All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 99

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%....

Mark Buehrle (SP-MIA)- Buehrle won his tenth game of the season on Wednesday afternoon against the Phillies. He allowed two runs on five hits, a home run and a walk while striking out three in seven innings of work....

Andy Dirks - Dirks singled, homered, and walked twice yesterday in the 8-4 win over Minnesota, and he's been playing every day since his return, hitting 378/442/568. Dirks has improved in every facet of his offensive game except speed the...

Michael Fiers - Fiers had his QS streak stopped at 9 last night in Colorado, as the 27 year old rookie allowed eight runs on nine hits in just two-plus innings. Fiers really has been brilliant since his promotion to...

Anibal Sanchez (SP - DET) - Sanchez was lit up for the third time in four starts as a Tiger, as the Twins pounded him for five runs on 12 hits (one home run) in five innings. He has had...

Matt Carpenter (3B-STL) - With David Freese in an 0-for-14 slump, Carpenter got the nod at third base on Sunday and he took advantage, going 4-for-6 with a double and three RBI to raise his impressive slash line to .312/.385/.505....

AJ Pierzynski (C - CHA): Back in April I wrote an extensive blurb about how AJ Pierzynski's hot-start simply could not be sustained. I recommended not only selling high if you owned Pierzynski but passing on him outright in...

Hisashi Iwakuma - I've been more and more impressed with Iwakuma lately, as the 31 year old "rookie" managed his fifth straight start allowing three earned runs or less last night against the Angels, as he held them to three...

Wade Miley (SP - ARZ): Hopefully you took my advice earlier in the week when I touched on Wade Miley's recent hot streak. I noted Miley's skills have been great, but a favorable schedule may be inflating some of...

Manny Machado - In his second career game, Manny Machado batted eighth and clubbed 2 HRs with 4 RBI. He's now 4-for-8 in his first two games at the major league level. With a .266/.352/.438 slash line at AA this...

Madison Bumgarner (SP - SF) - Bumgarner allowed just three hits in six innings in St. Louis while striking out seven against just one walk, but his home run problems continued as he served one up to Carlos Beltran. He's...

Salvador Perez (C - KC) - Perez hit his sixth home run in just over 120 at bats and is now hitting .317/.341/.512. The backstop never showed much power in the minors or in his call-up last season, but he...

The following is just a sampling of the 70+ prospect notes you'll see this week... Hitters 33 Carlos Correa HOU SS B .596 OPS in 35 games, so not much to be excited about here. 36 Byron Buxton MIN OF...

Cole Hamels (SP-PHI)- Hamels threw a complete game shutout on Tuesday night against the Braves. He allowed five hits without a walk and six strikeouts to improve his ERA to 3.14 and record to 12-6. With a 3.51 FIP...

Kyle Seager (3B - SEA) - Seager hit his 12th home run as part of a 2-7 night in Baltimore. He is now hitting .247/.311/.403. He is hurt badly by Safeco Field, as he hits a ton of fly balls...

Matt Garza (SP - CHC): In the battle between the Cubs training staff and Matt Garza in diagnosing Garza's elbow it appears the Cubs training staff has won out. Garza was placed on the disabled list on Tuesday and...

Billy Butler - Billy Butler crushed his 21st HR of the season on Monday against the White Sox and now has 67 RBI. At 26-years old, Butler is having his best season having tied his career-high in HRs and posted...

Brett Jackson (OF-CHC) - Jackson got the call on Sunday and was immediately inserted into the starting outfield batting second. It's been a relatively disappointing season for Jackson, who was batting .256/.338/.479 with 15 homers and 27 stolen bases. 47%...

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...

Ross Ohlendorf (SP-SD)- The Reds knocked around Ohlendorf on Thursday afternoon, as he could not get through a full two innings of work. He ended up allowing six runs on six hits, one home run and three walks while...

Mike Trout (OF - LAA): When I wrote back on May 21st that I thought Mike Trout was a Top 15 OF the rest of the way, I thought I was being bold... Instead, it turned out I was...

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...

Jeff Karstens (SP-PIT)- Karstens improved his record to 4-2 for the year after a strong start against the Cubs on Wednesday afternoon. He allowed just one run on three hits (one home run) and one walk while striking out...

Ryan Dempster - Ryan Dempster was finally traded from the Cubs on Tuesday, just before the July 31st 4 p.m. EST trade deadline. Dempster was shipped to Texas in exchange for minor leaguers Christian Villanueva and Kyle Hendricks. The right...

Steve Pearce - This is a total flyer, especially since Brad Mills has already said that he doesn't envision Pearce as an everyday player right now, but a RH hitter with power heading to the land of the Crawford boxes...

Kendry Morales (DH/1B-LAA)- Morales went 2-for-6 with three strikeouts, two home runs and six RBI to help lead the Angels to a rout against the Rangers last night. He was able to improve his slash line to .271/.315/.420, and the...

Just a sampling of the dozens of daily player notes you would get each day as a subscriber. Josh Johnson (SP-MIA) - Johnson made what could be his final start as a Marlin Sunday, though it's very possible that his...

Gavin Floyd (SP - CHW): I'm not really sure what is going on with Gavin Floyd, but I'm not particularly encouraged. While Floyd has now tossed 3 straight quality starts and allowed just 3 ER's in his last 20...

Francisco Liriano - Liriano is heading intra-division, as the White Sox took a gamble on the 28 year old lefty, sending Eduardo Escobar and Pedro Hernandez, two decent to fair prospects, over to the Twins. Liriano was pasted by those...

Josh Johnson SP (MIA) - Johnson is almost a must start today in daily fantasy baseball contests. He has the best matchup you could ask for (San Diego) and is pitching at home (3.35 ERA) where he has been...

Zach Greinke - The Brewers' Doug Melvin said he would trade Zach Greinke before the deadline and he stuck to his word on Friday, shipping the right hander to Anaheim in exchange for Jean Segura and two AA pitchers. This...

James Shields (SP-TB)- Shields earned his seventh loss of the season on Thursday against the Orioles after struggling through six innings of work. He allowed five runs on six hits and five walks, but he did strikeout 10 opposing...

Starling Marte (OF - PIT): Baseball America's preseason #73 rated prospect debuted with a bang on Thursday night as Marte homered off the first pitch he saw. Marte finished the evening 2-4 with that run and RBI, immediately sending...

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...

Just a sample of the 70+ prospect notes this week available to subscribers. Hitters 1 Billy Hamilton CIN SS A Relatively slowing down a bit in AA with 8 SB in 11 G, but .528 OBP isn't bad. 2 Wil...

Cliff Lee (SP-PHI)- Lee was shelled by the Brewers on Tuesday night, but did not earn the loss because of the Phillies comeback in the eighth inning. He allowed six runs on 12 hits (four home runs) and one walk...