Anibal Sanchez (SP--Marlins) Close but no cigar. Looking for his second career no-hitter, Anibal Sanchez took a no-hitter (not the shutout) into the 9th inning on Friday night. Rockie Dexter Fowler took Sanchez's first pitch offering and fisted a slow roller out to right field for a clean single. Sanchez finished with a complete game, allowed one hit and struck out nine and gave up an unearned run. I've been disappointed with Sanchez's uneven outings up until Friday as I picked him to have an outstanding season. He's had a terrific K/I of 1.04 but his ERA had been inflated along with a high WHIP at 2.02. His FIP of 3.81 was more indicative of how effective he has been compared to his ERA. His LD% of 13.2 is very low compared to his BHIP of .462 which indicates he has been unlucky. After Friday his ERA is now down to 3.55. Hopefully Sanchez has turned the corner and will now exhibit the consistency that he showed from May of last year all the way through the end of the season. Yes, Sanchez did have some clunkers along the way but overall has been consistent. Look for more good stuff to come.
Joe Saunders (SP--Diamondbacks) Going into Friday's game, Joe Saunders has been hit hard. He's had control problems (BB/9-5.74), has given up a lot of hits (H/9-13.2) and had an ERA of 6.32. So go figure that he put together a very solid outing on Friday against the Mets. Granted it was the Mets, but we'll give some credit to Saunders here. Saunders went six innings and gave up one earned run on just two hits. He walked three and struck out four. The outing got his ERA just a nudge below 5.00 at 4.98. Hitters had a hefty .452 OBP against Saunders and while he can be a sneaky pitcher that has the capability of handing out "comfortable" 0-for4's, he hasn't been the same pitcher he was with the Angels--not that he was that great with the Angels as he was the beneficiary of a good defense and offense. Nonetheless, Saunders will pepper a few good outings here and there but he remains a risky option. He'll have to offer far more consistency against better teams than the Mets to consider being a viable option.
Mike Pelfrey (SP--Mets) Mike Pelfrey notched his first victory of the season Friday night and probably didn't do something in that game that he has been guilty of doing in his prior outings: think. Pelfrey is a big over-thinker and tends to get himself into trouble that way. Pelfrey pitched out of first inning trouble with runners on third and first with no one out and it seemed to have done wonders for his confidence the rest of the game. He finished the night with seven innings pitched, allowing one earned run. However, his ERA still stands at a dismal 7.23. What was unusual about Pelfrey's approach on Friday (and it made a difference) was that he threw his 4-seam fastball 54% of the time and his sinker for only 11%. This is a marked change as YTD he has thrown them each equally about 33% of the time. As a result he logged only three groundouts against nine fly-outs but he threw 65% of his pitches for strikes, walking only two. While encouraging, it's still not a glowing recommendation to trust Pelfrey with each start. He has been hit hard with a strand rate at 54% and BHIP of .397 which should be much lower with a career norm of .317. He should do much better, but watch for a little more consistency like he did against the Diamondbacks before sticking him back in your lineup.
Brett Wallace (1B--Astros)Brett Wallace has been a promising prospect that started out in the Cardinals organization and has been passed around to Oakland, Toronto and now has landed with the Astros. He has big shoes to fill taking over first base from Astros' favorite Lance Berkman but has done a solid job going into Friday's game hitting .290. He collected three more hits against the Brew Crew on Friday is is now hitting .318 on the season. Over the past twelve games, Wallace has put together a solid stat line .324/.405/.405. His XBH% at 28% is about 5% lower than the major-league average, so that needs some work, but he has proven to be a capable hitter in the minors where he owed a .304 average and displayed decent power. Wallace has struggled so far against lefties batting just .214 with just one extra base hit. He's not going to be in the upper echelon of first basemen but he is turning out to be a better than average option in N.L. leagues and deeper mixed leagues.
Brandon Wood (SS-Pirates) The days of Brandon Wood as an Angel is finally over. Mired for years in the Angels' farm system as the former top prospect, Wood has never been able to stick on the major-league level. The Pirates have claimed Wood off of waivers and apparently plan on putting Wood right to work. Wood changes uniforms bringing with him a career line of .168/.197/.259 with an ISO of .091 and a 33% strikeout rate in 464 at-bats. Despite these awful numbers, Wood bears watching simply for his strong minor league numbers. He batted .284 in eight minor league seasons with a .888 OPS and average 29 home runs a year. It remains to be seen whether the change of scenario and a chance to play more regularly will finally result in more of what has been expected of Wood all along. Until he proves himself, he's probably not worth adding at this point.
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