Francisco Liriano- MIN- Drop Value- Liriano was moved from the rotation to the Minnesota bullpen. The Twins are having a bad year and they may have pushed the panic button on Liriano too soon, especially since manager Ron Gardenhire says they envision Liriano's return to the rotation. Liriano's .365 BABIP, 55.6% LOB% and abnormal 37.9% GB% point to luck having a large part in his poor performance. His 18.8% HR/FB ratio is almost twice his career norm and that combined with the low GB ratio has led to a HR/9 of 2.03. Those things would likely be cured by some regression to the mean. The one area of genuine concern is Liriano's control. His % of pitches in the strike zone has fallen to 36.2%, after dipping below 40% for the first time in his career last season. Batters are swinging less resulting in more walks. After his BB/9 jumped to 5.02 in 2011 it has continued to rise this year, up to 6.41. That is going to be tough for him to fix with sporadic appearances out of the bullpen.
Scott Feldman- TEX- FYI- Yesterday's rainout and today's resulting real 2-for-the-price-of-1 doubleheader creates a need for the Rangers to have a spot starter on Sunday. It may end up being Feldman, although manager Ron Washington wouldn't commit. It's easy to see why. Feldman's last spot start was ugly and he has given up 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks in his last 2 relief appearances covering 3.2 IP. However, with no glaring candidates for the DL making a callup likely, Feldman might get the start almost by default.
Jake Peavy- CHW- Hot- Peavy has thrown quality starts in all 7 of his appearances so far this season. Last night he allowed 1 run on 7 hits and a walk while striking out 5 in 7 IP. This was significant because it came after an outing of 122 pitches, which came on the heels of a 116-pitch start. Peavy only threw 101 pitches last night, which was good, but a lot of the health questions are being answered positively. A .234 BABIP is helping his performance greatly but with a K/9 rate of 7.47 very close to last year and a BB/9 dropping to 1.20, he is looking solid even if it is unlikely he will sustain this level of performance.
Jeanmar Gomez- CLE- Cold- Gomez's string of improving starts ended yesterday when he was charged with 8 runs on 9 hits and 4 walks in 6.2 IP. The main culprit was a lack of control as Gomez threw only 57 strikes in his 106 pitches. The outing increased his ERA to 4.66, but his FIP is at 3.60, so without the uncharacteristic wildness there is still some potential for solid pitching in future starts.
David Robertson- NYA- Cold- Sure, Robertson has allowed 4 hits and walked 3 in his first 2 appearances since getting the closer job. But he also struck out 3. Robertson has a BABIP of .385 in his 13.2 IP this season and still a WHIP of only 1.24 and ERA of 2.63. If anyone is jumping ship prematurely and you have a chance to get in on some panic buying, this would be a great opportunity.
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