AJ Burnett (SP - Yankees) - Burnett has had two quality starts in August and two ugly ones. Last night’s start fell on the bad end. He allowed 12 hits, 6 ER and 3 BB in 7.0 IP. This has been Burnett’s M.O. all year. Just when you think he’s poised to put together a solid string of QS, he blows up. In fact, he hasn’t had more than 2 consecutive quality starts all season and is 11-for-25 in QS%.
Jon Lester (SP - Red Sox) - Ever have a bad day at the office? I mean, a REALLY bad day? Consider that Lester’s Friday night. Lester allowed a career-high 9 ER, 8 hits, and 3 BB in just 2.0 IP before being removed from the game. He obviously earned the loss. Lester was 9-for-11 in QS heading into last night’s game against the Blue Jays (who lead the league in HR). Best to simply put this one behind you and pretend like it never happened. Looking back on it, it will be an obvious outlier.
Dan Haren (SP - Angels) - Haren has done little to impress the Halos since making the move to the coast. He only has 2 quality starts in his 6 outings as an Angel, posting a 4.39 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 10.3 H/9, and a K/9 of just 5.9. That’s not exactly what the Angels signed up for when they acquired him before the deadline. Of course, with Arizona, he wasn’t much better this season. He was posting a 4.60 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, a 7-8 record, and a K/9 of 9.0.
Armando Galarraga (SP - Tigers) - We’ve seen gems from Galrraga before. Although not quite perfection, Friday was another one. He hurled 7.0 shutout innings and gave up just 3 hits, no walks, and struck out 8. It was just his first quality start of the month, but it was a gem. Since he was robbed of perfection in early June, Galarraga has been sent down to the minors, returned, and has had a few ups and downs. But since July 20th, he has a 3.92 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and a K/9 of 6.0. Serviceable for AL-only leagues, but I wouldn’t recommend for mixed.
John Buck (C - Blue Jays) - John Buck came off the DL last night and he let everyone know about it with his bat. He went 4-for-5 with 2 RBI, and 4 R. Aside from the injury that kept him out of action for a couple of weeks, Buck has been solid for a fantasy catcher. He has an FPI of 0.61, OPS of .820, AB/HR of 20.7, and an ISO of .217. That OPS is basically all slugging percentage too (as indicated in the ISO), as Buck has only walked 10 times this year for a BB/K rate of 0.13. The guy is up there to hit and it certainly paid-off last night. Time to get him activated, especially in that explosive Blue Jays lineup.
