Mark Wieters- BAL- Hot- Wieters hit his 3rd homer in 4 games, one game after picking up 3 hits. He now has 19 homers on the season and is likely to equal or exceed his total of 23 from last year. Wieters' ISO has gone up from 2012, from .186 to .197. His average has suffered due to bad luck, with a .244 BABIP after being at .274 last year. Some regression to the mean could be starting to go along with some power improvement. Wieters has put up some disappointing numbers so far but could finish with a flourish.
Darren Oliver- TOR- Cold- Oliver has pitched in the majors for 20 seasons and last year posted a 2.06 ERA and 16 holds in 62 games. This year he is on pace to have his first ERA over 3.00 since 2007 and he only has 7 holds in 42 games for the Blue Jays. Oliver has especially struggled of late, with 8 hits and 4 walks allowed this month in 8 games covering 7.1 IP. He is not as consistent as he once was and has lost fantasy value, even in leagues that count holds.
Preston Claiborne- NYA- FYI- Claiborne was added to the Yankees' roster as the 26th man for yesterday's doubleheader. He pitched 2 scoreless innings in the nightcap, dropping his ERA to 2.74 and FIP to 2.97. Claiborne's K/9 at AAA last year was 7.83 and he has a 7.17 mark in 42.2 IP in the majors this year. He had to be sent back after the games yesterday but looks like he will definitely be back again no later than September 1.
Travis Blackley- TEX- Rise Value- Blackley had a reasonably successful debut with the Rangers yesterday. He only lasted 4 IP as he is still being stretched out, throwing 66 pitches. Of those, 42 were strikes and he only walked one batter and gave up 3 hits while striking out 2. In this very small sample size, that control was a good sign. Blackley had made one start for AAA Round Rock last week. He only lasted 3 IP, gave up no runs but walked 2. Blackley has earned another start but to stay in the rotation he needs to maintain control. That is far from guaranteed.
Max Stassi- HOU- Rookie- Max Stassi went 2-for-3 in his major league debut last night. He was called up from AA, where he was hitting .277 with 17 homers in 323 PAs and was Texas League Player of the Month for July, when he hit .333. The jump from AA to the majors is a big one for Stassi and while power is his biggest potential expect some learning curve for a player who hadn't been higher than High A before this year. At 22, Stassi still has time to develop, especially as a catcher. For now, he will be the backup to Jason Castro while Carlos Corporan is on the DL.
