Raul Ibanez – Ibanez hit his 14th HR of the season last night. He’s on pace to shatter his previous career high of 33 – the only time he’s hit 30+ HR in a season. In fact, it’s the only time in Ibanez’s career, which spans back to 1996, that he hit more than 25 HR in a season. Ibanez, heading into last night’s game, was seeing a quarter of his fly balls leave the yard. His career mark is almost exactly half that, and his previous career high was 16.5%. This makes Ibanez a sell high candidate. At 37 years of age there is no reason to see such a climb in his power, so it is almost certain that his HR/FB% is going to begin to fall and probably quite dramatically.
Miguel Tejada – Tejada hit his 3rd HR of the season last night. He was once one of the game’s most powerful SS, but he currently holds a SLG percentage of .437 that is mediocre. It is currently being boosted by an impressive .316 batting average, but his ISO is just .119. At his current rate, this would mark the third season in a row that Tejada’s HR rate has dropped. This should not come as any surprise as Tejada is nearly 35 YO and there has been some steroid suspicion surrounding the power numbers he posted earlier in his career.
Edinson Volquez – Volquez will miss his next scheduled start after suffering from back spasms that limited his bullpen session yesterday. He has struggled this year; his walks are up, strikeouts down. Part of the problem is that hitters are being more patient with Volquez, swinging only 39.7% of the time compared to 43.3% of the time last season. Volquez’s inability to locate isn’t helping that either. He never located real well, throwing just 48.2% of his pitches inside the strike zone for his career. This year that number is down all the way to 41.8%. For as long as these numbers hold, expect Volquez to continue to struggle.
Jamie Moyer – Sportscenter highlighted Moyer’s inability to get outs when getting ahead in the count. On more than one occasion Moyer had 2 quick strikes on a batter just to see him slap/bloop a single in on some low pitches. This is partially bad luck but also partially a lack of skill. Moyer is striking out 4.84 batters per 9. He has never been overpowering, but this year he is really suffering with his ability to miss bats. He is currently allowing a contact rate of 79% on pitches outside the strike zone and 92.1% on pitches inside the strike zone. Both are career worsts for Moyer.
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