Derek Lowe- ATL- Cold- Lowe has only 1 quality start in his last 10 appearances. He suffered some bad luck last month with a .359 BABIP but didn't help himself with a K/BB ratio that dropped to 1.40 as he walked 20 batters in 51.2 IP in this stretch of games. Lowe's tendency to generate ground balls is still there as he has a GB% of 59.0% this season. His xFIP of 3.63 suggests that there is still some value there if he gets moderate luck and can rein in the walks.
Rick Ankiel- WAS- Hot- Ankiel hit a grand slam, his third homer in 2 games. He now has 6 homers on the season, the same number as he hit last year in the exact same number of PAs (240.) In fact most of his numbers are very similar to what he had last season. Batting average- .232 in 2010, .241 in 2011. Runs- 31 to 29. RBI- 24-23. Batting EYE- .37 to .35. Ankiel's stolen bases have gone up from 3 to 8, but overall it looks like he has established a pretty consistent baseline of performance. He will have hot streaks like this one, but his ultimate fantasy value is borderline.
Kevin Correia- PIT- Stats- Correia has been a different pitcher at home than on the road. He is a real road warrior, with a 2.74 ERA away from PNC Park and a bloated 7.71 ERA on the banks of the Allegheny. A lot of it has to do with luck, as his home BABIP of .354 is way above his road mark of .229. Some has to do with ability to keep the ball in the park, or lack thereof. His HR/9 of 2.01 in NC Park is more than double his .88 on the road. With that low road BABIP regression to the mean will hurt him there while the positive effect when it kicks in at home will be offset by his generous homers. Correia isn't recommended in any park.
Omar Infante- FLA- Idea- Infante went 3-for- with 2 homers and is now 9-for-18 in his last 4 games and hitting .386 since the All Star Break. Infante usually has a high BABIP (.333 career mark) and so with his current number at .296 we might be seeing some regression to the mean where we normally wouldn't think so.
Octavio Dotel- STL- Rise Value- Dotel got his first save as a Cardinal yesterday. It was an extra inning affair and Dotel was the last of the trio of possible St. Louis closers (the others being Noel Salas and Kyle McClellan) to pitch. Manager Tony LaRussa hasn't spelled out what his closing plans are and Dotel seems to be in the mix.
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