1)Vance Worley - Worley was a hard luck loser again Thursday night, pitching seven strong innings and giving up just two runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Once again, the Phillies offense failed to back him up; they've scored just eight runs in his four outings since coming off the DL on June 4. Worley's ERA in those four starts is 2.25 and for the season, it registers 2.78. He seems to have solved the home run problem that dogged him earlier in the year. He served up seven round trippers in his first seven starts but only one in his last four. His strikeout rate is down, though, just 6.00 K/9 in June compared to 9.4 K/9 over the first two months of the season. His xFIP is 3.85, so we could see his ERA creep up in the coming weeks, especially if his strikeout rate stays flat. Either way, with just two runs of support per game, wins are going to be tough to come by.
2) Danny Espinosa - Is Espinosa's power swing ramping up as the weather heats up? He hit a pair of doubles in Thursday night's game to give him eight two-baggers in 17 games during June. He had just eight doubles in the first 49 games of the season. He's only hit six home runs so far this season, somewhat off the pace to match the 21 dingers he hit last year. However, last year he had a 14.8 HR/FB% compared to this year's 10.9%. His overall FB% is down four percentage points this year while his GB% is up by that amount, and that's likely the difference maker in his home run rate this season. Furthermore, 16 of his 21 homers came during the first half of the season last year, so I'm not convinced his sudden extra base hit spike is a harbinger of power to come.
3) A.J. Burnett - Burnett notched his eighth win of the season against just two losses after tossing six innings of two-hit ball against the Tigers Friday night. Burnett struck out four and walked three while generating 10 groundball outs and lowering his season ERA to 3.24. Burnett's success this season is largely due to his 56 percent Groundball rate, the highest it's been since 2005 with the Marlins when it was 58 percent. He's also done a great job of keeping the ball in the park. His 0.78 HR/9 rate is the lowest since 2008 with the Blue Jays. Burnett has allowed just six home runs in 75 IP this season. He gave up 31 in 190 IP last year with the Yankees.
4) Anibal Sanchez - Sanchez lasted just three and one-third innings against the Toronto Blue Jays Friday night, allowing six runs on seven hits along with four walks and just three strikeouts. After a fairly strong first two months, Sanchez has been brutal in June. Over his last four outings, Sanchez has allowed 20 ER in 22.1 IP for an ERA of 8.07. His season ERA has risen from 2.56 to 3.94 over that period. Although he didn't allow any home runs against the Blue Jays, he had allowed four dingers in his previous three starts after allowing just four during his first 10 starts. I've watch Sanchez' career closely over the last few years, so I feel I know him pretty well. After watching some of Friday's start, I'm left thinking that there is something wrong with Sanchez physically. He is simply not throwing with the same ease he normally has, his mechanics seem off to me and he was getting hit very hard. If you own him in any leagues, bench him for his next start. Although, I wouldn't be surprised to see him go on the disabled list in the not too distant future.
5) Scott Rolen - Rolen went 3 for 4 with a home run, two RBI, and a run scored in Friday's losing effort against the Twins. He is now 5 for 15 since returning from the disabled list. Rolen has always done well in interleague play. Entering Friday's game, he had a career batting average of .293 with 42 home runs in interleague games over the course of his 17-year career. Unfortunately, this is the final weekend of interleague games, so Rolen will only get a few more at-bats in before the Reds return to NL play. Rolen is only a low-level option in the very deepest of NL-only leagues, as he no longer hits for power on a regular basis and he hasn't hit for average since 2010.
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