Felix
Hernandez
held the Tribe to 3 runs in 7 IP on Tuesday. He gave up 8 hits without
a walk
while striking out 2. He also threw 12 GBOs and of course, he did not
hand out
a walk, both of which allowed him to get through 7 IP with 2 K. He was
not
involved in the extra inning loss but he has won 6 of his last 8
decisions. The
walk total is the big news here. Felix had walked 12 in his last 4
starts over
23.2 IP. Overall his BB rate is a marginal 2.7/9, but of course his 2.5
GB
ratio and 7.9 K rate makes him very effective at times. It is the other
times
that have been the problem as Felix can lob some bombs at your pitching
line
from time to time. Felix is currently scheduled for one more start
Sunday at
home against Vicente Padilla and the Rangers.
With
Evan Longoria looming on the horizon, the Rays have
asked Akinori
Iwamura to tune up
his
skills at second base over the offseason. Iwamura has some experience
at the position
and he will likely be starting there for the Rays at some point in 2008
with
Longoria taking over third. A 2B qualification would certainly up
Iwamura’s
value in most formats.
The
Sox will hold Hideki
Okajima out for
one more game as they attempt to resuscitate his “dead
arm”. Hideki has simply been overworked and has been making
noises about it publicly,
in Japanese, since the trade for Eric Gagne. It will be an interesting
experiment to see if a week off breathes new life into his arm, and if
it does,
how long that lasts. Josh
Banks
will
be the Blue Jay’s starter in Baltimore
on Thursday. He will be making his first MLB start in his hometown.
Josh was
12-10 in his second tour of AAA this year with a 4.63 ERA and 1.28 WHIP.
Opponents hit .287 off him with a relatively
neutral .312 BHIP%. That .287 OBA tells it all. He simply
does not get the ball by hitters.
Josh throws a split that is good, but his other secondary pitches are
not good
enough to keep hitters off his fastball, which frankly is not good
enough to
keep hitters off his splitter. The Jays are doing a nice thing by
letting him
start one at home but Josh does not have a very high ceiling and
projects as a
5th/6th starter/MR
guy.
Aaron
Laffey went
5.2 IP against the M’s on Tuesday, holding them to 1 run on 4
hits, 2 walks and
3 Ks. He was not around when the game was decided but he lowered his
ERA to
4.87 on the year. That could be even better except for his unfavorable
64.9%
strand percentage. His 1.40 WHIP suggest that his ERA could be up a
half a run
lower at this point. He is fanning just 4.6/9 but Aaron is throwing GBs
at a
3.4 ratio and that my friends is a great skill to have. He is
scheduled against Jorge De La Rosa and
the Royals on Sunday, which appears to be a very favorable start.
Brian
Bannister’s
last start of the season will not leave a good taste in his mouth. He
gave up 5
runs, all earned in just two outs worth of work (as an indicator
… it is
usually a bad sign when you have more runs allowed in a start than outs
recorded). He gave up 4 hits and walk while striking out one of the two
hitters
he got out. Fortunately he handed that lead to the White Sox, and
eventually
their bullpen, and we all know how that goes. Bannister was taken off
the hook
for a loss but will finish the season without a win in his last 4
starts,
essentially ending his run at Rookie of the Year. He is
probably just tired after throwing just
42 IP last year and 151 the year before. Brian finishes with 164 IP
this year, a
12-9 record, and a 3.61 ERA.
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