All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 137

Edwin Encarnacion: I need a new 3B to post repeatedly about since you’ve all figured out Troy Glaus needs to be owned, and sure enough I’ve got one. Three flipping years I’ve been talking about Edwin Encarnacion and I promise...

Francisco Liriano: After 3 consecutive extremely effective outings. 3/24 BB/K in 20 scoreless innings, it should be only a matter of time before Liriano rejoins the Twins. There has been some talk about him working out of the bullpen, but...

American League 10 Chris Davis TEX 1B A- .259 with 6 HR in 58 at-bats. That kind of power could keep him around for awhile. 12 Mike Moustakas KC SS A- .304/.380/.478 since his ASB in an otherwise disappointing full-season...

Mike Pelfrey: I touched on Pelfrey a bit at the start of the month, noting that if he could figure out the command there was some significant upside in the Met starter. Well 2 starts later and 15 innings without...

Rich Harden Sure it was the Giants, but that didn’t make Harden’s NL/Chicago debut any less impressive. Okay, maybe it did (check out the lineup Bruce Bochy had to roll out there Saturday). Anyway, Harden shined for the Cubs Saturday,...

Clete Thomas: Although he has shown speed in the minors, 15 steals in 19 attempts in Triple-A this year, Thomas is not stealing bases at the major league level, 2 steals in 129 PA. He knows how to take a...

Kyle Lohse - Yesterday's outing makes three straight quality starts for Lohse (and 8 of 10, if you're counting), as the right-hander extended his winning streak to eight with seven innings of shutout ball against the Pirates. As easy as...

David Bush – Was bush dominating or what yesterday? He allowed just one unearned run off of 3 hits, and most impressively, he struck out 13 while walking none. 5 of Bush’s last 6 starts have been quality starts, and...

I have to admit, I was definitely wrong about Jermaine Dye. The All Star snub his his 20th HR last night in a 2-4 effort. I honestly believed early in the season that he was simply having a good first...

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....

American League 3 Matt LaPorta CLE OF A- Word is he'll report to AA, but Garko owners will want to watch what pos. he plays for CLE. 6 Travis Snider TOR OF A- .313/.371/.469 in June is outstanding for a...

Justin Duchscherer is without question the hottest pitcher in the major leagues right now. He pitched 9 dominant shutout innings last night, allowing just 2 hits while walking none and striking out 4. That is one of the best lines...

First Pitch – July 9th – Value Picks: Welcome to another edition of Value Picks! Last time I checked in we took a look at some potential buy low targets for those owners seeking “value” on the trade market. This...

Runelvys Hernandez: After two decent starts, 6 ER in 10 innings, Hernandez was shelled for 10 ER in 4 innings against, of all teams, Pittsburgh. Prior to those 3 appearances, the last time the 30-year-old Hernandez pitched in the major...

Daisuke Matsuzaka - Matsuzaka has now allowed only one run in his last 17 1/3 innings after shutting the Twins down completely into the eighth last night, helping the Sox to a 1-0 win. That said, I'm still concerned over...

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...

Randy Johnson: I’ve been among the supporters of the Big Unit this season so Sunday’s gem was a slight bit of redemption. Johnson was phenomenal on Sunday hurling 6 1/3 dominant innings against the Padres allowing just 3 base-runners, all...

Troy Tulowitzki After a rookie year (.291/.359/.479, Gold Glove defense) that normally would have resulted in a trophy in a non-Braun year, Tulowitzki has to be this year’s biggest fantasy bust. Not only is he hitting .166/.246/.298 with three homers...

Gavin Floyd: I don’t know what kind of life Gavin Floyd is living these days but based on the good fortune he’s had this year on the mound I have to imagine it’s a pretty clean one. Floyd was outstanding...

Jered Weaver – Weaver has posted two straight dominant starts. His last time out he did not allow a hit while walking three batters and striking out six. He unkindly ended up with the loss, though, as he allowed one...

Garrett Atkins is ridiculous. He posted his 33rd mutli-hit game of the year last night as he went 5-6 with a 2B, HR and the game-tying single in the bottom of the ninth. Atkins is now hitting .315 with 12...

Chad Billingsley: Billingsley dominated the Astros on Thursday afternoon allowing just 2 unearned runs on 6 hits and just 1 BB in 8 innings. This marked the third time in the last 5 outings that Billingsley walked just 1, giving...

Melvin Mora: At this point in his career the 36 year-old Mora offers about league average power, 10 home runs and 14 doubles in 294 AB, while his approach at the plate remains steady, 2006/2007/2008 BB%’s of 8%/9%/8% and Ct%’s...

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...

American League 14 Jeremy Hellickson TAM SP A- AA is a huge jump and he was hammered for 8 runs in first start there. Let's see how he recovers. 20 Ian Kennedy NYY SP B+ 1 ER in 16.1 innings...

Jon Rauch: With Chad Cordero officially out for the year, Rauch has better job security as the closer. Rauch has blown 5 saves in 21 tries, but has good skills; 8.3 K/9 and a 1.8 BB/9. Although he has cut...

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...

Justin Masterson - Masterson scuffled again last night, walking five in six innings and allowing four runs for the second straight outing. He seems to be finding the adjustment to the majors rather difficult, but some of that is masked...

John Lackey – Lackey continued to dominate yesterday. He was one out away from a shutout when he was taken out of the game, and he ended up with 9 K’s and 2 BB’s. The win improved Lackey’s record to...

Jake Peavy: Not the type of start Peavy owners were hoping for after seeing an inept Mariners’ offense on the schedule but one they’ll be able to swallow. Peavy took his 5th loss of the season on Sunday allowing 3...

Garrett Atkins With Garrett Atkins, we just assume that he’s going to put up a decent average, 25+ home runs, and 110 or so RBI. This year though, Atkins is a bit behind his normal pace. After batting .319-6-21 in...

Craig Monroe: With a 70% Ct% it is not surprising to see Monroe hitting .214, although a .176 BHIP% is not helping. Monroe can still hit for power, 7 home runs and 7 doubles in 126 AB. However with a...

Chase Headley - Headley hit a two-run homer last night to account for the Padre offense, giving him three in his first 40 AB's for the Pads. People tend to discount stats from the Cal League and the Texas League...

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...

R.A. Dickey: With Felix Hernandez missing at least one start and Miguel Batista not pitching well, Dickey has a shot to stick in the Mariners’ starting rotation. Prior to shutting out the Mets over 7 innings, the 33 year-old knuckleballer...

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...