Hot- Young has bounced back since returning from his latest bout of hamstring troubles. This has been the first season that he has been seriously impacted by injuries, playing only 133 games so far. Still he has

Juan Pierre- LAN- Cold- With Manny Ramirez out with a sore hamstring and likely to be rested a lot in the last days of the season, Pierre has been getting some playing time. That’s the good news for Pierre owners.

Scott Kazmir- LAA- Hot- Kazmir took the loss against the Yankees last night, but still pitched decently. It was a quality start, with 3 runs allowed on 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4 in 6 IP. Since

Joe Blanton- PHI- Stats- A big part of Blanton’s surge after a poor April has been a turnaround in his comparative home and road performances. He has not been effected by the hitter bias at Citizens Bank Park, posting a

Zack Greinke- KC- Stats- Greinke has thrown 4 consecutive quality starts in which he has given up a total of 4 runs, only three earned. There have been three factors that have driven Greinke’s success this year. First is an

Carlos Marmol- CHN- Caution- Marmol picked up his 9th save and has yet to blow an opportunity since his promotion into the closer role, but there are some things that can make you queasy. Half of Marmol’s 14 pitches were

Ivan Rodriguez- TEX- Hot- Pudge’s return to the Rangers was a smashing success at the plate. He went 3-for-4 with a double, RBI and run scored. The crowd was definitely behind him and that may have helped. In the longer

Andy LaRoche- PIT- Hot- The LaRoche Pittsburgh kept after being discovered over their legal limit and having to get rid of one has been improving of late. Not as much as Adam in Atlanta, but certainly better than the .188

John Lannan- WAS- Caution- Imagine there’s no road games. It’s easy if you try. That’s what Lannan wishes was the case as he takes the mound in Atlanta. In the Nation’s Capital, he pitches like a Cy Young candidate, with

Marc Rzepczynski – TOR- Hot- It wasn’t a quality start because he allowed 4 runs in his 6 IP, but everything else about Rzepczynski’s outing was positive. He allowed only 5 hits and walked 1 while striking out 7. This

Johnny Cueto- CIN- Cold- One thing has been contributing greatly to the almost doubling of Cueto’s ERA from 2.17 on June 14th to the 4.06 ERA. That is an inability to keep the baseball from reaching the stands. In his

Joaquin Arias- TEX- Rise Value- Arias was called up to the Rangers yesterday due to the injury to Ian Kinsler. He will serve primarily as a backup middle infielder until Kinsler’s hamstring is better. Arias has seen his stock fall

Adam Wainwright- STL- Caution- Wainwright has performed very well this season but he has been throwing many more pitches than he has done in the past. In his first two seasons as a starter he hit the 110 pitch mark

Jarrod Washburn- SEA- Caution- A couple of things have come together for Washburn in this career (so far) year. One is under his control and one is not. First, Washburn has put together his best K rate EVAR! Second, he

Doug Davis- ARI- Cold- Davis was crushed yesterday, giving up 8 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks in just 2-1/3 IP. Since a run of 4 consecutive starts in which he threw 110 or more pitches he has gone

Alfredo Aceves- NYA- FYI- Aceves takes the mound for a spot start today and will have a limit of about 65 pitches. That may or may not give him enough to stick around for a potential win, but his performance

Casey Kotchman- ATL- Stats- Looking at Kotchman’s Fantistics Player Charts, certain numbers are almost identical between 2008 and so far in 2009. His batting average, singles average and Batting EYE are all just about the same. The thing that kills

Alexei Ramirez- CHA- Injury- Ramirez will be out of today’s game, but it has nothing to do with the beaning he took on Monday. He is apparently fully recovered from that, going 3-for-4 with a run and RBI. Ramirez injured

Dan Haren- ARI- Caution- At this point last season Haren had hit or exceeded the 110 pitch mark twice. So far this year he has done it 5 times. For a pitcher who has exhibited a noted second half fade

Luke Hochevar- KC- Hot- Hochevar turned in an impressive performance last night, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk while striking out 4 in 7 IP. This follows up a disaster his last time out, when he gave

Max Scherzer- ARI- Caution- With the Rangers coming to town starting tonight, it’s time to take a quick look at Scherzer’s home/road splits. They are not pretty for someone facing the Texas lineup in his home park, if you have

Joba Chamberlain- NYA- FYI- In 12 starts this year, Joba has walked at least 4 batters 5 times. None of those outings was longer than 6 IP. This indicates some real problems at times locating the strike zone. Joba still

Dave Bush- MIL- Cold- Despite being 29 years old, Bush may still be affected by high pitch count games. He has not thrown a quality start in his last 5 outings, the first of which was a 116-pitch effort. Last

