Kendrys Morales (DH-Seattle)
Kendrys Morales was acquired by Seattle to provide an offensive spark after the dismal performance of Corey Hart. So far, he is 1-21 in his return to Seattle. His numbers with the Twins were hardly awe inspiring after joining them several months into the season. After 44 games this year he has produced 1 HR and is batting .209. He has not been helped by an unlucky .257 BABIP but he seems overanxious at the plate. Morales has only walked at a 3.9% rate resulting in a dismal .250 OBP. Now Morales is a professional hitter with a .276 career BA and in his last go around with the Mariners in 2013 he hit 23 HR and batted .277. His 17.6% IFFB rate indicates that he is not squaring up on the ball. A 2% HR/FB rate is shocking for a hitter that has a career 15.2% average. I'm quite certain that he will shake off the rust and begin to produce at a much better clip. But owners should not expect any miraculous turnarounds this season.
Corey Kluber (SP Cleve)
Corey Kluber needed only 85 pitches to shut out the anemic Mariner team today. This is not meant to take away from his great pitching this season. Kluber has an 11-6 record with a 2.61 ERA and his xFIP of 2.70 is an indicator that he can keep this level of dominance going the rest of the year. With a dynamic 11.2% swinging strike rate, Kluber is striking out almost 10 batters per 9 innings pitched. When you combine this with a 50% GB rate and a career best 8% HR/FB rate you have the makings of a great season. Kluber's 93 mph velocity is the best of his career and his improved cutter and curveball have been superb out pitches for him. All systems go for Kluber who was the dark horse gem of many fantasy writers last year and has proven to be a front line ace this season.
Jason Hammel (SP Oakland)
Jason Hammel was hit hard today giving up 8 runs in just 4.1 innings of work to see his record drop to 8-9 on the year. This kind of line plays havoc with your numbers so his ERA jumped from 3.41 to 3.87. Hammel is obviously a much better pitcher than he showed today as he can generally miss bats with an excellent 10.3% swinging strike rate. His arsenal includes a good fastball at over 92 mph and an improving slider. With an 8.31/K/9 inning rate and a manageable 2.36/BB/9 inning rate he has the stuff to be a very effective pitcher. The one chink in his armor is a rather high 10.3% HR/FB rate that is about his career average and is not helped by pitching half his games in a HR friendly park. He has gone through a bit of a rough patch in his last 3 games but he has the ability to rebound. As long as he stays in the rotation, and the A's seem committed to seeing him work though this, he might be a pitcher to grab to fill out the back of your rotation for the stretch run if someone has pulled the plug on him.
Jon Singleton (1B-Houston)
Jon Singleton has been working hard with his batting coach to shorten his swing which had become too long and left him very vulnerable at the major league level. His 36% K rate over his first 48 games is proof of his futility. So far, the early returns on his new swing have been somewhat favorable with 2 HR's in his last 4 games and a K% at a more manageable 25%. Much too small of a sample to make any real judgments but Singleton possesses enormous power and a reasonable ability to take a walk. If he can gain better control of the zone and continue to make better contact he could improve in short order. Right now he is merely a promising young player who like so many others has been unable to adjust to MLB pitching his first time around.
Dustin Pedroia (2B-Boston)
The power outage continues for Dustin Pedroia as he has recorded only 4 HR in 472 plate appearances this year. His ISO of .095 is by far the lowest of his career and continues a disturbing trend downward that started 4 years ago. Pedroia peaked at 21 HR in 2011 and it looks like he will fail to surpass double digit HR totals for the 2nd consecutive year. This decline in power has unfortunately coincided with a steep decline in SB numbers from 26 in 2011 to 3 thus far in 2014. Injuries have certainly played a role in the overall decline. There is really nothing in his underlying peripherals to suggest that any significant turnaround is on the horizon. It just might be that this 5-8 inch sparkplug has seen his best years and will continue to fall down the ranks of the premier 2nd basemen in the game.
@stevietheshu
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