Oliver Perez (SP--Mets) It's like some scene out of an Agatha Christie mystery novel where several characters are in a mansion and one by one they keep disappearing until only a few remain. Such is the Mets season and the latest victim is Oliver Perez who needs season ending surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his right knee. Not sure if this is a blessing or a curse but maybe Met fans and fantasy owners who were brave enough to use Perez on their rosters can take some measure of solace that perhaps his knee was a partial cause for some of his poor performances this year. For Perez this has been a wasted season and for the Mets wasted money. Perez managed to surpass new standards of what's considered bad as he ended his season with a 6.82 ERA and a 1.924 WHIP. He walked almost 8 batters per 9 innings and opposing hitters slugged a whopping .897 OPS against him. Out of 14 starts Perez made this season, only once did he make it into the 7th inning. One can only hope that whatever the doctors do to his knee will somehow translate to better pitching next year. Doubtful many fantasy owners were holding onto Perez at this point. If you were one of the courageous, Wednesday’s news should convince anyone to drop him and turn the page as the Amazin’ Non-Ambulatory Mets will no doubt do as they try to figure out who is the next player to drop by the wayside.
Brad Lidge (RP—Phillies) Well, this is interesting. With a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 9th against the Pirates on Wednesday, the Phillies called on Ryan Madson to close the game rather then Brad Lidge. Madson blew the save but was the fortunate winner as the Phillies came back to score the next inning. But where was Lidge? Surely, he couldn’t have been tired. After all, the previous night he has thrown only 6 pitches. Oh, but wait. Those 6 pitches that he threw resulted in 3 hits, and 3 ER, Lidge’s 9th blown save and an 0-6 record. So is this the new trend? Is Madson going to be the new closer? Is Brett Myers a possibility to take over the role as he has been rehabbing? Whatever the case, as amazing as Lidge was in 2008, it seems he sees Albert Pujols in ever batter and past visions cloud his head and his ability to pitch effectively. This is Lidge’s worse year by far as he is a carrying around a 7.33 ERA and a WHIP of 1.80 that only Oliver Perez would want. He’s averaging better then 2 home runs per 9 innings and has an XBH% of 10.3% which is 2.3% higher than the MLB average. Lidge owners may want to take a chance on Madson or perhaps reach for Myers as he is on his way back. But there is little certainty at this point that Lidge will retain his role down the stretch as the Phillies won’t be able to afford his missteps.
Justin Upton (OF—Diamondbacks) Justin Upton was back in the Diamondbacks lineup on Wednesday after missing the past 3 weeks with a trip to the DL. He went 1 – 3 with his one hit being a double, scored a run and walked. Not a bad day having just come back from the DL and it looks promising that Upton can continue his breakout season. Upton had been putting up some very good numbers all season with a slash line of .301/.374/.541. At a very young 21, he has already been hitting for power (20 HR), average and can steal bases (16). He is still working on his plate discipline with an EYE of 0.44 but his strikeout rate is down from last year by 6% and his CT% is improved 4% from last season but is still at a very shaky 71%. It’s this indicator and a BHIP of .360 that suggest Upton may have some difficulty maintaining his average above the .300 mark for the rest of the season. While strikeouts will continue to be a problem, he should still be a solid source of power and speed despite a slide in BA that may be forthcoming. Continue to start him and consider him a solid player in keeper leagues as many of his skills should continue to develop over time with maturity.
Jonathan Sanchez (SP—Giants) Although Jonathan Sanchez walked away with a no decision, his performance on Wednesday was another solid performance that would indicate that Sanchez is hitting his stride. He pitched 7 innings, and allowed 3 ER on 6 hits and struck out 9 batters. Since July 10th, spanning 9 starts, Sanchez has only allowed 4 runs or more in two of those games. During that period Sanchez has an ERA of 3.01 with opponents batting just .161 against him and has struck out 69 batters in 56.2 innings. While his elevated season ERA of 4.27 may sour some people on Sanchez, his xERA is at 3.87 so he has done a little better than his ERA would indicate. If Sanchez continues to pitch like this, you will miss out if you don’t activate him as he is a great source of strikeouts and is pitching soundly for a contending team looking for a playoff spot. Get him while he’s hot.
Livan Hernandez (SP—Nationals) So the Mets really are cursed. In his first start as a National after the Mets released him, Livan Hernandez now can pitch again. On Wednesday he pitched 6 strong innings, allowing just 2 ER on 5 hits and struck out 6. How about that? Go figure. Well, it’s a nice outing and although the Mets are cursed, the Nationals aren’t much better and Hernandez has been ineffective the last several years compiling an ERA of 5.28 and a1.584 from 2006-2009 with 5 different teams. Although he can be an innings-eater and in general stays pretty healthy, Hernandez is a very low-end option in deep mixed leagues and his stock doesn’t improve going to the last-place Nationals. Let Livan stay in the player pool and look elsewhere if you need a quick fix.
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