Paul Sauberer - Page 12

Ryota Igarashi- TOR- Cold- In his latest call up, Igarashi has again failed to translate minor league success to the major league level. He has appeared in both Toronto games since being called up Friday and has allowed 4 runs...

Felix Hernandez- SEA- Hot- King Felix was back home and took advantage of it. After 2 road starts in which he gave up a total of 10 earned runs over 10.1 IP he handled the Rangers with relative ease in...

Rich Thompson- TB- Rise Value- Thompson (not to be confused with the A's relief pitcher of the same name) was acquired by the Rays and made a pinch running appearance yesterday. This was his first major league appearance since 2004....

Stephen Strasburg- WAS- Hot- Strasburg got a season-high 13 strikeouts in yesterday's start against the Pirates. He now has a 3-0 record and 1.64 ERA on the year. Strasburg has gotten a little lucky, with a .269 BABIP, but his...

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...

Chone Figgins- SEA- Cold- Figgins has been unlucky again this season, as he was in limited time in 2011. His .254 BABIP is over 70 points less than his career average, explaining a lot of his .198 average. His 26.0%...

Huston Street- SD- Hot- Like the Maytag repairman, the life of a closer on a victory-challenged team can be a lonely one. Street got his second save of the season last night and has performed well whenever called upon. He...

Scott Feldman- TEX- Drop Value- If the Rangers' off day this week had been Monday instead of Wednesday, Feldman wouldn't have had to have been used as a spot starter last night. However, that's not the way the schedule was...

Joe Nathan- TEX- FYI- Nathan got into last night's game because he hadn't pitched in a couple of days. He entered the 9th inning with a 4 run lead so it wasn't a save situation. However, a walk, error and...

Ryan Ludwick- CIN- Stats- Ludwick has a Batting EYE of 1.00, which would indicate a marked increase in selectivity. However, it looks like that might be a statisrtical bubble when his plate discipline numbers are examined. His Swing% has actually...

Nick Markakis- BAL- Idea- Markakis has gone 4 games without a hit after opening the season with 2 multihit games. His average now stands at .238. This could be a good time to buy low if you need some help...

Yu Darvish- TEX- Hot- Sure, it was only a AA lineup he was facing, but Darvish was dominant. He allowed only 2 hits and 2 walks in his 4 IP of work, striking out 5. Only two hitters he faced...

News, notes and analysis as the regular season begins in Japan and Spring Training winds down in Florida and Arizona... Julio Borbon- TEX- Borbon's chances of securing the center field spot, and possbily even a roster spot at all, seemed...

New, notes, and analysis as we get closer to the start of the regular season... Zack Britton- BAL- Britton's injury situation hasn't gotten any better as Spring Training has advanced. He is now going to try platelet rich plasma therapy...

News and notes as spring training keeps rolling along... Yu Darvish- TEX- Darvish made his Cactus League debut yesterday against the Padres. In 2 IP he allowed 2 hits and struck out 3 of the 8 batters he faced....

News, notes and analysis from spring training camps, as I celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday... Neftali Feliz- TEX- Control is the big question about Feliz as he moves from closer to starter for the Rangers. His BB/9 rose from 2.34...

Welcome back to the Insider Baseball blog. It's good to be back and see the players start reporting to Spring Training. There have been a lot of changes in theh majors and we will be looking at them and other...

Brian Matusz- BAL- Stats- Matusz' record setting (and not in a good way) ERA of 10.69 this season had a huge component of bad luck in it. His BABIP was .382 and his LOB% was 56.4%. Matusz yielded homers like...

Alfredo Simon- BAL- Hot- Simon allowed 3 run on 6 hits and only 1 walk while striking out 5 in 8 IP last night. For the 4th start in a row he got more ground balls than fly balls. For...

Kosuke Fukudome- CLE- Hot- Regression to the mean had been hitting Fukudome, as he went 3-for-26 in the 7 games before last night. That was to be expected as he came to the Indians with a .330 BABIP. He countered...

Alexei Ramirez- CHA- Hot- Regression to the mean has been Ramirez' friend. He extended his current hitting streak to 8 games and is hitting .321 in September. His .34 monthly BABIP has his season mark up to .289 so there...

Rich Harden- OAK- Cold- After registering only 1 K in 5.1 IP in his last start, the 1.0 K/IP ratio last night might seem good. The problem is that he only lasted 3 IP because he was getting hit hard...

Javier Vazquez- FLA- Hot- Vazquez has said he is going to retire after this season. If he keeps pitching the way he has been latterly, though, there will undoubtedly be several million reasons for him to rethink that decision, all...

Joel Hanrahan- PIT- Cold- After going 8 games without allowing a run, Hanrahan has been scored on the last two games. He has given up 3 runs on 5 hits and a walk while striking out 1 in 1.2 IP....

Ben Zobrist- TB- Hot- Zobrist went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles, a run and 3 RBI. It extended his current hitting streak to 6 games in which he has gone 8-for-26. That's not a very hot streak and yesterday was his...

Justin Verlander- DET- Hot- Verlander might be showing a little bit of fatigue as he only has 1 quality start in his last 3. He only gave up 4 runs in each of the non-quality starts so it hasn't been...

C. J. Wilson- TEX- Hot- Wilson threw his first career shutout last night, giving him 6 quality starts in his last 7 appearances. His only non-quality start happened after he had thrown 4 consecutive outings of 110 or more pitches....

B. J. Upton- TB- Hot- Upton went 2-for-4 with 5 RBI last night. This breaks a 4-for-40 slump in his previous 13 games. Upton's average has been dragged down by a .273 BABIP this season and has in fact been...

Eric Hosmer- KC- Hot- Hosmer hit 2 homers last night, his first multi-homer game in the big leagues. He has had a solid rookie season, batting .278 with 14 homers since being called up in May. Hosmer still needs to...

Javier Vazquez- FLA- Hot- Vazquez shut out the Mets In his 7 IP last night, allowing just 3 hits. He exhibited the traits that have led to his resurgence, striking out 6 and walking only 1. Vazquez looks solid for...

Prince Fielder- MIL- FYI- For the first time in 5 games, Fielder wasn't walked and he hit a homer. His last 3 homers have come in games where he didn't have a BB. It looks like teams are careful with...

Michael Bourn- ATL- Hot- Bourn tied his career high for hits in a game with a 4-for-5 effort yesterday. He has pretty much picked up right where he was with Houston after being dealt to the Braves at the deadline....

Kyle Seager- SEA- Hot- Seager has raised his average to .313 on the strength of a 6-game hitting streak in which he has gone 15-for-25 with 2 homers, 5 doubles, 7 runs scored and 3 RBI. Seager's .397 BABIP is...

David Price- TB- Hot- Price has thrown 2 straight quality starts against the teams at the top of the AL East, allowing just 1 run on 16 IP. This came after his usage eased up a little bit, with 3...

J. J. Putz- ARI- Hot- Putz doesn't seem to be having any effects from the tendinitis that landed him on the DL last month. He recorded his 30th save of the season yesterday, allowing no hits, striking out 2 and...

Andy Dirks- DET- Hot- Dirks went 4-for-4 for the first time in his young career, hitting a double, scoring a run and knocking in a run. He also walked for the first time since July 15th. Dirks is hitting a...