Adam Jones- BAL- Caution- Jones has had a very poor start, with an average of .252 (despite a .322 BABIP) and a single homer in 29 games. This from a guy who hit 30+ in each of the previous 2 seasons. What has caused this? A look at some of his peripherals indicate that he may have lost some bat speed. Jones has had his K% rise from 19.7% last season to 23.4% in 2014. This despite a drop in his swinging strike %. So he's not whiffing at balls. In more cases Jones is watching them go by as his swing percentage is down. Why is this? Well, pitchers are throwing him more fastballs, cutters and sliders and fewer changeups and curve balls. Jones could be giving up on the hard stuff. He is still making contact at about the same rate when he does swing but the balls don't seem to travel as far. Jones is hitting more fly balls than either of the past two years but only has 8 extra base hits to show for it. Last year after 29 games he had 4 homers and 11 doubles, almost twice as many extra base hits. Jones is only 28 so it would be odd for him to have a rapid age related decline. There may be some shoulder or some other injury that is out there and impacting his swing.
Dustin Pedroia- BOS- Hot- In 19 games since experiencing inflammation in his wrist, Pedroia has been hot. He has hit .303 with a homer, 15 runs, 9 RBI and 2 steals. There has been some regression happening but room for more. His BABIP of .319 for that stretch gives him a mark of .297 for the season. Pedroia has had a remarkable 2.17 Batting EYE which has brought his season number to 1.08. The injury was evidently very minor.
Jarred Cosart- HOU- Hot- Cosart threw his 4th quality start in his last 5 outings last night. He allowed just a single unearned run in his 7 IP. The effort dropped his ERA to 4.50. Cosart's control issues still surfaced, with 3 walks during the game, equal to the number of batters he struck out. He has walked 14 in 27 IP during this stretch. Until Cosart can improve on his walk ratio he really can't be recommended. His 5.03 FIP is more indicative of what can be expected on a regular basis at this point.
Jose Quintana- CHA- Hot- Quintana turned in his 6th quality start in 7 outings this year by allowing 1 run on 1 hit and 3 walks while striking out 3 in 7 IP. The relatively low K total is an aberration for Quintana in 2014. He has a solid 7.33 K/9 and 2.51 BB/9. His ERA of 3.56 is barely distinguishable from his FIP of 3.55 and xFIP of 3.48. Quintana finished strong last year and hasn't regressed so far this season.
Eric Sogard- OAK- Cold- Sogard went 0-for-2 before being lifted for a pinch hitter last night. This dropped his average to .194. Sogard has only hit safely once in his last 6 games. His main problem is bad luck. Sogard's .217 BABIP is what is driving the abysmal average. Sogard was projected to hit .275 this year. It will take some serious regression to the mean as well as a willingness on the part of the A's to wait for that regression to kick in for him to get close to there. With Nick Punto hitting .200 Sogard should get his chances to turn it around. He would be considered a buy low candidate.
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