David Robertson- NYA- Hot- Robertson gave up a hit, but didn't walk a batter after 3 straight appearances giving up a base on balls. He continued his impressive strikeout pace, fanning 2 of the 4 batters he faced. Of Robertson's 15 pitches, 13 were strikes. He has the stuff to close, especially if his control is more like yesterday. If Rafael Soriano stumbles, Robertson is ready to step in.
Peter Bourjos- LAA- FYI- With Torii Hunter day-to-day, Bourjos may get some playing time over the next few days. He went 1-for-4 yesterday to raise his average to .231. He has a .278 BABIP, which should be higher, especially for a player with his speed. If Hunter is out for a while or the Angels give in to offers and trade Bourjos, regression to the mean will be his friend.
J. J. Hardy- BAL- FYI- Hardy ended an 0-for-28 streak with a homer in the 13th inning yesterday. He only has 2 homers since June 8th. Hardy has had horrible luck much of the year, with BABIPs of .178 in April, .326 in May, .208 in June and .103 so far in July. Regression to the mean, i.e. more months like May, would be welcome. He seemed to be pressing last month, with only 1 walk, but a 6.7% BB% so far this month is encouraging. The homer yesterday could be the start of a revival.
Max Scherzer- DET- Cold- After a string of 5 quality starts, Scherzer gave up 4 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4 over 5 IP. His ERA of 4.84 is over a run higher than his 3.80 FIP. With a K/9 ratio of 10.99, expect more like his previous 5 starts than yesterday's outing.
Pedro Ciriaco- BOS- Hot- Ciriaco is the poster child for small sample size meeting extreme good luck. In his 5 games this year he has a BABIP of .625, resulting in a .500 average. In Ciriaco's 36 career major league games, his .390 average is driven by a .500 BABIP. His .301 average at AAA this year was bolstered by a .351 BABIP. When the BABIP was only .272 at AAA in 2011 his average was .231.
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