Dioner Navarro- TB- Cold- Navarro was a big part of Tampa Bay’s 2008 World Series run, hitting .295. This season, a combination of bad luck (.198 BHIPx) and hideously poor patience (3 BBs in 173 ABs) have crushed him. After

Stephen Strasburg- WAS- FYI- Matt Wieters? He is so last month. The latest hype machine surrounds Stephen Strasburg, who will officially become property of the Nationals as soon as the Major League Draft gets underway this evening. If you’ve been

Brandon McCarthy- TEX- Hot- McCarthy enters tonight’s start against the Yankees with 3 consecutive quality starts under his belt. His season will e an interesting test of the new philosophy Nolan Ryan and pitching coach Mike Maddux have brought to

Adrian Gonzalez- SD- Great Player- Silly Phillies. They chose to pitch to Gonzalez with no one on in the 6th inning and, naturally, Gonzalez parked one, his 21st of the season. It was only his 6th homer this year at

David Huff- CLE- Rookie- Huff is getting a third start after all. His first two were disasters, as he lasted no longer than 3-2/3 IP in either and gave up at least 6 runs in both. Huff has had uncharacteristic

Andrew Miller- FLA- Caution- Miller is making his first start since throwing a quality start on his 24th birthday. He matched his major league career high of 9 strikeouts in the game, so things are definitely looking up. On the

Kevin Millwood- TEX- Hot- Millwood takes the mound this afternoon in Detroit having thrown quality starts 6 times in his first 8 outings of the year. He has gone at least 7 innings in every one except his last, when

Shairon Martis- WAS- FYI- Martis followed up a 110 pitch outing on May 2nd by allowing 9 hits and walking 2 in 5-1/3 IP the next time out. In his last start, Martis threw 109 pitches, perilously close to the

CC Sabathia- NYA- FYI- Sabathia has thrown more than 110 pitches in 4 of his first 7 starts. He has a track record of being able to handle heavy workloads, even early in the season. The high pitch counts should

Casey Kotchman- ATL- Hot- Kotchman continued his tear, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and a run scored. He is now 11-for-26 over the past week with 4 doubles and his first 2 homers of 2009. One concern is that he

The bombshell came in a text message to my cell phone at 12:09 EDT today. "Manny Ramirez will be suspended 50 games for use of a perfromance-enhancing substance, the league office confirmed on MLB.com." You could have knocked me over

Roy Halladay- TOR- Great Player- Seeing a pitch count of 117 instinctively makes me flinch, but Halladay has a track record of not suffering from heavy workloads. It is the 4th time in 7 starts and third time consecutively that

Carlos Lee- HOU- Hot- Lee is riding a mini-hitting streak of 4 games in which he has hit an even .500. He has added 42 points to his batting average sine the end of April. This is an early example

As we did Tuesday with the NL, today we will be looking at some of the AL hitters with respect to their Singles Average (BHIPx), which can help identify what effect luck may be having on a player’s production. If

Today we will be looking at a lot of the early extreme performances of hitters in the NL through the lens of Singles average (BHIPx). This information is one of the valuable tools you can find in the Player Charts

Carl Crawford- TB- Hot- Crawford added 46 points to his batting average with a 4-for-5 effort in which he scored 3 runs, knocked one in, walked and stole a base. The walk is only his second of the season, as

Jordan Zimmerman- WAS- Rookie- Zimmerman has a nice repertoire of off speed pitches to go with his mid-90s fastball. Despite being forced by the Nationals to throw at least 15 changeups per start last year in order to develop the

Elvis Andrus- TEX- Hot- Andrus is yet another Texas hitter who made mince meat of Baltimore pitching last night. He went 2-for-3 with a triple, 4 runs scored and 1 knocked in. most significantly, though, may have been the 2

Justin Upton- ARI- Cold- The potential is there, but it has certainly not been realized this season. Upton was lifted for a pinch hitter yesterday, after remaining hitless for 2009 in an 0-for-3 game. The strikeouts have been plaguing him,

I hadn't seen the story of Adenhart's car crash before getting an e-mail from Anthony Perri, our fearless leader at Fantistics. The story stunned me. It was only hours ago, possibly after Adenhart died, that I had written a blurb

Dana Eveland- OAK- Hot- Eveland had very similar numbers to his counterpart on the Angels last night, Nick Adenhart. He gave up 8 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4 in 6 IP. The difference was that Eveland’s Oakland

John Lannan- WAS- Cold- Lannan was a pleasant surprise for the Nats in 2008, posting a 3.91 ERA. If he had been given more support, his 9-15 record would have at least turned around as his Deserved Wins was 7

Today I went to what is possibly the last spring training game to be held at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. Next year the Orioles are likely headed to Vero Beach or Sarasota, much farther away from my Palm Beach County home.

