All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 147

James Shields of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays appears to be turning into a pretty good young starter. The 26 year old right hander improved to 7-4 on the year on Friday in a win against the Kansas City Royals....

Brad Penny developed a blister in the first inning of last night's start against the Braves and limped to his worst outing of the season, allowing 6 runs, all earned in 4 IP on 9 hits, 4 walks and 5...

Chad Gaudin: Gaudin turned in another good performance last night, 2 ER in 7.2 innings, to improve his record to 8-3 with a stingy 2.88 ERA. His high GB% of 53% compensates for an average 5.6 K/9. At some point...

Injuries and ineffectiveness have shuffled the deck in a couple of MLB bullpens as we take a post-July 4th Closer Look. Devil Ray's closer Al Reyes was placed on the 15-day DL on Wednesday with a "mildly"strained rotator cuff. The...

American League 22 Daric Barton OAK 1B B+ After hitting .454 in June, A's reportedly considering dealing D. Johnson to make room for Barton. 23 Adam Jones SEA OF B+ Much closer to being ready now than he was last...

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...

Happy July 4th everyone! Having faced yesterday's opposing pitcher Ryan Feierabend in the minors, Billy Butler knew what to expect and he entered the game in a comfortable state of mind. The result was a 3- for -5 performance with...

Alex Gonzalez: Gonzalez is putting on a nice power display for the Reds this year, 13 home runs and 18 doubles in 288 AB. He is just 30 years old and has showed power before, 18 home runs in 2003...

Vernon Wells - Wells has had a horrible first half, but perhaps last night's 4-5 performance will jumpstart him. Wells' AVG this season is about 20 points below his career worst, and after posting four straight years with ISO's between...

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...

Carlos Delgado: The power's starting to come for Carlos Delgado as he knocked out his 13th HR of the season on Sunday along with his 19th 2B of the season in a 2-3 performance. Delgado now has 17 extra base...

CC Sabathia: I love me some CC Sabathia! Big CC went 7 strong innings last night yielding only 2 ER's on 6 hits. He struck out 8 more batters without walking a hitter and raises his season K:BB ratio to...

Ryan Freel Good news on Ryan Freel lately, as the post-concussion systems continue to subside. Freel is currently on a Triple-A rehab assignment, and if things continue to go as planned, he should be able to be activated sometime next...

This week we will pick up some players from the Futures Game rosters that haven’t yet appeared in Prospect Central, and introduce you to a rising young star in the Red Sox System… Keep in mind that our Prospect...

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...

Brian Mcann of the Atlanta Braves had been coming around of late but he had a real stinker at the plate on Friday night against the Florida Marlins. Mcann went zero for six with four strikeouts and seven runners left...

Jason Bartlett: Bartlett has quietly gone a perfect 15 for 15 in the steals department this year. He is not hitting for power, but is making good contact, 87% Ct%, and exercising plate patience, .79 BB/K, to get him on...

Scott Olsen: It seems every time it looks like Scott Olsen is taking a step forward, he takes another step backwards. This seemed to take place within the same game on Thursday as Olsen mowed through the weak Pirates lineup...

American League 23 Daric Barton OAK 1B B+ Having a pretty good June - .500/.545/.700. Just 5 HR in 275 at-bats but more power will come. 24 Adam Jones SEA OF B+ In 163 fewer at-bats, he's already tied last...

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...

It is dateline Chicago once again as we review the big bullpen news of the week. Ryan Dempster was placed on the 15-day DL on Tuesday with a strained left oblique. With Sweet Lou's alleged "closer in waiting"Angel Guzman also...

Chuck James: There could be some trouble looming for James. In two seasons, he has been at the league average with his HR/FB%, 10.3% last year and 10.6% this year. His fly ball pitching ways, 49% in 2007, means that...

The Mark Buehrle show will be front and center in the eyes scouts and general mangers today in Tampa Bay. Buehrle has pitched well enough to win his last three starts and probably four of his last five starts but...

My base of minor league operations sits on the banks of the meandering Merrimack River in Manchester New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are the AA affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, playing in the Eastern League. Their new...

J.D. Drew - How is it that Drew is owned in only 1 out of 3 ESPN leagues? After another hit and two walks last night, Drew is hitting 306/353/565 for the month of June. He is still a dangerous...

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...

John Maine: A couple home starts seemed to be all John Maine needed to get back on track. Maine posted his 2nd consecutive quality start as he limited the A's to 5 base-runners and 2 ER's in his 7 innings...

Fernando Rodney: Despite Todd Jones' problems, 5.46 ERA, the Tigers are more likely to stick with him as the closer or look outside the organization rather than turning to Rodney. Rodney has struggled also, 5.40 ERA, but has also been...

James Loney I can't tell you how impressed I am with James Loney. He was 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk on Saturday against the Devil Rays, and even his two out were line drives, one of which could...

Conor Jackson - Jackson has been scuffling a bit lately, but in my mind the 25 year old is a breakout waiting to happen. There might be one or two hitters per team that can exert enough control over the...

But for the fact that Mark Buehrle surrendered a lead-off homer to Alfonso Soriano, then another solo blast to Aramis Ramirez a few batters later, the White Sox southpaw was brilliant, going seven strong innings (well, six strong innings and...

Rodrigo Lopez improved to 4-0 on the year with a win over the Yankees on Thursday. He went 5.2 IP, allowing 7 hits and a walk while striking out 3. Rodrigo lowers his ERA to 2.93 on the year in...

Julio Lugo: The Red Sox have dropped the struggling Lugo, .201 batting average in 264 AB, to the bottom of the order. There doesn't seem to be much wrong with Lugo's skill set, 86% Ct% and .67 BB/K. A low...

It is another slow week in the back end of Major League bullpens this week. Of course, the injury to Brad Lidge tops the closer headlines. Before he could collect his first save of this tour of duty as the...

Roger Clemens of the New York Yankees apparently has the best gig in the history of Major League baseball. After his last start Joe Torre said all he asks of Clemens is that he gives them a chance to win...

Chad Durbin limited the Nationals to 1 run over 6 IP at RFK on Tuesday. He gave up 5 hits without a walk and struck out 5 to improve to 6-3 on the year with a 4.37 ERA. Chad is...