With Evan Longoria looming on the horizon, the Rays have asked Akinori Iwamura to tune up his skills at second base over the offseason. Iwamura has some experience at the position and he will likely be starting there for the Rays at some point in 2008 with Longoria taking over third. A 2B qualification would certainly up Iwamura’s value in most formats.
The Sox will hold Hideki Okajima out for one more game as they attempt to resuscitate his “dead arm”. Hideki has simply been overworked and has been making noises about it publicly, in Japanese, since the trade for Eric Gagne. It will be an interesting experiment to see if a week off breathes new life into his arm, and if it does, how long that lasts.
Josh Banks will be the Blue Jay’s starter in
Aaron Laffey went 5.2 IP against the M’s on Tuesday, holding them to 1 run on 4 hits, 2 walks and 3 Ks. He was not around when the game was decided but he lowered his ERA to 4.87 on the year. That could be even better except for his unfavorable 64.9% strand percentage. His 1.40 WHIP suggest that his ERA could be up a half a run lower at this point. He is fanning just 4.6/9 but Aaron is throwing GBs at a 3.4 ratio and that my friends is a great skill to have. He is scheduled against Jorge De La Rosa and the Royals on Sunday, which appears to be a very favorable start.
Brian Bannister’s last start of the season will not leave a good taste in his mouth. He gave up 5 runs, all earned in just two outs worth of work (as an indicator … it is usually a bad sign when you have more runs allowed in a start than outs recorded). He gave up 4 hits and walk while striking out one of the two hitters he got out. Fortunately he handed that lead to the White Sox, and eventually their bullpen, and we all know how that goes. Bannister was taken off the hook for a loss but will finish the season without a win in his last 4 starts, essentially ending his run at Rookie of the Year. He is probably just tired after throwing just 42 IP last year and 151 the year before. Brian finishes with 164 IP this year, a 12-9 record, and a 3.61 ERA.