Stephen Strasburg- WAS- Rookie- Strasburg is not a National yet and can’t officially be one until at least June, when he will be eligible for the draft. The most highly touted college pitcher since maybe ever, Strasburg is about as

Cole Hamels- PHI- Inj Update- No structural damage was found in Hamels’ elbow. He got an anti-inflammatory injection and should be cleared to throw again tomorrow. Even with that, he is still not a guarantee to be ready on Opening

Joe Mauer- MIN- Inj Update- Mauer’s MRI of his lower back showed inflammation in the sacroiliac joint. He has been prescribed some heavy duty anti-inflammatories (presumedly not including anything with steroids). Still, Mauer is not going to be participating in

Alex Rodriguez- NYY- Injury- ARod may end up not playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic after all. No, the Dominican doesn’t have a policy barring admitted steroid users from playing for them. An MRI this past

Boof Bonser- MIN- Inj Update- Bonser’s arthroscopic surgery went very poorly. Actually the surgery went well, it’s the results that were poor. Doctors discovered multiple partial tears of his labrum and rotator cuff. They were repaired, but it puts an

Robinson Cano- NYA- Hot- Cano went 1-for-4 with a homer last night to make him 6-for-10 in his last 3 games, raising his September batting average to .226. Still, this month Cano has only drawn a single walk while striking

J. J. Upton- ARI- Hot- Upton was at it again last night, going 2-for-4 with his second homer in as many games. Since returning from the DL, he is hitting .389 in 13 games. Upton’s strikeout rate has dropped, with

Carlos Gomez- MIN- Hot- Gomez went 2-for-4 and stole his 30th base of the season yesterday. If he had an OBP of higher than .290, Gomez would have a much higher steal total. However, as long as he stays allergic

Greg Maddux- LAN- Cold- Maddux continues his extreme home/road splits even when the road venue is his former home. Pitching in San Diego last night he was touched for 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in 6 IP

Brendon Morrow- SEA- Hot- Morrow was supposed to throw no more than 100 pitches last night, but when he was carrying a no hitter into the late innings, that notion went out the window. Morrow finally gave up a hit

B. J. Upton- TB- Hot- Although his homer total is way down from last season (from 24 to 8), Upton’s has hit 33 doubles, as opposed to 25 in 2007. His Batting EYE has also improved dramatically, from .42 to

Jonathon Niese- NYN- Rookie- The Brewers may not be the best of teams for southpaw Niese to make his major league debut against. Milwaukee is 31-14 against lefties, the best mark in the NL, and are hitting .274 against them

Matt Cain- SF- Cold- Cain’s control problems caught up with him yesterday as he had as many walks and runs allowed (5) as innings pitched. He also gave up 8 hits and struck out 3. Even with only 5 IP,

Fausto Carmona- CLE- Cold- Carmona raised his record to 7-5 last night, pitching the Indians to their 10th straight win. It was not a performance to write home about, though, as he allowed 4 runs on 7 hits and 3

Jordan Schafer- ATL- Idea- Schafer, ranked as the top prospect in the Braves’ system before the season, has rebounded from his HGH suspension and extremely slow July. Last month he batted a weak .228 for AA Mississippi, but is cranking

Kevin Millwood- TEX- Caution- Millwood put in a pleasantly uncharacteristic performance for a Texas pitcher last night, but he needed 113 pitches to get through his complete game. That is a lot for a pitcher who has seen the DL

Willie Harris- WAS- Hot- We may be seeing some regression to the mean in Harris’ performance. Since the All Start Break he is batting .289 with 4 homers and 9 doubles in 114 ABs. In his last 49 games, dating

J. J. Putz- SEA- Cold- Putz had a blown save last night, giving up a game tying homer to Mark Teixeira in the 9th inning. He has not thrown a 1-2-3 inning since July 20th, which was his first game

Brandon Backe- HOU- Hot- Talk about bouncing back. Backe did a 180 degree turn from his last start, when he was charged with 11 runs on 9 hits and 6 walks in 3-1/3 IP. Last night he gave up just

Denard Span- MIN- Hot- Span had his second straight multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a walk, 2 stolen bases and 2 runs scored. He has been enjoying a .299 BHIPx, but it would be expected that his would be above

Johnny Damon- NYA- Hot- Damon went 2-for-5 to extend his current hitting streak to 7 games and has hit safely in 12 of his last 13. He has definitely benefited from good luck, with a .290 BHIPx, but he also

Prince Fielder- MIL- Hot- Lost in last night’s brouhaha (or is that a “brewhaha” when it involves Milwaukee?) was Fielder extending his current hitting streak to 8 games, in which he has gone 11-for-28 with 5 homers. He has not

