Carlos Carrasco -- After loading the bases with nobody out in the 1st inning against the Yankees on Monday, Carlos Carrasco managed to get out of the inning without allowing a run and went on to completely dominated New York the rest of the way. He finished the game yielding 0 ER in 7 innings while striking out 7 and walking 3. In his last 2 starts, Carrasco has tossed 15 ½ shutout innings and posted a 13:4 K/BB mark against the Twins and Yanks. For the season, Carrasco now owns 4.09 ERA and 1.29 WHIP to go along with a 6-3 record. Carrasco's stuff looked excellent Monday as he threw 4 pitches for strikes and all 4 had a lot of movement. He's going to be up-and-down this season but on Monday Carrasco showed why he's worth keeping an eye on in deep leagues.
Nick Markakis - On Saturday night, I posted on Twitter that Nick Markakis hadn't collected an extra base hit in 87 straight ABs. Of course, the Orioles' outfielder went out that evening and blasted a grand slam and drove in 6 to record by far the best game of his season. Even with that huge game, Markakis' season line sits at a measly .242 BA and .299 OBP with 5 HRs and 26 RBI. The 2011 season marks the 3rd straight in which Markakis' SLG% and ISO have fallen, currently at .320 and .078 (!) ,respectively. He improved his OPS from a .561 mark in March/April to .708 in May but it's now dipped back to .507 in 43 June ABs. It's going to take a pretty impressive turnaround for Markakis to be considered worthy of a starting OF position in any 10/12/14 league format for the rest of the season.
Jed Lowrie - After posting a .982 OPS in March/April, Jed Lowrie looked poised for a huge season in 2011. Unfortunately for his fantasy owners and the Red Sox, Lowrie has fallen on hard times as his OPS has fallen drastically the past 1.5 months. He recorded just a .689 OPS in May and has been just terrible so far in June as evidenced by his .395 OPS in 32 ABs. To make matters worse, Lowrie continues to deal with a bad shoulder which seems to be affecting his performance at the plate. On Monday, manager Terry Francona said he'll be holding Lowrie out of the lineup for today's game against the Rays. For the season, Lowrie owns a .276/.325/.411 slash line with a .135 IS0. With 2B, SS and 3B eligibility in most league formats, Lowrie should serve as a steady backup moving forward but you'll be stretching it to start him on a regular basis, especially in 10-team leagues.
Carlos Villanueva - Carlos Villanueva will start against the Orioles today looking to improve his record to 5-0 in 2011. Last season in 52 innings as a reliever, Villanueva posted some very strong numbers including an 11.45 strikeout rate and 3.74 FIP. As a starter in 2011, Villanueva hasn't relied on strikeouts nearly as much (6.75 K/9) and has focused on cutting his walk and HR rates while also benefiting from an abnormally low .220 BABIP. He's done a much better job inducing grounders, increasing his GB% by 7% this season. Obviously, Villanueva won't maintain such a low BABIP moving forward but he's also dealing with a 73% strand rate and his 3.60 FIP suggests he's not going to crash any time soon. I definitely like Villanueva against the Birds today and he's a spot starter in deep leagues for the time being.
Justin Masterson - In what should be an exciting pitchers' duel, Justin Masterson faces Justin Verlander today when the Indians take on the Tigers. Masterson has pitched quite well so far this season, posting a 3.14 FIP, 3.18 ERA and allowing just 3 HRs in 87 innings of work. He's also lowered his walk rate compared to last season while striking out 6.26 batters per game. During the past 3 seasons, Masterson has lowered his FIP so he is on a positive trajectory and he continues to rack up a ton of grounders (54% GB rate). I'm a bit discouraged that Masterson's strikeout rate has fallen the past 3 seasons and that left handed batters still post an .800 OPS off him, but overall he's a decent No. 5 SP in 12/14 team leagues.
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