Carsten Charles Sabathia put together another gem yesterday, going 9.0 shutout innings with 6 K's, 1 BB, and just 3 hits. Its his second straight 9-inning shutout game and his 3rd quality start in the last four outings. With no run support in yesterday's game, he didn't factor into the decision and his record remains at 9-1, but Sabathia continues to prove he's the real deal in 2007. His 3.09 ERA and 1.12 WHIP are slight improvements from last year's 3.22 and 1.17 as well as his K/9 comparison of 8.1 in '07 and 8.0 in '06. He's keeping his BB total in check with a K/BB of 5.9 (up from 3.9 last year) and holding opposing hitters to a .257 BAA. The one concern for Sabathia is HR-allowed with a HR/9 of 1.0 this year, a significant increase from his HR/9 of 0.87 and 0.79 over the last two seasons. Its probably too early to be overly concerned about his HR-allowed, but his GB/FB is lower this year at 1.17, down from 1.55 and 1.30 in the last two years. Just something to keep an eye on.
With a multi-homer game yesterday, Troy Glaus raises his 2007 HR total to 10 and puts him back on a decent HR pace. Its amazing what a game like that can do to your "pace"numbers. Over the last two seasons, Glaus averaged 14.5 and 14.2 HR/AB and is now at an even 14.0 for '07 (pretty consistent). The nice surprise for Glaus owners is that he's outperforming other categories as well, hitting a solid .293 (compared to a typical .250) with a 0.75 FPI. He's also striking out less, averaging a K for every 5.1 plate appearances this year compared to 4.3 and 4.7 in 2005 and 2006.
Michael Young is too good of a hitter to let his early-season slump last long. Having posted 200 hits in each of the last four season, Young is back on track and has raised his average from .207 at the beginning of May to .284 with a 3-for-6 day yesterday. In fact, he's hitting .436 in June with a .500 OBP, 1.013 OPS, and 9 RBI. With 74 hits in 2007, it may be tough for him to reach the 200 mark again, but it's not impossible. Doing some quick math, if he maintains a hit for every 3.5 AB (his current rate), he'll be on pace to reach about 190 hits by the end of the season.
Andy Sonnanstine earned his first big league win with a solid 7.0 IP, 2 ER performance against the Marlins. He struck out 10 while not walking a batter. In fact, at one point in the game, Sonnanstine struck-out 7 in a row, a new Devil Rays record. Control is not a foreign concept to the Devil Rays pitcher. In 11 games for Durham, Sonnanstine struck out 66 in 71.0 IP while only walking 13. That's good for a K/9 of 8.4 and a BB/9 of just 1.7. I would give him a couple of more starts before taking an fliers on him (especially in mixed leagues), but he should get the attention of AL-only league owners with this outing. His next outing is scheduled against the Rockies on Saturday.
As soon as the calendar turned June 1st, a switch went on for Bobby Abreu. He's hitting .500 for the month with 9 RBI, 8 extra base hits, and an OBP over .600. He's also swiped a couple of bags along the way, giving him 9 for the season. We can only hope he will find the power as well, but this is certainly much needed relief for Abreu owners. The last week has also given him plenty of confidence and he seems to be playing with a little more energy.
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