Arthur Rhodes- SEA- Cold- Rhodes showed a lack of control in more ways than one during his appearance against the Rangers last night. Besides the angry flare up that got him ejected, he also tossed a ball in the direction

C. C. Sabathia- MIL- Caution- Yesterday’s 124-pitch effort is the third time this month Sabathia has cracked the 120 pitch mark. Even though he does not have a trend of ill effects from lengthy outings, that kind of workload is

Jack Hannahan- OAK- Hot- Hannahan went 2-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI last night against the Rangers, making him 6-for-17 in his last 5 games with a homer, 2 doubles, 6 RBI, and 3 runs scored. We may be

Casey Kotchman- LAA- Hot- Maybe Kotchman is a Fantistics subscriber and read Monday’s blurb about him needing more patience at the plate. Only once yesterday did he swing at a first pitch and went 5-for-5. In 3 of his at

Chan Ho Park- LAN- Rise Value- Park’s shift in role to setup man and second closer option boosts his value, particularly in leagues that count holds. Maybe I am still bitter about his Texas years, being a Rangers’ fan, but

Nick Markakis- BAL- Hot- Markakis may have ended his 17-game hitting streak last night, but that didn’t keep him off the bases, as he walked 3 times, raising his OBP to an even .400. It also brought his Batting EYE

Mark Grudzielanek- KC- Hot- Grudzielanek seems to like to collect his hits in bunches. In his last 10 games he has recorded 3 or more hits 3 times, including last night’s 3-for-4 effort and has raised his average to .319.

Ricky Nolasco- FLA- Hot- Nolasco’s strikeout and walk rates are close to his 2006 numbers. His K/IP number is .74 this season and was .71 then. His BB/IP rate is .26 now and was .29 then. Does the slight improvement

Joe Borowski- CLE- Drop Value- Indications are that Borowski will no longer be the anointed closer after manager Eric Wedge and his coaching staff emerge from a scheduled meeting today in which they will discuss personnel matters. The big question

Prince Fielder- MIL- Cold- Fielder was 1-for-3 last night, but that made him still just 2-for-27 on the Brewers’ current road trip. Overall, Fielder has some severe home/road splits, hitting .311 with 13 homers in 135 ABs in Milwaukee and

George Sherrill- BAL- Caution- Sherrill is entering uncharted territory as far as his usage is concerned. Last season he pitched in 73 games but accumulated only 45-2/3 IP. Sherrill threw only 724 pitches all year, only throwing 20 or more

Ervin Santana- LAA- Injury- Santana had only walked 23 batters in 102-1/3 IP before last night’s start against the Nationals in Washington. He was uncharacteristically wild in the Nation’s Capital, allowing a season-high 5 free passes. There may be an

San Diego- SD- Idea- Here is one of those marginal situations that comes up every so often that you keep in the back of your mind to try to get just a little edge when needed. The Padres have allowed

Jeremy Guthrie- BAL- Hot- Guthrie bounced back from his worst start of the year the last time out to record his best start of the year last night. He held the Astros to 1 run over 8 innings, allowing 3

Miguel Tejada- HOU- Cold- Since May 24th, Tejada has lost 38 points off his batting average and is now hitting an even .300 for the season. In that span he has gone 14-for-73 with 4 homers, 6 RBI and 10

Mike Aviles- KC- Idea- Mike Aviles hit the double digit mark in steals in 3 of his 5 minor league seasons before 2008. After watching the Royals against the Rangers the last couple of nights, it looks like he might

Edinson Volquez- CIN- Hot- Volquez was uncharacteristically wild, throwing 44 of his 101 pitches for balls and walking 5 in 6 IP. In a measure of how good his season has been so far, his 3 earned runs allowed is

B. J. Upton- TB- Cold- Upton said something naughty to umpire Paul Emmel in the 8th inning and was given the rest of the game off to think about what he had said. Having struck out for the third time

Jay Bruce- CIN- Hot- Although Bruce is a Red, he has become the New Black. The hottest player in baseball added another homer to his total and went 2-for-4 last night. When 2-for-4 lowers your batting average to .577, you

Alexi Casilla- MIN- Hot- Casilla has been on fire since being inserted in the lineup to fill injury holes. He is hitting .340 with 12 RBI and 7 runs in 12 games. A major factor in Casilla’s success has been

Jamey Carroll- CLE- Hot- Carroll went 2-for-3 yesterday to extend his current hitting streak to 6 games. In that span he has gone 8-for-20 and raised his batting average from .172 to .231. Carroll’s Batting EYE has declined during the

