Chris Withrow- LAN- Rise Value- A move to the bullpen seems to have jumpstarted the 20th overall pick from 2007. Withrow had spent 3+ mediocre seasons at AA when the Dodgers' put him in the pen late last season. At AAA for the first time this year he has a 1.93 ERA and a K/9 of 11.57. Control is still an issue as Withrow's 4.63 BB/9 shows, but he is higher on the prospect charts than he has been in years.
Tim Hudson- ATL- Stats- Hudson's road woes have been largely the result of bad luck and some regression to the mean might be happening. Although he has taken the loss in both of his last 2 road outings he has thrown quality starts in each. Hudson has a 4.43 FIP away from Atlanta, considerably lower than his 6.07 ERA. His home ERA of 2.39 is slightly lower than his FIP of 2.85 so he is getting a little balancing luck there. It's not enough, though, to worry about negative regression at home.
Andrew Cashner- SD- Hot- Cashner allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 5 in 8 IP last night. He has tossed 4 quality starts in 5 home outings since joining the San Diego rotation. His home ERA of 2.65 is almost a run better than his FIP of 3.62 at Petco park. On the road, Cashner has near identical 4.46/4.43 ERA/FIP numbers. He only has 2 quality starts in his 5 road starts. Cashner has benefited from both the pitcher-friendly aspects of Petco and a little bit of luck. There may be some regression in store for him, but it doesn't look to be huge.
Henry Rodriguez- WAS- Trade- Rodriguez, who had been designated for assignment last week, was dealt to the Cubs for minor league pitcher Ian Dickson. Rodriguez has shown power but hasn't been able to harness it. His K/9 dropped drastically this year for the nationals, to 5.50 in 18 IP. He also walked 16 batters. There had been high hopes for Rodriguez when he was acquired form the A's organization in the Josh Willingham trade in 2010, but he never became the dominant reliever Washington hoped. Now the Cubs are going to give him a shot.
Mark Melancon- PIT- FYI- Melancon's use has gone down some, probably to keep him from being burned out too early. After racking up 14 IP in the first month of the season and 15 IP last month, Melancon has only appeared in 3 games and pitched 2.1 IP so far in June. He still leads the majors with 19 holds, which is important in leagues that count them. Melancon has increased his K/9 from 8.20 last year to 9.77 and dropped his BB/9 from 2.40 to 1.15. Most importantly it looks like the homeritis he had in the beginning of last year was an aberration as Melancon has only allowed 1 homer in 31.1 IP in 2013 after giving up 8 in 45 IP for Boston last year. Melancon has developed into a solid setup man and the rest he's been getting is probably good in the long term.
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