All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 139

Miguel Cabrera – Cabrera’s singles average the past 4 seasons has been .287/.293/.300/.295, but this year it sits at .255. Also, Cabrera’s ISO, which had been on an upwards trend (.201/.219/.238/.229/.245) sits at .178. At age 25 it is impossible...

Cole Hamels: After two horrid outings, Hamels got back on the right track on Thursday tossing a complete game shutout against the Reds. Hamels allowed just 4 hits and 3 BB’s during the shutout, but struck out just 4. A...

Curtis Thigpen: With Rod Barajas day-to-day with lower back tightness, Thigpen could pick up a few starts. A look at his Triple-A numbers; 1/18/.228 with 6% BB% and a 79% Ct%, tells you all you need to know. He is...

If you're not a subscriber, you may not know that each week, we have between 60 and 80 prospect updates to our top 50 hitters, top 50 pitchers, and team-by-team top 5s. This is just a small sample. I'll move...

Mark Teahen – Teahen, who homered last night, had a breakout season back in 2006, but he has been unable to build on that success. For one thing, Teahen’s HR rate from ’06 sticks out like a sore thumb. Here...

First Pitch – June 4th – Value Picks: We’re back with another edition of Wednesday’s Value Picks! As we’ve mentioned before, every Wednesday we’ll go digging for diamonds in the rough that is the Free Agent Pool. The last few...

Jason Schmidt: After getting hit in the leg with a line drive, Schmidt’s rehab assignment has been extended past the original June 10th date. Since he has not pitched that much since 2006 and is now 35 years of age,...

Michael Young - Young has now hit in 18 straight games after three hits last night and raised his AVG.....10 points. Lots of 1-5's in there for the 31 year old of late, which makes for good press but not...

Jesus Flores: We haven’t talked too much about the young catcher in Washington, but Jesus Flores is taking advantage and taking hold of the starting catching role for the Nationals. Flores notched his 10th double of the season on Sunday...

Carlos Marmol Entering the ninth inning in a save situation, Marmol converted, but not before allowing Scott Podsednik’s first homer of the year and sixth since 2004. It was Marmol’s third save of the season to go with his major...

Joakim Soria: Quietly Soria is developing into one of the top closers in the major leagues, a perfect 12 for 11 in saves with a stingy 0.84 ERA. His skill set; 10.6 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, and a 49% GB%, completely...

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...

Jorge Campillo – Entering play yesterday, Campillo had a .86 ERA and .830 WHIP, and he was downright awesome again in his third start of the season yesterday. He allowed just one run (the only run he has allowed in...

Santiago Casilla: Casilla, who has been out with a strained elbow ligament, is on schedule for a return in the middle of June. If healthy, Casilla has shown the kind of skills; 10.2 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, and a 47% GB%,...

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...

American League 40 Jose Tabata NYY OF B Finally hit first HR on May 21. .275 AVG in May is much better than .200 April mark. 41 Beau Mills CLE 1B B 15 doubles hints at his power potential and...

Jason Giambi - Giambi now has an OPS of 1.146 for the month of May after a double and a homer last night, and that obviously doesn't count another ball that he hit to the warning track in left-center, which...

Mark Reynolds: According to Manager Bob Melvin, Reynolds will remain the starting third baseman despite the return of Chad Tracy. Reynolds has legitimate major league power, 25 home runs and 26 doubles in 158 career games, and surprising speed, a...

Jon Garland - Garland rattled off his fifth straight quality start last night, holding the Tigers scoreless over 7 1/3 innings while allowing four hits and three walks against five strikeouts. More walks and fewer K's, Garland's lot in 2008...

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...

Aaron Cook: This is a public service announcement to those Aaron Cook owners out there, please proceed to your league site and post a note that Cook is available at the right price. In other words: SELL HIGH. I warned...

Jesse Litsch: I highlighted Litsch earlier in the week with the Value Picks column as a nice two-start pitching option next week and then the Jays conveniently re-shuffled their rotation so Litsch wouldn’t pitch twice next week, making me look...

Clayton Kershaw The Dodgers made it official Saturday, purchasing Kershaw’s contract from Double-A Jacksonville and designating the awful Esteban Loaiza for assignment. Loaiza incidentally ends his Dodgers career with these numbers: $8.5 million in pay and a 6.94 ERA in...

Gavin Floyd – It seems that we are always hating on Gavin Floyd, and he keeps proving us wrong. Last night Floyd threw a complete game, allowing 3 runs. Once again, though, we witnessed a mediocre at best skill set...

Carlos Zambrano tossed his 9th quality start of the season Friday night as he struck out 6 while giving up 2 ER on 6 H in 6 IP and collected his 7th win of the year. Zambrano is certainly putting...

Randy Wolf: The Randy Wolf roller-coaster continues! After posting a 6.85 ERA through his first four May starts, Wolf was terrific last night against the Reds. He surrendered a 2 run first inning HR to Ken Griffey Jr and then...

Brandon Wood: Brandon Wood was recalled from the minors. Considered a top prospect, Wood will not find consistent success until he improves his approach at the plate, 68% Ct% and a 4.8% BB% in Triple-A. Mark Ellis: Ellis, who 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...

I’m going to skip the lead in this morning to our beloved Wednesday Value Picks column because quite frankly I’m in a state of euphoria right now and any small semblance of creativity my mind has is currently drifting towards...

John Lackey – John Lackey looked good in his second straight start after returning from the disabled list. He picked up the win against Toronto, going 7 innings and allowing just one run off of 7 hits. He also walked...

Jake Peavy: Peavy went on the DL with a strained muscle in his right elbow. Reports have him missing anywhere from two to six weeks. The Padres and fantasy owners are hoping for the former because his skills, 2006/2007/2008 K/9’s...

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 - Hamilton continued his hot hitting with his 11th homer last night, and with his strikeouts down 8% while basically everything else has remained the same, you've got to be more and more excited about his long-term potential....

Randy Johnson: The Big Unit turned back the clock a bit on Sunday tossing 7 shutout innings against the potent Tigers lineup. Unit wasn’t as dominant as his younger days, striking out just 5, but he worked efficiently needing just...

Doug Mathis: Mathis will get a start on Tuesday in Minnesota. He was pitching decently in Triple-A; 3.55 ERA, 5.9 K/9, and a 2.0 BB/9. Without the high K’s, he will need to exhibit good control for success, but even...

Jose Bautista Bautista was sitting on the bench yet again on Saturday. With the Pirates 12th in the NL in team OPS, you’d think they could use a guy with a .915 OPS in the month of May. Sure, Bautista...