Michael Bourn- HOU- Hot- Despite going 0-for-4 on Sunday, Bourn has to be considered on a roll. Even without benefit of a base hit, he scored, collected an RBI and stole a base. Over his last 5 games Bourn has

Jack Cust- OAK- Hot- The pendulum has swung wildly in Cust’s favor. His .212 BHIPx at the end of April was probably not going to last, but it has soared to .286 over the last 3 weeks, meaning that it

Bronson Arroyo- CIN- Cold- After two solid starts, Arroyo regressed in a big way, allowing 9 hits and 3 walks in 5 IP that led to 5 runs (3 earned). It could be a matter of fatigue as he had

Josh Hamilton- TEX- Hot- Hamilton led the way for a Texas offensive onslaught last night, going 5-for-5 with 2 homers, a triple, a walk, 5 RBI, and 4 runs scored. The 13 total bases was one short of a franchise

Daniel Cabrera- BAL- Hot- Is Cabrera finally for real? He pitched his 7th straight quality start, raising his record to 4-1, allowing 3 runs on 10 hit in 7 IP while striking out 3 and walking NONE. Of his 103

Nelson Figueroa- NYN- Cold- Figueroa was pounded by the Nationals yesterday, allowing 6 runs (4 earned) on 5 this and 5 walks in 5 IP while striking out 4. The walks continue a pattern of control problems for Figueroa, who

Nick Markakis- BAL- Hot- Since his last multi-hit game on May 2nd, Markakis had been in a 1-for-15 slump that had shaved 28 points from his batting average, dropping it from .284 to .256. He got half of that back

Scott Podsednik- COL- Hot- Sure, he went 0-for-4 last night and lost 35 points off his batting average to go from .343 to .308, but Podsednik is showing signs of bouncing back from an essentially lost 2007 season. His average

Alex Rios- TOR- Cold- Rios, after an 0-for-3 game yesterday, still has some solid leadoff hitter numbers (.306 average, .386 OBP). Lurking below the surface, though, is a BHIPx of .339 (through Sunday) propping that number up. Rios has gone

Gregor Blanco- ATL- Rise Value- Blanco has been getting increased playing time as a result of his hot bat. However, his .364 average is getting some major assistance from a huge .478 BHIPx. His .78 Batting EYE is very close

Justin Masterson- BOS- Rookie- Last season, Masterson had an interesting stat line. He split the season between Class A Lancaster, tossing 96 innings, and AA Portland, where he threw 58. Masterson’s raw totals of both walks and strikeouts were very

Mark Hendrickson- FLA- Hot- Hendrickson ran his record to 4-1 by allowing 3 earned runs on 8 hits and a walk in 8 IP against the Pirates. Cinderella has staved off midnight once again. A lot of factors point towards

Jim Thome- CHW- Hot-Those in Chicago who have been calling for Thome’s head need to subscribe to Fantistics (heck, for that matter everybody needs to subscribe to Fantistics- tell your friends, relatives and neighbors!). If they did, they could look

Mark Teixeira- ATL- Stats- A good part of Teixeira’s slow start can be placed at the foot of an uncharacteristically horrid .136 batting average against lefties. Normally, the switch hitter does far better against them than against righties (splits of

Jason Bulger- LAA- Rise Value- With KRod nursing a sprained ankle, someone else will have to handle the save situations for the Angels until he is ready to return. Manager Mike Scioscia has said he would use the dreaded “closer

Pat Burrell- PHI- Hot- Burrell smacked 2 of the 4 Philadelphia homers yesterday, giving him a total of 3 in this young season. His overall 2-for-4 at the plate raised his average to .435. Burrell tends to be a fast

Kosuke Fukodome- CHN- Hot- The optimist would look at Fukodome’s Major League debut and go, “Wow! What a great game!” The pessimist would see the 3-for-3 with a walk effort (that was a triple short of a cycle) and say,

Luis Mendoza- TEX- Although he won’t make his first major league start of the year until April 12th, when the Rangers first need a fifth starter, but he has pretty much sewed up that role. Yesterday he held the A’s

Kyle McClellan- STL- McClellan seemed to benefit from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in 2005. His fastball went from the upper 80s to 94 mph heat with movement. Last year the Cardinals converted him from a starter to a

Chris Carpenter- STL- Preseason- Carpenter’s lost season was the second time in 5 years he has been out an entire year (I’m not counting his 6 innings in 2007). His 2005 and 2006 were superb, with sub-3.00 ERAs. However, he

Jason Jennings- TEX- As a Rangers fan, I get used to things like having the big pitcher signing of the offseason being a player who is coming off a serious injury. I just have to remember Chan Ho Park and

Scott Kazmir- TB- FYI- Kazmir's arm has not fallen off...yet. Since manager Joe Maddon has seemed to be watching the young pitcher's workload more closely (only 3 starts over 110 pitches in the second half), maybe damage will be dodged.

