Paul Konerko, 1B CHA Konerko is batting .234 and has a 15/5 K/BB this season. It could be age catching up to him, or it could be his awful batted ball luck so far. He has a 31.3 percent line-drive rate but has lined out nine times on 19 line drives. The veteran is also just 1-for-15 on groundballs.
Wei-Yin Chen, LHP BAL Chen two-hit the Oakland Athletics over eight shutout innings Friday to move to 2-2 on the year. Chen has a 2.53 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP and has allowed just 23 hits in 32 innings. However, the lefty could be headed for a fall. He has a mediocre 16/9 K/BB and has allowed just two homers despite posting a flyball rate of 52.6 percent. He has a HR/FB of just 4.0 percent. Chen gave up 29 homers in 192.2 innings last year.
Mike Napoli, 1B BOS Napoli went 2-for-4 Friday and drove in his MLB-leading 27th run of the year. Napoli already has 13 doubles in 23 games with Boston after hitting nine in 108 with Texas last year. Hitting fifth will help him keep his RBI numbers up, but the strikeouts will eventually sink his batting average. Napoli owns a 32/5 K/BB but is batting .283.
Ryan Dempster, RHP BOS Dempster has struck out at least seven batters in all five starts this year, and he fanned 10 Astros over six innings Friday night. Dempster's career K/9 is just under 7.9, but he has a K/9 of 12.9 in 30 innings this year. Dempster's swing-and-miss rate is close to 15 percent this season, up from 10.8 percent for his career and 10.4 percent last year, and he has allowed line drives at a rate of just 17.2 percent.
Edwin Encarnacion, DH TOR Encarnacion went deep twice Friday night against the Yankees and has five homers over the last four games. He's still hitting just .225, but he has a .200 BABIP despite carrying a line-drive rate over 24 percent. He has lined out seven times and is 10-for-53 combined on grounders and flyballs. He went 101-for-369 on grounders and flies last year.
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