Felix Hernandez- SEA- Caution- Hernandez gave up 10 hits and 3 walks leading to 5 runs in 7.2 IP while striking out 6. This was his second non-quality start in his last 5 and 3rd in his last 7 starts. He also threw 127 pitches, the 4th time this season he has topped 125. That is twice as many times as he did that in all of 2010, the first year he had ever thrown that many pitches in a game. In fact, Hernandez had only thrown 120 or more pitches twice in his career prior to last year, when he did it 4 times. He has hit the 110 pitch mark 10 times in 2011, with 7 of those outings coming in his last 8 starts. So, Hernandez is being stretched farther than he has before in his career and is throwing a lot of pitches when his performance is not at his best. That is a recipe for disaster for a pitcher who turned 25 in April.
Scott Baker- MIN- Hot- Fantistics' Mike Leone called this one in a big way. Baker was an excellent play yesterday as he held the Dodgers scoreless in his 7.1 IP, allowing 6 this and just 1 walk while striking out 9. In his last 3 home starts Baker has collected 26 Ks in 24.1 IP. On the road in his last 3 starts he has struck out 14 in 19.2 IP. As Mike pointed out, Baker is a different pitcher at Target Field than away from Minnesota. Remember this.
Dan Haren- LAA- Hot- Haren threw 7.1 shutout innings against the Nationals, allowing 2 hits and a walk while striking out 6. Keep an eye on his pitch count the next time he takes the mound. He threw 120 pitches last night and 118 in his previous start. Over the past two seasons Haren has thrown 3 straight starts of 110 or more pitches 4 times. In every instance he did not pitch a quality start in his outing after that stretch.
Phil Coke- DET- Drop Value- In his 5 starts since returning from the DL, Coke has only had a quality start once. His past 3 outings have been horrible as he has allowed 18 runs (16 earned) on 22 hits and 11 walks in 13.2 IP while only striking out 4 batters. Manager Jim Leyland is finally hinting that Coke may not be long for the rotation. In the long run a move to the bullpen might improve Coke's numbers, but until he shows progress he is not worth owning.
Adam Dunn- CHW- Stats- Dunn and his 100 strikeouts will be in the lineup today if you think he is ready to snap out of his funk. I wouldn't bet on it. In looking at his plate discipline numbers, it's possible that Dunn is actually not missing enough pitches. He is making contact with pitches he is swinging at outside the plate at a 60% rate. That is far above the 44.5% mark he has had in that situation over his career. That combined with his swinging at 26.9% of the outside pitches (his career mark is 18.9%) leads to not getting a good mashing on the ball. Pitchers are only throwing 41% of their pitches to Dunn as strikes, knowing he will chase them. He needs to improve his selectivity in order to get his power back. Whether he can do that remains to be seen.
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