A sampling of today's notes...
Jonathan Pettibone (SP-PHI) - Pettibone did it again Sunday, tossing seven innings of one-run ball against the Reds to improve to 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA in six starts. His 21:11 K:BB with five homers innings speaks more to his upside than the impressive W/L record and ERA, and he's fanned more than four batter in a start just once (six). Pettibone averages a so-so 90 mph with his fastball, and though his control is solid, the lack of ability to miss a lot of bats is likely to come back to haunt him in the near future.
Kenley Jansen (RP-LAD) - Just when it started to look like Jansen was closing in on Brandon League for the LA closer job, he's taken a big step back. The latest came on Sunday when Jansen allowed two runs for the second consecutive game and notched his second straight loss to the Braves. Since Friday, Jansen's ERA has mushroomed from 2.11 to 3.63, though his 12.3 K/9 remains strong and he's striking out more than five times as many batters as he's allowing free passes to. Jansen is now clearly behind League in the closer pecking order, and if he's not careful, he'll fall further behind than that. It's not for a lack of velocity, as it just looks like he's not locating as well as he has in the past.
Scott Van Skyle (OF-LAD) - Van Slyke was 0-for-3 with a strikeout on Sunday, but he continues to see time against left-handers, primarily as a platoon guy for Andre Ethier. Van Slyke is batting .267/.313/.867, and of his four hits in 15 at-bats, three have gone deep and Van Slyke has a decent 3:1 K:BB. It looks to me like his swing is pretty long, perhaps too long to consider him a potential future regular, but he's fared quite well against left-handers, and given the struggles that guys like Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier have seen so far, his power is a welcome sight. Van Slyke's recent efforts have gone a long way towards ensuring he'll remain with the club as a utility player this season.
Ricky Nolasco (SP-MIA) - Nolasco continued to confound fantasy owners, tossing eight innings of one-run ball on Sunday to go with 11 strikeouts. Nolasco now sits at 3-5 with a 3.96 ERA, and after allowing six runs in his last start, I have to wonder how many of us had the courage to start him this weekend. For the year, Nolasco boasts a solid 50:14 K:BB in 61.2 innings, and after allowing six homers in his first seven starts, Nolasco hasn't allowing a single long ball in his last three. Nolasco's fastball velocity remains the same as last year at a 90 mph average, but interestingly has taken nearly two mph off his slider, so perhaps that differential is helping keep hitters off balance. Hopefully for all our sakes Nolasco is going to develop some consistency in the near term.
Jeff Locke (SP-PIT) - It was the Astros, so I guess getting too excited could be dangerous, but Locke continued to impress Sunday, holding Houston to just three hits over seven solid shutout innings with a 4:3 K:BB. Locke improved to 4-1 with 2.73 ERA, even if his ratios remained modest with a 5.5 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9. The southpaw Locke actually entered Sunday's outing having held right-handed hitters to a .213 average, so given his former solid prospect status, there are at least some indicators that he has the stuff to improve and function as a back-end of the rotation starter.
