Scott Kazmir (SP—Angels) When the Angels left John Lackey walk this past off-season, I think that they felt relatively secure knowing that Scott Kazmir could pick up the Lackey slack. But as unimpressive as Lackey has been this season for the Red Sox, Kazmir has made Lackey look like Tim Lincecum. In sixteen starts this year, Kazmire has only been able to pitch more than 6 innings six times. He averages just under 5.2 innings per start and averages 101 pitches per game. This won’t get fantasy owners very far. His bloated 5.98 ERA accentuates H/9 of 9.4 and his BB/9 of 4.7. His WHIP now stands at a robust 1.57 and he has been averaging almost 1.5 home runs per nine innings. It would be great to say there are better days ahead for Kazmir fantasy owners but having allowed 18 earned runs in his last 3 starts will make it very difficult for fantasy owners to have trust in Kazmir going forward. Dust off a nice cushy spot on your bench for Kazmir. He may be there for a while.
Justin Smoak (1B—Rangers) There’s little doubt that Ranger prospect has a huge upside and power potential to make any fantasy owner giddy with joy. But so far, Smoak’s rookie season has been a bit of a rough road. Smoak has been mired in a horrific slump that has seen him go 1-for-28 over the past eight games and has dropped his average down to .205. But the guy, believe it or not, is hitting the ball well with a LD% of 22.7%. They just are not falling in as indicated by his BHIP of .205. Yes, this is a classic case of bad luck that should start to head north soon enough. If Smoak is available in your league, he would be worth at least a position on the bench as he has the potential to put up some big slugging numbers especially playing in that lineup. If not available, you might be able to swing a buy-low deal on his current frustrated owner.
Cliff Pennington (SS—A’s) Admittedly, I’m somewhat intrigued by this light-hitting shortstop. I had predicted a little less than a month ago that Pennington should be due for a little boost in average and I’ll give myself a pat on the back because since that time (6/16), Pennington has a slash line of .444/.492/.593 spanning 61 plate appearances. As I mentioned before the power will be lacking but his CT of 85.3% is nice when coupled with a 21% LD rate. Currently his BHIP now sits a .314 so we should start to see some cooling down and leveling for Pennington, but he still may be a decent grab off the waiver wire while he is still hitting well. The stolen base potential (12 nabs this year) is a nice little perk too.
Nelson Cruz (OF—Rangers) Nelson Cruz was hitting the cover off the ball prior to the hamstring injury that sidelined him for almost a month. Since coming back, Cruz has not been able to reclaim that torrid hitting that had fantasy owners grinning from ear to ear. Since returning, Cruz has logged 47 at-bats and is batting just .255 during that span. Perhaps even more disconcerting is that he has just 1 extra base hit and no home runs. Cruz was due for some regression prior to the injury, but the homer-less streak is somewhat surprising even for him. Hopefully, Cruz will snap out of it and pick up the pace. He is too valuable to sit since when he gets hot, he is an impact player. Ride it out and hope his power slump is brief.
J.J. Putz (RP—White Sox) Things are definitely getting interesting in J.J. Putz’s world as he seems to have regained his mojo of past seasons. As noted by other analyst on this blog, Putz has been just stellar of late. He hasn’t allowed a run in almost 2 months and his ERA is now down to a very solid 1.74. During the past two months, batters are hitting just .119 off of Putz. With the trade deadline coming closer Putz could be a hot commodity for some team that needs an established closer. Right now he’s playing second fiddle to Bobby Jenks and with the way Putz is going of late, it’s like driving a Lamborghini to the supermarket. He’s being wasted in a set up role. If Putz gets traded, his value will sky rocket. If he sticks with the Sox, expect him to be breathing down Jenks’ neck for the rest of the season.
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