All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 138

American League 15 Austin Jackson NYY OF A- Power coming around? 4 HR in June after 3 the first two months. .366 OBP and 12 SB. 19 Desmond Jennings TAM OF A- .324/.457/.486 with 3 SB in 27 at-bats. Just...

Alex Rios had himself a ballgame last night as he went 4-6 with a HR, 3 runs scored and an RBI. The performance brings Rios’ BA up to .281 on the year and I think he’s starting to finally break...

Eric Byrnes: Byrnes is back and says he is healthy enough to steal bases again. Prior to his injury, Byrnes was not running at all, 4 for 7 in steals covering 46 games vs. 50 steals in 57 attempts in...

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...

Justin Duchscherer - If you're trying to find some evidence that Duchscherer is due to backslide, I'll offer up a few points to consider. The .242 BABIP has been mentioned already, and by itself it isn't too far from his...

Ryan Dempster: This is starting to get a bit ridiculous, but as a Cubs fan I’m enjoying every minute of it! Dempster was dominant again on Sunday night as he allowed just 1 ER in 8 innings of work against...

Rich Hill Rich Hill is sort of like that accident on the freeway that you, despite knowing better, just can’t take your eyes off as you drive by at 5 mph. After striking out 183 hitters for the Cubs last...

Alexei Ramirez: Both Joe and I have highlighted Ramirez in the Value Picks columns of late, but his big June deserves further highlighting. Ramirez has been on fire hitting .373/.408/.537 and the improvements in his peripherals are even more eye...

John Danks – John Danks added his 10th quality start in 15 games started this season last night. He allowed one run over 6 innings while striking out 5 and walking none. Posting a 2.90 ERA entering that start, Danks...

Aramis Ramirez was 1-12 in his last 3 games but stopped that mini-skid with a huge statement yesterday as he blasted homeruns in the 7th and 9th inning, the latter being a game-winner against the cross-town nemesis White Sox. Ramiez...

Aaron Harang: For those Aaron Harang owners out there take some solace in knowing this is just as frustrating to us as it is to you. After looking like he had turned the corner in his last start against the...

Richie Sexson: There are rumors floating around that the Mariners are about to release Sexson. The 33 year-old Sexson is a player in decline, but he still has above average major league power, 9 home runs in 205 AB. The...

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...

American League 28 Chris Davis TEX 1B B Oh my. .459 with 5 HR in last 10 G. .339 with 20 HR and 21 doubles this year. 36 Chris Carter OAK 1B B .231 in June, but 14 BB and...

John Lackey – I said about a month ago to watch and see what Lackey’s BB rate settles down to be in order to determine if Lackey would be the top fantasy pitcher that he was last year or just...

First Pitch – June 18th – Value Picks: It’s Wednesday! Which means another edition of Value Picks is here, but this week we’re going to do things a bit differently! After 2 ½ months of digging through the free agent...

Mike Gonzalez: Gonzalez could be activated from the DL as early as today and immediately enters into the mix for save opportunities. Although he has looked good in the minors, 8 K’s in 5 innings, it is hard to believe...

Bartolo Colon - Colon didn't have much last night, giving up eight baserunners (including three homers) and several other hard-hit outs in just four innings of work before leaving with a stiff back. Colon has had a very favorable schedule...

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...

Pedro Martinez: Pedro handled a pretty tough matchup against the Rangers offense with ease on Sunday, giving up just 1 ER over 6 innings on 6 hits and 1 BB while striking out 4. I mentioned last week that Pedro’s...

Charlie Morton (rookie) - Making his big league debut Saturday, Morton impressed, beating the Angels, allowing three runs on five hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out four. Morton threw 104 pitches (64 for strikes) in picking...

Edgar Gonzalez - After hitting .290 or better in four out of five seasons in the minors, Adrian's big brother finally ended up in the right place at the right time with the Padres and is picking up consistent playing...

Andy Sonnanstine: Sonnanstine has had some bad luck, 65% S% to go with his 4.89 ERA, but has also had good run support, 7-3 record. He possesses outstanding control, 1.5 BB/9, and it may only take a slight bump up...

About three to four weeks ago a reader wrote me saying that he was surprised I didn’t consider Justin Morneau a .300-plus hitter this season. I responded that I love Morneau but I wasn’t convinced his .321 season was legitimate...

Jason Bergmann - I was somewhat excited about Bergmann as a nice sleeper pick in deeper leagues, but he just posted his second straight very bad start. Bergmann does have a good K rate (8.79 K/9), allowing him to have...

David Murphy: Considered the least of the three prospects acquired from the Red Sox for Eric Gagne, Murphy is putting together a breakout season, 10/46/.293 and 20 doubles in 263 AB. Since he has never shown this kind of power...

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...

Quick note: I will start adding 2008 draftees like Pedro Alvarez and Aaron Crow to the top 50s and team top 5's when they sign a contract officially making them property of the team. Some may consider it folly to...

Josh Beckett wasn’t great last night but he wasn’t bad either. The 2nd inning contained all 4 of his ER and after that he settled down to make it through 6 IP, giving up 8 H, 1 BB and striking...

Todd Wellemeyer: Wellemeyer, who missed a start with a sore elbow, should be fine to start this weekend. The dramatic improvement in his control, 2005/2006/2007/2008 BB/9’s of 6.1/5.7/4.5/2.8, while maintaining a good K/9, 8.9/6.2/6.8/7.0, is another example of the LaRussa/Duncan...

Nick Swisher - I think he's back. Yesterday was a Swisher-style line with two homers and two walks, and since his K's are down and his LD% percentage is up from last year, you certainly wouldn't expect this kind of...

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...

Pedro Martinez: Looking at Pedro’s line on Sunday, 5 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, doesn’t invoke much optimism for Pedro owners in what seemed to be an extremely favorable matchup in San Diego. But watching the...

Johnny Damon has been absolutely incredible since May 20th and his multi-hit frenzy reached its peak yesterday when he went 6-6 with 4 RBI, including the game-winning single in the bottom of the 9th. Damon has raised his BA from...

Tom Gorzelanny After entering Saturday’s game with a 7.22 ERA and 28:40 K:BB, it was hard to be optimistic about Gorzelanny’s chances against the potent Arizona offense. There have even been rumors of a Triple-A stint should his struggles continue....

Nate McLouth: It seems like forever since Nate McLouth has put together one of his monster 3 hit nights with multiple extra base hits, and as such it seems like he’s finally slowed down a bit, but a quick look...