Dan Hudson- ARI- Rookie- Hudson threw another gem for the Diamondbacks, throwing 8 shutout innings in which he allowed 4 hits and a walk while striking out 8. What’s the big difference since Hudson came over from the AL at the trading deadline? Well, his BABIP in 3 starts with the White Sox was .346. Since joining Arizona it is .245. His LOB% with Chicago was 63.9% as opposed to 93.2% in the NL. If his luck evens out next season, he won’t be putting up the same kinds of numbers as he has since the trade.
Drew Stubbs- CIN- Hot- Stubbs carried his hot August, in which he hit .296, into this month and has a .298 September average. These numbers are driven by healthy doses of good luck as represented by a .413 BABIP last month and .387 mark so far this month. Stubbs has a lot of speed, so an above normal BABIP would be reasonable, but those numbers are still way above expectations. Stubbs’ contributions will be in the homer and steal categories. With a .246 average for the season despite a .321 overall BABIP, take what you get from him and don’t count on help in the average department.
Emilio Bonifacio- FLA- Cold- Bonifacio has cooled off in his last couple of games, going 1-for-9. This comes after a 8-game hitting streak in which he went 17-for-34. Bonifacio regained a lot of plate discipline since registering his first walk on August 10th. Since then he has a Batting EYE of .59. To be honest, though, his recent hot streak was more the result of luck. Bonifacio is posting a .486 BABIP in September. He owns a .306 average right now, but that’s going to be too much to expect in 2011.
Zach Duke- PIT- Cold- Duke followed up a performance where he needed 45 pitches to go 1 IP before getting yanked by lasting only 3.1 IP, allowing 8 runs (7 earned) on 9 hits and a walk. He has now gone 4 starts without one of the quality variety after having 5 quality starts in a span of 7 outings. Homers have been a killer recently, keeping that as an issue that has plagued Duke all year. In his last 4 starts he has allowed 5 homers in 14.2 IP. Duke had been showing some signs of turning it around, but he is too big a risk to keep out there in the last couple of weeks of the season. Looking to 2011, with a BABIP of .351 he would be ready to rebound. However, with a HR/9 of 1.46, there are big question marks about whether even with a change of luck he will be able to produce consistently. The gopher ball rate is uncharacteristic compared to his career numbers, so you can try and hope it’s a fluke, but Duke looks like he will be a high risk/low reward kind of pitcher in next year’s drafts.
Clayton Kershaw- LAN- Caution- Kershaw tossed a complete game shutout last night, throwing 11 pitches and allowing 4 hits, no walks and striking out 4. It was the 15th time this season the 22-year-old had a start of 110+ pitches and the 6th time in his last 7 outings he has hit that level. Last season he did it twice all year. That is a heavy jump in workload for an arm that young and puts some risk on him looking to 2011.
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