Anibal Sanchez - In a remarkable confluence of luck and skill, Sanchez tossed his seventh straight quality start yesterday to continue his fantastic beginning to 2013. Aside from one outing against the A's, Sanchez has faced a number of middling to poor offenses thus far this year, and he's had rather favorable results with both BABIP and HR/FB. He's also posting career bests (by a wide margin in some cases) in BB rate, K rate, swinging strike%, and velocity (increasing for the 6th straight season). It's pretty clear that the raw stuff is as good as it's ever been, and that his command of said stuff is top-tier as well. I've been tremendously impressed with him thus far this year, and while his ERA is still likely to double as we move through the year, he looks like a nearly sure bet to outperform projections.
Justin Masterson - Masterson has now won all six of his quality starts on the season, as he moved to 6-2 with a stellar four-hit shutout of the Yanks yesterday. There isn't much that's appreciably different about Masterson's 2013 when you get past the superficial stats thus far....the swinging strike%, velocity, pitch usage, and zone% are all roughly the same as in prior years. The three things that stand out are: the Indians are a better team this year, like 2011 the ball isn't leaving the yard much against him, and he's getting a lot of called third strikes. I'm skeptical that the latter two will continue to this extent, but the first item does indeed mean something, as it pushes his win ceiling from the 12-14 range to possibly 15-17. That, along with his durability, is enough to make him a solid 33-#4 starter for me in most formats.
Andy Dirks - Dirks looks to be settling in finally, as the Tigers' new leadoff man (against RHP) homered for the third time in a week in a 3-4 performance against Houston last night. I expect the AVG to continue to climb with an LD rate approaching 25%, making a .300-12-12 season a distinct possibility, allowing Dirks to be a solid low-end OF option in all formats. I do think there is more upside here than most believe, although despite a complete lack of platoon splits throughout his career, Jim Leyland has decided that Matt Tuiasosopo is a better hitter than Dirks against LHP despite years of evidence to the contrary, something that will weigh on Dirks' value a bit until Tuiasosopo goes through his inevitable 1-22, 12 K slump.
Curtis Granderson - It looks like we will all be subjected to John Sterling chortling "The Grandy Man Can" very soon, as Curtis Granderson is likely to tell Joe Girardi today whether he is ready to come back to the Bronx or not, and from his performance down in Scranton I'd guess he is either ready or extremely close to it. Granderson hit 3 line drives along with tallying a walk and a strikeout yesterday, and is hitting 400/429/550 in his five rehab starts. His swing looks pretty normal, the results look pretty normal, and his comments have led me to believe that he felt nearly ready when he headed to AAA, so I honestly expect him back today or tomorrow. It's possible that there could be an adjustment period, but I'd be inclined to slot him right back into my lineup as soon as possible.
Michael Choice - With Josh Reddick contemplating wrist surgery that would keep him out until after the All-Star Break, it's worth wondering whether the A's would give Michael Choice an audition for the RF job in his absence. The A's have enough options that I think that might be a bit premature, but Choice is coming off of a 6-10, 4 BB, 2 HR weekend series down at AAA that brought his line to 284/385/507 for the year. Choice will be particularly valuable in OBP-based leagues, as he walks and strikes out quite a bit, and he has excellent power as well. His likely impact this year is minimal because of the aforementioned plethora of options in Oakland, but he clearly needs to be owned in dynasty formats and is likely to at least make an appearance in the bigs this year.
