Carlos Santana- CLE- Stats- Santana is experiencing some regression to the mean. His .314 September BABIP is a driving force in his .316 average this month. His power returned after a weak start to the season, with 28 of his 66 hits since July 1 going for extra bases. One disturbing trend for Santana recently is that he has walked only once this month is 60 PAs. That is a sudden drop off for someone who has a 14.0% BB% for the season. He needs to maintain control of the strike zone, even if he is in a lucky stretch.
Alejandro De Aza- CHA- Cold- De Aza is only hitting .190 since coming off the DL earlier this month. His luck has been poor, with only a .241 BABIP. This has brought his season mark down to .333. De Aza has had a high BABIP in his major league career, but the sample size is small before this season. It may be some regression to the mean kicking in after he returned from injury.
Hector Noesi- SEA- Cold- After throwing 2 scoreless relief outings sicne being called up earlier this month, Noesi got a chance to start again yesterday. It didn't go well as he was pounded for 7 runs (6 earned) in only 1.1 IP. Since he rejoined the Mariners Noesi has walked 4 and struck out 3 in 5.1 IP. It's a small sample size but doesn't show improvement in the areas that were plaguing him before he was sent down. Noesi will have to work hard and do much better to be considered for a significant role on the 2013 Seattle staff.
Chris Tillman- BAL- Hot- Tillman had a successful return from iinjury, throwing a quality start. He allowed 1 run on 3 hits, walked none and struck out 4 in 6 IP. In his outings with the Orioles this season Tillman has benefited from some good fortune, with his .238 BABIP accounting for much of the difference between his 3.22 ERA and 4.25 FIP. His 7.12 K/9 is an improvement over his career major league marjk of 6.14 so Tillman has signs of still reaching his potential.
Adam Dunn- CHA- FYI- Dunn has hit safely and scored in each of his 3 games since missing time due to an oblique strain. Yesterday he struck out swinging not once, but twice. In the grand scheme of things this wasn't bad. Dunn is going to strike out a ton and if he can do it swinging without immediately having a recurrence of his oblique strain it's a sign that his risk of reinjury is low.
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