Anibal Sanchez- FLA- Caution- Sanchez threw 116 pitches yesterday after throwing 119 in his previous start. This kind of workload is unprecedented in his major league career. Sanchez did have a quality start, but was a bit wilder (4 BB in 6.1 IP) than he had been recently. Watch his next start to see if there is any carryover effect from the number of pitches he has thrown.
Jason Heyward- ATL- Hot- Almost counter intuitively, Heyward’s Batting EYE has gone up since manager Bobby Cox benched him for a game in late April and told him to stop taking so many pitches. Up to that point, Heyward had walked 13 times and struck out 25. Since then he has drawn 12 walks and struck out only 8 times. Heyward’s average has soared in that span and now stands at .296. The only worry right now is in the power department. Immediately after his benching Heyward had a power surge, hitting 4 homers in 5 games. Since then he has only hit one in 16 games. That should be a temporary situation and Heyward seems primed to live up to his potential Rookie of the Year hype.
Jamie Moyer- PHI- Cold- For the second time in 3 starts since his complete game shutout, Moyer failed to register a quality start. He left the game after giving up 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in 5 IP. For the first time since his 2010 debut, Moyer did not register a strikeout. It’s still not time to think that Father Time has caught up with the last major league player older than I am. For the second straight start Moyer didn’t yield a homer. Long balls have been his weakness this year. There is still something in the tank.
R. A. Dickey- NYM- Injury- Dickey’s knuckleball was on yesterday as he shut out the Phillies (who had been blanked by Tim Wakefield for 8 innings in their previous game) for 6 innings. Dickey gave up 7 hits and 3 walks in his appearance for the Mets, but struck out 7. Eventually he had to leave the game as the pain in his elbow from being hit on his non-pitching elbow by a Ryan Howard line drive in the second inning. It doesn’t appear that the injury is serious and if you are willing to sweat out the potential inconsistency of a knuckleballer, Dickey could be a sleeper.
Mark Reynolds- ARI- Idea- Reynolds is in a power drought, with only 1 homer in his last 14 games. However, he tends to be streaky and a hot streak could come around any day. Combine that with the negative effect luck has had on him (.219 BHIPx) and an improved Batting EYE of .41 (driven by a higher walk ratio- the Ks are still coming fast and furious) and Reynolds could have a large improvement looming.
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