Shannon Stewart- OAK- FYI- There was a scoring change in Tuesday's game. Maybe. On mlb.com, there is an item in the A's notes saying that a Jose Guillen error was changed to a Stewart double, giving Stewart 21 doubles for

Shannon Stewart- OAK- FYI- There was a scoring change in Tuesday's game. Maybe. On mlb.com, there is an item in the A's notes saying that a Jose Guillen error was changed to a Stewart double, giving Stewart 21 doubles for

Shannon Stewart- OAK- FYI- There was a scoring change in Tuesday's game. Maybe. On mlb.com, there is an item in the A's notes saying that a Jose Guillen error was changed to a Stewart double, giving Stewart 21 doubles for

David Wells- LAN- Idea- Does Wells deserve a large guaranteed contract, as he says he does, because he "take[s] the ball every five days"? Probably not, and especially not if you are a fantasy owner. Wells will be turning 45

Ben Sheets- MIL- Cold- Sheets' performances have gotten worse each time out since he returned from the DL. From his first time out, when he went 6 IP and allowed 1 run, he has slipped to lasting just 3 IP

Garret Anderson- LAA- Hot- After knocking in at least 1 run in 12 straight games, Anderson went three games without an RBI. He made up for it yesterday, collecting 5 RBI as he went 3-for-6 with a double and homer.

Oliver Perez- NYN- Hot- Perez continues to throw the way the Pirates thought he would after what was expected to be a breakout season in 2004. Unfortunately for them, Perez is now a Met and his third quality start in

Joe Saunders- LAA- Cold- There's no place like home and Saunders would like to be no place like home, based on how he pitches at Angel Stadium. His splits are extreme. After giving up 4 runs on 7 hits and

Esteban Loaiza- LAN- Hot- Loaiza tossed a quality start in his first outing for the Dodgers, allowing 3 runs on 9 hits and a walk in 7 IP while striking out 3. It was a solid, if not spectacular, start.

Carlos Villanueva- MIL- Rise Value- With the spate of injuries striking Milwaukee's starters, Villanueva will probably get the start on Tuesday. He performed very well in his recent stint in the minors (3.24 ERA, 0.48 WHIP, 9 Ks in 8-1/3

Ryan Church- WAS- Rise Value- With Wily Mo Pena sidelined by injury, Church should get some increased playing time. He has not performed poorly recently, hitting .273 over his last 14 games with 3 homers in 44 at bats. That's

Radhames Liz- BAL- Rookie- The Orioles are calling up Radhames Liz to make his major league debut today. Liz dominated the Carolina League last year, with a 2.82 ERA and 95 Ks in 83 IP at Frederick. Once he was

Howie Kendrick- LAA- Hot- Kendrick went 2-for-4 against the Yankees last night, making him an impressive 8-for-12 since returning from the DL. Encouragingly, Kendrick has walked once, but has yet to strike out since coming back. Getting his Batting EYE

Howie Kendrick- LAA- Hot- Kendrick went 2-for-4 against the Yankees last night, making him an impressive 8-for-12 since returning from the DL. Encouragingly, Kendrick has walked once, but has yet to strike out since coming back. Getting his Batting EYE

Carlos Zambrano- CHN- Caution- Watch Zambrano's Thursday start closely. Not only will he be going on short rest, but he will not be paired with Koyie Hill, who had become his personal catcher. Zambrano and Hill had become an effective

Sean Marshall- CHN- Caution- Maybe it is fatigue catching up with Marshall, but despite putting up mostly decent numbers in his start yesterday (5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB) there are a couple of others that stand out.

Jamie Walker- BAL- Cold- Walker had the chance to record his first save of the month yesterday as he entered the game with 1 out in the 9th and the Orioles ahead by 3 with two men on. He retired

Jeff Kent- LAN- Cold- For the 5th consecutive game, Kent failed to get a hit and is 1-for-23 since returning to the lineup from a strained hamstring. He has gone from the penthouse to the outhouse, as Kent was on

Jay Gibbons- BAL- Inj- Gibbons has finally admitted that his poor performance this season is a result of injury. He was not precise as to what exactly the injury is, but it involves inflammation of the shoulder and may require

Dustin Moseley- LAA- Cold- Despite getting roughed up by the Red Sox (6 runs on 10 hits and a walk while recording 1 K in 4-2/3 IP), manager Mike Scioscia says he is going to stay with Moseley in the

Rich Hill- CHN- Hot- Yesterday Hill went 7 innings and gave up only 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6. Unfortunately he was a victim of lack of support, as he has been many times

