Pablo Sandoval is finally showing his power stroke. Yu Darvish has picked the right time to pitch like the ace he had been projected as. Chase Utley & Ryan Howard turned back the clock in lighting up the Mets. Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:
- Trevor Plouffe is showing signs of at least getting his power stroke back in order. He went 2-4 with 1 HR, 1 RBI and 1 R yesterday giving him 3 HR in his past 7 games. Of course, a lot of the talk for Plouffe came due to an 11 HR June, something he isn’t going to replicate. I wouldn’t get too excited.
- The bottom of the A’s lineup did the damage yesterday led by Seth Smith (3-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R), Josh Donaldson (3-5, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 SB) and George Kottaras (2-5, 2 RBI, 1 R). Smith has hit 14 HR over 357 AB this season, but the hope of him getting out of Colorado and becoming a full-time player is all but gone. He has 67 AB against lefties, hitting .164 with 2 HR and 8 RBI. In other words, his fantasy appeal is much stronger for those in daily formats where you can spot him in there against a righty.
- Bud Norris was on the road. That’s really all you should’ve needed to know when setting up your lineup. He allowed 5 ER on 6 H and 5 BB, striking out 7, over 5.1 innings. In 17 road starts he is now sporting a 7.41 ERA vs. a 1.90 ERA in 10 home starts. It’s a stark split, but it’s obvious that he can be started at home but ignored on the road. Hopefully he can rectify that situation in 2013.
- It was another productive day for Allen Craig, going 2-4 with 1 HR, 3 RBI and 1 R. Craig has been extremely consistent this season with 5 HR every month (he has 2 in September) and at least 15 RBI each month (including September). Is there any doubt that he’s becoming one of the better 1B options in the league?
- Johnny Cueto improved to 18-9 with a 2.84 ERA and 1.19 WHIP after allowing 0 ER on 5 H and 4 BB, striking out 2, over 6.0 innings against the Cubs. There was nothing unrealistic about his peripherals entering the day, with a .302 BABIP and 78.0% strand rate. He’s not a big strikeout option and maybe the control isn’t quite THIS good (2.01 BB/9 entering the day), but does anyone have any doubt about his ability? In fact, if he can reduce the 22.0% line drive rate (19.4% for his career), a regression in control will not have an impact at all. He should be a 3.50 ERA or better pitcher going forward. That may not be ace-like, but it’s must own.
- It was not a good start for Tyler Skaggs, allowing 4 ER on 7 H and 3 BB, striking out 2, over 5.0 innings of work. He’s now allowed 4+ ER in three straight starts. Granted, he entered with a below average 67.9% strand rate, but he also has allowed 6 HR over 29.1 innings of work. The latter is a huge issue and it makes it impossible to trust him for the remainder of the season. That doesn’t mean to write him off for 2013, however, but he needs to correct this issue.
- I mentioned yesterday that I wouldn’t be surprised if Pablo Sandoval’s HR on Wednesday was the beginning of a strong finish. At the least, it was clearly the start of a mini hot streak. He went 2-4 with 2 HR, 4 RBI and 2 R yesterday and is now on a modest four game hitting streak (8-16 with 3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R and 1 SB.
- While Aramis Ramirez is no Prince Fielder, he certainly has done a tremendous job in offering protection for Ryan Braun. He went 3-5 with 1 HR, 3 RBI and 2 R yesterday and is now hitting .297 with 25 HR and 95 RBI on the year. He is really just being the same player he always is, with a 12.8% HR/FB (13.3% for his career).
- It was a nice start for Ross Detwiler, allowing 1 ER on 3 H and 1 BB, striking out 5, over 6.0 innings of work. That’s now 7 straight starts having allowed 3 ER or fewer, helping him to his current 3.10 ERA. His value is capped by his relative lack of strikeout potential (5.60 K/9 entering the day, 5.46 for his career), so consider him more of a low-end option for the remainder of the season.
- The New York Mets allowed 8 runs in the first inning and 7 runs in the ninth inning, not really the type of bookends you want to see. There were some familiar names leading the way, with Chase Utley (4-5, 4 RBI, 1 R) and Ryan Howard (2-6, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 R) leading the way. Howard is starting to get going, with 13 RBI over his past 7 games, but has been striking out way too much to hit for a good average. Keep in mind that he is a source of power and little else at this point.
- Andrew Bailey entered with a 3 run lead in the ninth inning and, while he didn’t allow the big blow (Vicente Padilla came on to allow the walkoff 3 R home run to B.J. Upton), his final line is 5 ER on 4 H and 1 BB over 0.1 inning. He had been pitching well prior to this outing, entering with a 3.09 ERA over 11.2 innings, so don’t get too worked up. It happens, but he should continue to close for now.
- Phil Hughes continued to show his inconsistency, allowing 4 ER on 4 H and 3 BB, striking out 9, over 5.0 innings. As I have said before, the real problem with Hughes has been an inability to keep the ball in the ballpark (1.70 HR/9). Unless that changes, he is going to keep an ERA above 4.00. Of course, with the Yankees behind him (they scored 10 R yesterday, including a grand slam from Nick Swisher), that still means a chance for W. Just know what you are getting.
- The Rangers-Angels matchup was all about the pitching, as Zack Greinke (1 ER on 5 H and 0 BB, striking out 8, over 8.0 IP) and Yu Darvish (1 ER on 4 H and 1 BB, striking out 9, over 8.0 IP for the W) were fantastic. Darvish continues to pitch exceptionally well down the stretch. Over his past three starts he has allowed 3 ER over 23.0 IP. He has at least 8 K in seven of his past eight starts. He’s allowed 3 ER or less in his past 7 starts, going 5-1 in the process. In four September starts he has a 1.80 ERA and 0.57 WHIP. Obviously he’s not THIS good, but it just shows us that the talent that we heard about is there. Earlier his problems appeared to come when facing a team for a second time. Obviously that is no longer the case. The biggest difference is his control (1.80 BB/9 in September after being over 4.50 in four of the first five months). Obviously, he’s a must start while he’s hot.
