1. Francisco Liriano (SP - Twins) - Liriano started July on the right foot, posting a QS and earning a W (his 5th of the year). 7 of his last 9 starts, dating back to May 1st, have yielded 3 ER or less. That's quite the turnaround from his April that produced 4 ER or more in 4 of his first 5 starts of the season. That month has really killed his numbers. His overall season totals include an ERA of 4.76 and a WHIP of 1.32. Since May 1st, Liriano has a 2.91 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. His K-rate is down, mostly due to almost constant injury concerns, but he has fought through them and is getting better with every outing.
2. Rich Harden (SP - A's) - An old familiar face returned to the mound last night and actually looked pretty good. He hurled a quality start of 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, no walks, and 6 K's. He was limited to a pitch count and it only took him 76 pitches to get through 6 innings. Because of Harden's potential, he is certainly worth a flier in all leagues, but the claim comes with lots of injury risk. Harden has only thrown more than 150 IP in a season once in his career (2004) and seems to almost constantly be nursing some sort of injury. I would be shocked if he completes the year healthy.
3. Ivan Nova (SP - Yankees) - Nova pitched well on Friday night, going 5.0 IP and allowing just 1 ER, 2 BB, and 3 K's while scattering 7 hits. Most importantly, he earned the W. It has been up and down year for Nova whose lack of consistency has relegated him to AL-only ownership at best. His QS% is just 50% (8-for-16) while he posts a 4.12 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, and a K/9 of 5.0. If the K's were there, he would be a decent consideration for win-chasing, as he has had plenty of run support from the Yankees and has an 8-4 record. But with no other benefit other than a lucky win here and there, its just not worth the risk at this point. I consider him a pitch-and-ditch candidate week-in and week-out based on the matchup.
4. Erick Aybar (SS - Angels) - June was a bad month fo Aybar, but he ended on a hot note that has fantasy owners hoping he can reclaim his April/May ways. His average dropped from .315 to .283, which limited his OBP to just .267 for the month and therefore just 3 SB attempts. That's compared to May which 9 SB in 11 attempts with a .346 OBP. He showed signs of heating up, hitting safely in 9 of the last 10 games of June, but then posted an 0-for-8 in the last two games. Aybar is a scrappy hitter, but has only drawn 12 BB which keeps his OBP equal to his average. While they say "speed never slumps," we have seen Aybar go through a pretty bad one the past 30 days. I like focusing speed and average categories on my middle infield positions and Aybar has been a great solution.
5. Alexi Ogando (SP - Rangers) - Perhaps it was the demotion rumors surrounding Ogando that helped get him back on track. Either way, Ogando pitched his first quality start in four starts, allowing 2 ER and 5 H in 6.2 IP. After an unbelievable April and May, Ogando really dropped off in June, but he is still posting a sub-3.00 ERA (2.86 to be exact). I'm encouraged by Ogando's long term consistency as we steady K-rates on a monthly basis of about 6.5 and low BB rates (just 22 in over 97 IP). Yesterday was a good sign of him getting back on track.
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