Eric O'Flaherty- SEA- Hot- Although he sounds like the subject of a Clancy Brothers ballad, O'Flaherty is a left handed reliever who has had a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Last night he threw

Ron Mahay- TEX- Trade- Although his 2.77 ERA and K/9 of 7.38 look nice, Mahay has little fantasy value even after being traded to the Braves. His WHIP of 1.38 and BB/9 ratio of 4.85 are mediocre. Combine that with

Texas Rangers- TEX- Trade- The fire sale has begun in the Metroplex. The Rangers received minor league catcher Max Ramirez from the Indians in exchange for Kenny Lofton. Ramirez has potential with the bat, as shown by his .303 average

Chris Ray- BAL- Inj Update- Reading between the lines of what's coming out of Baltimore, don't expect Ray to be back this season. He is not going to be even picking up a baseball for the next three weeks and

Chad Billingsley- LAN- Hot- Billingsley, besides having the most preppie sounding name in the majors, now has his first complete game to his credit. He was far more efficient than his last start, when he needed 113 pitches to get

Bartolo Colon- LAA- Cold- The former Cy Young Award winner is not coming anywhere near that level of performance this year. After last night's subpar performance (5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 7 K) Colon has thrown only

Chris Young- ARI- Hot- For the first time since the middle part of May, Young has consecutive multi-hit games. He followed up a 2-for-2 effort Sunday (in which he entered the game as part of a double switch) with a

Erik Bedard- BAL- Hot- Bedard's first start after the All Star break was a good sign, particularly the 7 Ks in 7 IP. He is throwing fewer pitches per inning than he did last year, so fatigue may not be

If all teams maintain their current winning percentages there will be no teams that either win or lose 100 games. Did the last collective bargaining agreement usher in an era of parity or were all the cries of "there are

Scott Kazmir- TB- Caution- So maybe I'm a day late and maybe I'm a voice cryinhg in the wilderness, but once again it looks like mismanagement of Scott Kazmir is leading him closer to the day when he will blow

Brandon Webb- ARI- Cold- Something is going on with Webb. Maybe he is having some fatigue issues. Earlier in the season he had a few starts where his pitch count reached above 110. He didn't seem to have any carryover

Chris Ray- BAL- Drop Value- Ray may finally have pitched himself out of the closer role in Baltimore, at least as far as being the sole closer goes. "It would be nice if we could get him out of some

Jered Weaver- LAA- Hot- Weaver seemed fully recovered from the various maladies (sore shoulder, strep throat) that have affected him over the past few weeks. He held KC to just 1 run on 5 hits and a walk while striking

Justin Germano- SD- Hot- Germano had another strong start, although he ended up with no decision. He gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk while striking out 4 in 6 IP. Only once in 9 starts has

Brad Penny- LAD- Hot- In 14 starts this season, Penny has only twice failed to throw the quality variety. There is a good chance that he will make it 13 of 15 tonight in Toronto. After that things are going

Aubrey Huff- BAL- Hot- Huff went 3-for-4 to extend his current hitting streak to 10 games. It has not been one of those empty streaks, with a lot of 1-for-4 or 1-for-5 games, as he has 6 multi-hit games in

Orlando Cabrera- LAA- Hot- Here it is Flag Day and Cabrera has a higher batting average than teammate Vlad Guerrero. Who'd a thunk it? In the past 4 games he is an astounding 9-for-19, which increased his average to .339.

Randy Wolf- LAD- Cold- Although Wolf got a quality start yesterday, it was by the most minimal of standards (3 runs allowed in 6 IP, on 9 hits, no walks, and 3 strikeouts). Over his last 3 starts, Wolf has

Torii Hunter- MIN- Cold- The road has not been a friendly place for Hunter lately. During the just-completed 6-game road trip he went 3-for-20 with 2 runs and 2 RBI (the product of 2 solo homers). This brought Hunter's home/road

Randy Johnson- ARI- FYI- The Big Unit is set to take the mound tonight against the Giants. Despite his recent dominating performances, there are reasons for concern. First, of course, are the physical issues. Johnson's back was starting to stiffen

Gary Matthews- LAA- Hot- Matthews is continuing to show that, so far, the Angels were not out of their minds for signing him after what was thought to be a career year in Texas. With 206 at bats so far

Jason Schmidt- LAN- FYI- There are a couple of odd things going on with Schmidt's rehab start tomorrow. First, he is heading to Class A without facing live hitters since being put on the DL. That is very rare. Second,

Erik Bedard- BAL- Caution- Jim Palmer and Gary Thorne, the Orioles' announcers, were discussing whether Bedard should have been left in as long as he was. This was during the 7th inning, as he was giving up 2 of the

Bartolo Colon- LAA- Cold- For only the second time this season Colon failed to record a quality start. He lost his first game of 2007 by giving up 6 runs on 10 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2

