Daniel Cabrera - Don't sit there and act surprised by this. We have all seen it way too many times before with Daniel Cabrera. After a few dominant outings of quality starts, low walk, and high strikeout totals, Cabrera always falls off the wagon. This time, he hurled 5.2 IP and gave up 9 hits, 4 ER, 6 BB, and just 1 K. Back-to-back outings of no walks and just 3 BB for the month going into yesterday's game as just too good to be true. Last season, in over 200 IP, Cabrera averaged a BB/9 of 4.76. The good news is if you need K's, Cabrera is usually a decent source of them. He posted a K/9 of 7.3 last season and is currently at 5.2 with some statistical upside correction likely. Just be careful not to place too much value in Cabrera's total value, as he is highly inconsistent, extremely wild with the BB, and you never know which Cabrera will show up in any given day.
Carlos Pena - Carlos Pena hit his 10th HR of the season yesterday and now has 29 RBI. Its been quite the drop-off in production 2007. Last year, he ended the season with a 1.033 OPS, HR/AB of 10.7, 0.83 FPI, .282 average, and a BB/K of 0.725. This year, he's hitting with an OPS of .755, HR/AB of 17.7, 0.52 FPI, .226 average, and a BB/K of .442. Last year was certainly one of those "career years" for Pena, but I think you should be able to expect an improvement of overall fantasy production (FPI) for the remainder of the season.
Kenji Johjima - Johjima "broke-out" of his 1-for-19 slump on Sunday with a couple of hits against the Yankees. We have seen a HUGE drop-off in production from Johjima this season that has little explanation other than a prolonged slow start. His first two season in the big leagues was relatively consistent: 0.58 and 0.53 FPI's in 2006 and 2007, .768 and .741 OPS, and .291 and .287 averages. This season has been atrocious - .219 average, .29 FPI, .551 OPS, and a HR/AB of 73.0 (compared to previous seasons around 30.0). He's been dropped in a ton of leagues and still has the potential to turn it around and give himself a respectable season. In a league where catching is a commodity, I wouldn't mind taking my chances with Johjima possibly turning his season around real soon.
BJ Upton - Upton is doing it all (well, except for hitting home runs). BJ is hitting .316 this month with a .409 OBP. With two more stolen bases yesterday, he now has 9 for the month, more than doubling his April total of 4. With 3 homeruns last month, he is homerless in May and his HR/AB is significantly down this year (59.3) from last year's rate of 19.8. He still has an OPS over .800, so a little additional power should propel him to that .900 level. I think we'll see his power surge soon. Nothing but up-arrows and camp fires for Upton.
Victor Martinez - V-Mart was back in the lineup on Sunday after sitting out back-to-back days with a torn nail. Its been a frustrating season for Martinez and his fantasy owners. A few scattered injuries since opening day has kept his playing time inconsistent and we all know his drop in power makes you want to pull-out your hair. Ok - I'll say it... he continues to be homerless through 145 AB and 39 games after hitting a career-high 25 last season. If injuries continue to take their toll, this isn't a simple answer of him reverting to the mean and breaking out in a big way. Of course, he won't end the season with no home runs, but we could continue to see a significant drop for an extended period of time.
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