Ryan Doumit- MIN- Hot- Doumit is 10-for-31 with 2 homers in 7 games since coming back from the concussion DL. The time off didn't slow him down at all. In fact, he has picked up his game. In the first 18 games after the All Star Break Doumit had gone 18 for 65 without a homer. Some regression to the mean is at play here. Doumit had a .256 BABIP in the first half and it has been .328 in the 2nd half.

Peter Bourjos- LAA- Stats- Bourjos slump is a case of regression to the mean gone wild. Tuesday he picked up his first 2 hits since coming off the DL. Even after that his BABIP of .118 since he returned has only brought his season number down to .362. There is still room for more negative regression.

Justin Verlander- DET- Cold- Verlander failed to notch a quality start for the second time in 3 outings. His stats aren't that worrying but it was his second straight start of 120+ pitches. Verlander had only thrown that many once before this season. Last year he threw 120 or more pitches 9 times but never consecutively. He had thrown back-to-back very high-pitch count games twice in 2011. Both of those times Verlander followed up with outings without allowing an earned run. There are a couple of differences. First, Verlander is 2 years older. Secondly, yesterday Verlander threw a lot of pitches after allowing a bunch of runs which could have indicated fatigue. Keep an eye on him in his next start.

Kelvin Herrera- KC- Hot- Herrera seems to be getting his control issues under, uh, control. He hasn't walked a batter in his last 7 appearances, covering 7.2 IP. Herrera has struck out 10 in that span. He has closer potential if he can harness his stuff. This stretch is a good sign.

Emilio Bonifacio- KC- Hot- Since joining the Royals, Bonifacio has played in 8 games and gone 7-for-26. After stealing 2 bases last night, though, he already has 6 thefts for his new team. Bonifacio swiped 40 bases 2 years ago and 30 last year in only 62 games. He has serious speed and the Royals are giving him more playing time to get on base. KC is not afraid to turn him loose on the basepaths.

Follow me on Twitter all season - @fantisticspaul

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