Willie Harris- WAS- Hot- We may be seeing some regression to the mean in Harris’ performance. Since the All Start Break he is batting .289 with 4 homers and 9 doubles in 114 ABs. In his last 49 games, dating back to before the Break, Harris is batting .301 with 7 homers in 173 ABs. His BHIPx started out extremely low this season and is still only at .210. Another factor has been Harris’ increased playing time due to various injuries to teammates. Harris has performed much better with regular work and he has been getting it. A final component to mention is Harris’ improved Batting EYE. He now stands at .71, which would be a career best if he maintains it. In 5-game eligibility leagues he is a third baseman, second baseman, outfielder and 2 games away from being a shortstop. If you need a late season utility man to plug some holes, you could do worse.
Ryan Ludwick- STL- Hot- Ludwick is having his best month of the season, with a .364 average, 8 homers and 19 RBI already. His Batting EYE, though, is down at .35, instead of the .48 level he had been carrying prior to August. Ludwick’s 6 walks with 66 ABs seems to be the major part of the drop. The only other month this year when he had walks fewer than 10% of his number of ABs was June, when he hit .228 after starting the month with a .311 average through June 12th. If Ludwick does not get his plate discipline back soon he could experience a significant drop over the last days of August.
Greg Maddux- SD- Trade- Maddux reportedly is heading to the Dodgers for a pair of minor leaguers in a trade to be announced today. Maddux brings a big home/road split with him from Petco Park, with a 2.62 ERA in San Diego and 5.75 mark on the road. That normally wouldn’t bode well, since Dodger Stadium is not the pitcher-friendly ballpark it once was and doesn’t approach the advantage gained in Petco Park.. However, when Maddux was shipped to the Dodgers at the trade deadline 2 years ago, he posted 4 quality starts in his 5 as a Dodger starter at home.
C. C. Sabathia- MIL- Great Player- Another NL start, another win for Sabathia, who will be wealthy beyond any of our dreams after signing a free agent contract this winter. He threw his 5th complete game in 9 Milwaukee starts to run his record to 8-0. Sabathia gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on 11 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9. He threw a season-high 130 pitches, but normal rules of pitch counts do not seem to apply to him. If Sabathia shows signs of fatigue in his next start, it will be an anomaly.
Jorge Campillo- ATL- Cold- The Braves were back in Atlanta and Campillo pitched another poor game. He was charged with 5 runs on 7 hits and a walk in 6-2/3 IP while striking out 2. Campillo’s ERA (4.18) at Turner Field is almost double that away from Georgia (2.13). His 45 Ks at home are two more than his total on the road, but have been recorded in 16 more IP. Campillo had looked like he might shake off the Road Warrior moniker in the Braves’ last homestand, in which he turned in 2 quality starts, but his two outings in their just completed stretch of home games were disastrous. For now, avoid using him at home if you can. Reserve judgment of his overall value until you see his next start, which will be at St. Louis.
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