Cliff Lee- PHI- Cold- Lee's record is below .500 again, at 4-5, after he had a poor performance in Washington. He allowed 6 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4 in 5.1 IP. Lee has continued throwing a lot of pitches this season, breaking the 110 pitch mark 6 times including twice topping 120 pitches. His K rate is still astounding, at 10.13 per 9 IP, but his BB/9 has also climbed from 0.76 last season to 2.14 so far in 2011. Other worrisome trends are his HR/9 has jumped from .68 to .90, largely as a result in increase of HR/FB from 6.3% to 10.0%, and he is relying less on his fastball and more on a cut fastball, curve ball and change. I'm still wary of the risk presented by Lee's rapid increase in usage over the past couple of seasons.
Eli Whiteside- SF- Cold- He's no Buster Posey. Whiteside has not done a lot with his chance in the lineup in place of the injured Posey. He is just 2-for-17 and has struck out 7 times. Whiteside has suffered some poor luck this season, with a .250 BABIP. However, if he doesn't improve his 39.0% K% the Giants are going to have to look elsewhere for catching help before long as his .171 average won't improve that much.
Chase Headley- SD- Hot- Headley extended his current hitting streak to 10 games by going 2-for-5 in Atlanta. The back half of that streak has been on the road where Headley is a more formidable hitter. Petco Park is harsh to him, as it is to many. He is hitting .298 with 17 runs and 13 RBI away from San Diego while only having a .244 average, 4 runs and 6 RBI at home with only 10 fewer plate appearances. Headley is worth having, but also better if you only start him when he will be wearing road uniforms.
Freddie Freeman- ATL- Hot- Freeman hit .312 last month but also enjoyed the benefits of a .403 BABIP. His Batting EYE was .71 during the first month of the season but was only .35 in May. There is a good chance he will see some more growing pains in his first full season as a major leaguer.
Carlos Marmol- CHN- Cold- Marmol didn't just blow the save yesterday he hit it with a hurricane. Marmol retired just 1 batter and ended up being charged with 6 runs on 5 hits and a walk. It was his 3rd blown save of the year in 13 opportunities, not the greatest of ratios. His K rate remains high at 11.57 K/9, although not as stratospheric as last year's 15.99. The problem is that while his BB/9 rate of 5.01 is more than a full walk lower than last year, it's still too darned high. Marmol is going to have consistency issues if he walks that many batters and so his hold on a closer role is always going to be tentative.
Follow me on Twitter all season - @fantisticspaul
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