All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 141

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...

Jesus Flores - Flores has jumped right into the Nationals' void at catcher with a modest five-game hitting streak, including a couple more singles last night against the O's. Rule V picks are tricky to project, because they always lose...

Josh Hamilton- TEX- Hot- Hamilton led the way for a Texas offensive onslaught last night, going 5-for-5 with 2 homers, a triple, a walk, 5 RBI, and 4 runs scored. The 13 total bases was one short of a franchise...

Masa Kobayashi secured his second save yesterday afternoon as he replaced Rafael Betancourt in the ninth inning after Betancourt loaded the bases with just one out. Kobayashi threw a wild pitch to Mike Sweeney, which allowed Jack Cust to score,...

Jay Bergmann – Bergmann threw 7 innings of shutout ball yesterday picking up the win. He impressively struck out 9 along the way, while walking just 2. This start might come as a surprise because entering the game Bergmann had...

American League 3 Matt Wieters BAL C A Turns 22 next week and with an OPS greater than 1.000, he belongs in AA. 13 Jeff Clement SEA C A- He's not hitting, but the M's will be patient with him....

Daniel Cabrera- BAL- Hot- Is Cabrera finally for real? He pitched his 7th straight quality start, raising his record to 4-1, allowing 3 runs on 10 hit in 7 IP while striking out 3 and walking NONE. Of his 103...

Masa Kobayashi showed that Cleveland might have at least one guy who can get 3 outs in the ninth inning as he secured his first save last night against the Athletics. Kobayashi has been pretty solid this year coming out...

Scott Olsen: Thanks to an 81% strand rate and a .171 BHIP%, it looks like Scott Olsen has turned a corner, 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 8 starts. However his underlying numbers tell the real story, 4.0 K/9, 3.5...

Nelson Figueroa- NYN- Cold- Figueroa was pounded by the Nationals yesterday, allowing 6 runs (4 earned) on 5 this and 5 walks in 5 IP while striking out 4. The walks continue a pattern of control problems for Figueroa, who...

Cliff Lee is incredible. I mean, I am seriously astounded by how knockout awesome this guy has been in his first 7 starts. I wish like hell I drafted him now. But enough of my wishes, let’s get to the...

Hunter Pence: Pence extended his hitting streak to 9 games on Sunday while effectively carrying the Astros offense against the Dodgers. Pence drove in 2 and scored another 2 accounting for 4 of the Astros 8 runs with a 3-4...

Milton Bradley: You know who Milton Bradley is? He’s the hot chick with the crazy eyes, I’m convinced. I mean think about it, let’s draw some parallels between scoping out the waiver wire and scoping out the bar. So you’re...

Shawn Estes Estes will take over the fifth starter role for the Padres this week, making his first start on Tuesday in Chicago. Make sure you activate any and all Cubs hitters for this one. Should Estes somehow survive this...

Derrek Lee blasted his 9th HR of the season yesterday afternoon as he continues his bid to hit 40+ bombs in 2008. Lee’s totals now read 9/25/.322 and his indicators right now are pretty similar to those in his 46-homer...

Jose Contreras – Contreras has somewhat bounced back from last season’s disaster. He picked up his third win last night, pitching 7 innings of one run ball to lower his ERA under 4. Contreras has been better this year, mainly...

Jeff Francoeur Frenchy’s mired in a 5-31 slump that’s dropped his average to .263. Despite the slow start there are some legitimate reasons for optimism surrounding Francoeur. He’s improved his EYE up to .50, largely thanks to a significant drop...

Gavin Floyd: Despite flirting with two no-hitters this year, there is not much to get excited about when looking at Floyd’s skill set, 4.3 K/9 and a 4.1 BB/9. His high FB% of 53% is going to lead to big...

Nick Markakis- BAL- Hot- Since his last multi-hit game on May 2nd, Markakis had been in a 1-for-15 slump that had shaved 28 points from his batting average, dropping it from .284 to .256. He got half of that back...

American League 30 Austin Jackson NYY OF B+ 23:17 K:BB and 82% CT% are fine, but where's the pop? 0 HR in 125 at-bats. 43 Jose Tabata NYY OF B Discipline issues and batting just .232. Is 8-for-15 in last...

Grady Sizemore – Sizemore had a monster 2006 season in which he had an amazing 92 extra base hits, an average of .57 extra base hits per game. Sizemore was solid last season, but even in that year and so...

Doug Davis: Less than a month removed from surgery to remove a cancerous thyroid, Davis threw a simulated game on Monday and is expected to make the first of two rehab starts on Saturday. The two rehab starts will give...

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. While many of the selections in the past have been geared...