All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 139

Gary Matthews Jr. is expected to be back in the Angels' lineup sometime this weekend after missing the last nine games with a severe ankle sprain. Mathews isn't enjoying the success that he had last year-his OPS is down more...

John Smoltz, of the Atlanta Braves, will take the ball, today, against the Milwaukee Brewers. Smoltz will be in search of his 15th win for the sixth time in his 19 years in the Big Leagues. Smoltz has been very...

Justin Verlander: Verlander's second full-season, 17-6 with a 3.70 ERA in 30 starts, is almost a replica of last year, 17-9 with a 3.63 ERA in 30 starts. However, beneath the surface, Verlander has greatly improved his strike outs, 2006/2007...

As we look to the bullpens for the final week of the regular season, we see one structural change and a lot of static.   Brian Wilson all but assumed the role of primary closer in San Francisco with...

Shannon Stewart- OAK- FYI- There was a scoring change in Tuesday's game. Maybe. On mlb.com, there is an item in the A's notes saying that a Jose Guillen error was changed to a Stewart double, giving Stewart 21 doubles for...

Shannon Stewart- OAK- FYI- There was a scoring change in Tuesday's game. Maybe. On mlb.com, there is an item in the A's notes saying that a Jose Guillen error was changed to a Stewart double, giving Stewart 21 doubles for...

Shannon Stewart- OAK- FYI- There was a scoring change in Tuesday's game. Maybe. On mlb.com, there is an item in the A's notes saying that a Jose Guillen error was changed to a Stewart double, giving Stewart 21 doubles for...

Ryan Spilborghs: After a hot stretch, 7 home runs in 108 AB, Spilborghs power has gone MIA, 1 home runs in his last 86 AB. Outside of the mid-season surge, Spilborghs had never shown that kind of power in his...

Garret Anderson - Not only is Anderson hitting as he did at his peak (after 3 1/2 years of visible decline prior to July), but he's walking more than he ever has before to boot. Anderson is hitting 316/376/564 since...

David Wells- LAN- Idea- Does Wells deserve a large guaranteed contract, as he says he does, because he "take[s] the ball every five days"? Probably not, and especially not if you are a fantasy owner. Wells will be turning 45...

Alfonso Soriano, of the Chicago Cubs, looks like he may be starting one of those famous hot streaks in which he can do no wrong. Soriano went two for four with two doubles on Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals....

Daric Barton: Since being called up, Barton is doing his best to show the A's that he deserves to start at first base in 2008, 9 for 26 with a home run and 3 doubles. He had a fine season...

Pedro Martinez: Insert foot into mouth: that's pretty much how I feel after suggesting fantasy owners be wary of Pedro a few weeks back. Pedro looked a little bit more like vintage Pedro on Saturday as he tossed 6 fantastic...

Ben Sheets- MIL- Cold- Sheets' performances have gotten worse each time out since he returned from the DL. From his first time out, when he went 6 IP and allowed 1 run, he has slipped to lasting just 3 IP...

Chien-Ming Wang and Josh Beckett will square off in possibly the biggest match-up between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the 2007 regular season. Beckett has the more Cy Young like statistics of the two Aces with...

It was an interesting pitching matchup in LA last night as Greg Maddux and David Wells hooked up at Chavez Ravine.  Wells got the better of this one as Greg Maddux gave up 6 runs in 3.1 IP on...

Jason Bartlett: Whether it is the strained hamstring that he suffered in late August or the sore knee that has been bothering him recently, something is keeping Bartlett from running, just 2 steals attempts since August 25th, in which both...

Garret Anderson- LAA- Hot- After knocking in at least 1 run in 12 straight games, Anderson went three games without an RBI. He made up for it yesterday, collecting 5 RBI as he went 3-for-6 with a double and homer....

Good morning everyone!   The days are getting shorter and so is the calendar for your fantasy baseball team. There was a little bit of movement at the end of a couple of bullpens since we last spoke in...

It is hard to imagine, given the 19 runs scored in game #1 of yesterday’s doubleheader … and the 25 hits … and the 35 players used … but the Rangers starting pitcher, Vicente Padilla pitched pretty well, tossing...

Orlando Hernandez: Last night's debacle against the Braves, 8 ER in 3 innings, was long overdue for Hernandez. Coming into the game, a ridiculously low .144 BHIP% was depressing his 3.32 ERA, which shot up to 3.75. His 7.8 K/9...

Daric Barton - Barton made his major league debut yesterday against the Mariners, and this isn't going to be your ordinary cup of coffee......Barton may very well be in the lineup to stay. (Incidentally, he went 2-3 with two walks...

Oliver Perez- NYN- Hot- Perez continues to throw the way the Pirates thought he would after what was expected to be a breakout season in 2004. Unfortunately for them, Perez is now a Met and his third quality start in...

Ryan Church Are we allowed to admit man-crushes as an analyst? Not sure, but I have a bit of one for Ryan Church. Church was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer Sunday off Atlanta's Lance Cormier. It's been obvious for at...

(Editors note: This is only a sneek peek at this week's entire Prospect Central sent to our members via e-mail. Not a member yet? Visit Insiderbaseball.com today and see what else  you are missing! ) Have you ever noticed...

Delmon Young: You wouldn't notice it unless you were paying close attention but Delmon Young is making some serious strides in the 2nd half of this season. He went 2-4 with a HR last night, his 12th on the season...

Apparently, it is a fact that Rick Ankiel, of the St. Louis Cardinals, received enough Human Growth Hormone in 2004 to last a whole year of continuous use. It is also fact that Ankiel made the extremely rare transition from...

It's time to check out of the Dan Haren honeymoon suite. Haren fell to 14-7 last night after suffering through another poor outing and he's now 1-4 in his last seven starts. Haren allowed five runs on 12 hits and...

Grady Sizemore: In his third full major league season, Sizemore has taken a step back. His power is down; 28 home runs, 11 triples, and 53 doubles in 2006 vs. 23 home runs, 3 triples, and 29 doubles in 2007,...

Jose Reyes Reyes is mired in a 6-for-38 slump and although you certainly won't be benching him (don't) at this point in the season, you have to wonder if all that running (92 stolen base attempts, 74 successful - 80.4%)...

It is early September and stability reins in major league bullpens … Ok, perhaps “stability” is strong … but there have been no major structural changes this week.   The biggest bullpen news of the week may be the...

Jeremy Guthrie held the Rays to 3 runs in 6 IP on 8 hits, 4 walks and 5 K but did not figure in the decision on Tuesday. In the midst of the great season for Jeremy his starts have...

Jason Isringhausen: On paper it has been a fine season for Isringhausen, 1.77 ERA and 26 saves in 28 opportunities. However, there is some trouble lurking beneath the surface. A depressed .164 BHIP% and a ridiculously low HR/FB% of 3.6%...

Alex Gordon - Gordon had three singles for four RBI's yesterday against Texas, but it's his power since the break that intrigues me a bit.....his ISO of .240 is actually quite good, which you'd never believe given the lack of...

Esteban Loaiza- LAN- Hot- Loaiza tossed a quality start in his first outing for the Dodgers, allowing 3 runs on 9 hits and a walk in 7 IP while striking out 3. It was a solid, if not spectacular, start....

(Editors Note: This is a sample sneek peak of Prospect Central this week. Members of Insiderbaseball.com have seen in-depth profiles of over 130 prospects this season and the rest of this week’s report was e-mailed to them this morning....