A.J. Burnett left last night's game after 4.2 IP with what is being termed a "shoulder strain". "They don't think it's any big deal," manager John Gibbons said. "It's a mild strain. You're always concerned when a pitcher feels something and has to come out. They did all the tests and everything came out good but that's not the final say. He'll get checked tomorrow." Of course A.J. has an injury history and he has carried a heavy workload this season, so there is in deed plenty of cause for concern, especially one start after he is asked to throw 130 pitches. That history will probably cause the Jays to take a cautious approach, even if this is a minor twinge. At this point you have to consider him off the board for this weekend's start unless you hear differently tonight after they check him out today.
Kelvim Escobar struck out 14 Reds in 6 IP on Tuesday. He gave up 3 runs on 5 hits and a walk but was not involved in the decision as the Angels lost to the Reds. That 14 Ks is what we in the business call an outlier. His highest total in the last 6 starts has been 8 in 7 IP. He has had three outstanding starts (2 ER in 24 IP on 12 hits and 6 walks) in his last five outings and as always he remains a very good option when healthy. Interestingly in six starts throwing to last night's battery mate Jose Molina, Escobar is 5-0 with a 1.36 ERA. Mike Scioscia says there are no plans to make Molina Escobar's personal catcher, but given the evidence, that just seems stubborn, doesn't it? The Dodgers are next a Chavez Ravine and that seems like a favorable match up at this point.
Carlos Pena was 2- for -5 last night with his 14th HR of the year as well as a key Rbi-double giving him 5 runs batted in on the night. Carlos has cooled a bit of late (4 - for his last -16) but he's hitting .311 with 14 HR and 38 Rbi in 151 ABs this season. That's a 42-HR/114 Rbi pace for 450 ABs. Obviously there will be a correction and the fact that all of his indicators are very near his career norms is strong support for that theory. Still, you can't help but feel that Carlos has come of age in one of the human intangible areas that skirts our statistical quantification. Call it confidence, or maturity or whatever, Carlos seems to have turned the corner to become an MLB player. Don't pay for this pace of production, but it appears Pena is a very viable fantasy option.
I noted yesterday in my First Pitch that the Twins were third worst in the majors in OBP vs. LHP but fourth best in the majors vs. RHP ... And they go out the next night and get no-hit by a right-handed pitcher. Such is the life of a fantasy baseball writer. Justin Verlander was brilliant on Tuesday, mixing 100 mph fastballs, a terrific change, and a hammering curve, as he no-hit the Brewers at Comerica. Justin walked 4 but struck out 12 to improve to 7-2 with a 2.79 ERA. There has been no sophomore slump for Justin who has upped his K rate to 7.2 (from 6.0 last year), his K/BB ratio to 2.2 (2.0), sliced his HR to 0.7 (1.02) and lowered his OBA to .215 (.263) this season. A large part of his success can be seen in a lower BHIP% of .256 this year as opposed to his career BHIP% of .286. He's also stranded nearly 80% of his runners allowed which is well about the majors' average of 70%. Those levels will rebound over the course of the year and Justin's ERA will climb well over 3.00 as a result but now we are just being picky. Justin remains one of the majors' bright young pitching stars.
Chien Ming-Wang won a terrific pitching matchup against Brandon Webb in the Bronx last night. As is his pattern, Wang fanned just one in limiting the D-Backs to 1 run over 7 IP on 6 hits without a walk. If you don't punch guys out you need to limit walks and throw ground balls. Obviously, Wang limited the walks but his GB/FB split was surprisingly level at 9/10 and he even gave up a rare HR, just his 4th of the year raising his HR rate to 0.5. Wang benefited from facing a NL opponent when his normally stellar GB/FB skills (2.9 career) failed to show up but he's pitched well enough this year to slide one by. Even though he does not fit my particular comfort zone in terms of a starter profile, Wang has shown he can be consistently effective despite a career 3.4 K rate.