Carlos Quentin- ARI- Hot- Quentin's luck may be turning around. Heading into the weekend his BHIP was an extremely low .161. It is likely to have gone up when the next update appears on his Fantistical Player Charts. Since Friday,

Brett Tomko- LAN- Cold- When Tomko pitched a quality start against the Marlins in his previous appearance before last night, it was the first time this season that his ERA was lower after he pitched than when he took the

Julian Tavarez- BOS- Cold- The conversion back to starter is not going well for Tavarez. Baltimore hammered him for 5 runs on 10 hits last night as his record fell to 1-4. The problem for Tavarez has not been strictly

Sammy Sosa- TEX- Caution- Sosa's name surfaced in connection with George Mitchell's steroids investigation, as did teammate Jerry Hairston's. There seems to be a focus on Baltimore Orioles past and present (thin Rafael Palmeiro) and Sosa is one of the

Brad Penny- LAN- Hot- Penny absolutely dominated the Marlins, striking out 14 Fish while holding them scoreless through 7 innings on 5 hits and no walks. This ran his record to 4-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.39. Penny has

Kevin Millwood- TEX- Inj- Millwood is penciled in for the first game of today's doubleheader, but may not be able to go. Word came late last night that he tweaked his hamstring and will be evaluated before the game to

Mike Gonzalez- ATL- Rise Value- With Bob Wickman out, Gonzalez is one of two Braves who will be sharing the save opportunities. The other is Rafael Soriano. There was no save opportunity last night, as Atlanta won with a walkoff

Steve Trachsel- BAL- Caution- The 2 runs and 5 this allowed in 5-2/3 innings yesterday was not too bad, but some other numbers in Trachsel's loss to the Indians are worrisome. His workload was stretched a bit farther than you'd

Bartolo Colon- LAA- Inj Update- The Angels pushed back the decision on whether Colon will start until literally the last minute. They will wait and see how he does in his pre-game warm-ups before deciding whether he will pitch. Colon's

Luis Gonzalez- LAN- Hot- Gonzalez is riding a 5-game hitting streak in which he has gone 6-for-15 to bring his batting average back up to .317. So far this season he has recorded an astounding Batting EYE of 1.80. Of

Trot Nixon- CLE- FYI- The Indians are using Nixon very sparingly, trying not to expose him as much and hoping to keep the injury bug away. Part of the handling of Nixon will be to avoid playing him in the

Brad Penny- LAN- Hot- Penny ran his record to 3-0 and dropped his ERA to 0.89 by holding the Diamondbacks to 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings of work. Penny's WHIP of 1.23, while solid,

Mark Buehrle- CHA- Idea- If any of you are A's fans, maybe you want to give Bob Geren a gift subscription to Fantistics. We noted after his last start that Buehrle has problems when hitters jump on his first pitches.

Ian Snell- PIT- Hot- Snell owns a WHIP of 0.92, an ERA of 2.08 and has struck out 14 in 13 IP in 2 starts this season. So, what's his record? 0-1. It just goes to show you can't have

Justin Verlander- DET- Hot- Verlander is doing his best to quiet concerns from a shaky start to spring training. In his last exhibition outing, he tossed five scoreless innings. In his first start since the games started to count, he

Francisco Rodriguez- LAA- Inj- K-Rod's uncharacteristically shaky performance (1 run on 2 hits and a walk in the 9th inning) was attributed to sinus trouble resulting from the change of climate from dry Arizona to more humid southern California. "I'm

Alberto Callaspo-ARI- Idea- All of the cool kids have a "super utility"player nowadays and Callaspo is slated to be the Diamondbacks version of Chone Figgins (that would be the "play a lot of positions"Figgins and not the "fractured two fingers"Figgins).

Internet problems forced me to post this late, but hopefully some of you still see it. Even if Freddy Sanchez starts the season on the DL, he will only miss the first week. It seems as if the debate within

Sammy Sosa continues his march to nail down a spot on the Texas roster. After going 2-for-3 in yesterday's game, Sosa is hitting .464 with 2 homers, 2 doubles, a triple and 6 RBI. At this point it looks like

With all the controversy swirling around Gary Matthews, Jr. it seems like the Rangers may have really done the right thing in letting him walk. Looking through some old reference material (I knew there was a reason I saved those

One of the benefits of living in south Florida is the availability of spring training games. Yesterday morning I saw in the paper that the Marlins were going to put 200 tickets on sale for that day's game against the

Sure, plenty of attention has been focused on Alfonso Soriano since he signed with the Cubs. It's possible, though, that he may actually be underhyped. After a 2006 season in which he hit .277 with 46 homers and 41