Drew Hutchinson (SP-Toronto)
Drew Hutchison was the winning pitcher tonight as he tossed 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball to pick up his 5th win of the season. Hutchison needed 105 pitches and was unable to get through the sixth inning. He yielded four hits and a walk while striking out five. Hutchison has a very worrisome 5.33 ERA with a 1.38 WHIP despite a 3:1 K/BB ratio over 77 .2 innings. It has been a very uneven season for the 24 year old as he has alternated pitching well with being torched. He gave up 8 runs in his prior outing against the Red Sox. His underlying peripherals indicate that he should be getting better statistical results. With an xFIP of 3.84, it would seem that he will start to benefit from an adjustment to his unusually low 66% LOB rate and somewhat elevated .325 BABIP. His slider has been a totally ineffective pitch for Hutchinson this season and it is largely responsible for his problems since he throws it 20% of the time. It also accounts for the decrease in his swinging strike rate from 11% in 2014 to just over 9% this year. While his fastball is not overpowering at 92 mph, he spots it very well and it has been his saving pitch this season. Assuming that Hutchinson can resolve the issues with his secondary pitches, I would expect him to improve as the season progresses.
Chris Parmelee (1B/OF-Baltimore)
Chris Parmelee had the best game of his career Tuesday finishing 4-for-6 with two solo home runs. He followed that game up today with his 3rd HR in his first two games. Today, he was slotted into the #3 spot in the Orioles lineup. Parmelee was recently promoted from Triple-A where he had .312/.381/.444 triple lash line. Once thought to be the replacement at 1B for Morneau in Minnesota, Parmelee has been a good performer in the Minors, but it hasn't necessarily translated into success in the Majors. The Orioles lack of production at the corner outfield position has given him a chance in RF and he may finally prove to have the tools at 27 years old to grab hold and run with this opportunity. I think he is worth a speculative pickup in AL and deeper mixed leagues as a lefty power bat in a very attractive ballpark. If he is available on DraftKings tomorrow, he would make for a good play while he is this hot.
Mike Moustakas (3B-KC)
Mike Moustakas has produced some numbers this season that would make you believe that his breakout appears to be real. He is batting .323 and has an OPS of .831. At 26 years old he is certainly at the age when these kinds of advances are most likely to be made. Last season was a disaster for Moose as he batted .212 but he was hampered by a very unlucky .220 BABIP. This season is a reversal of fortune for Moustakas as his .349 BABIP has been at the root of his BA rebound. In my opinion he is neither as bad as he was last season nor as good as he appears this year. On the plus side he has been spraying the ball all over the field and seems to have abandoned his rather strong "pull the ball" tendencies. His hard ball hit % is nearing 34% which is a major improvement over last year's anemic 21%. On the negative side he has a 45% GB rate and his FB% has dropped 7% so his current HR/FB rate of 9% won't support a surge in power numbers. He has 6 HR's on the season. Overall, we definitely have an improved ballplayer, but I don't see him as a true consistent breakout star at a position that demands more power production.
Ervin Santana (SP-Minnesota)
Ervin Santana will make a start for Triple-A Rochester on Saturday. It will be the first of 3 Minor League outings as he ramps up for a return to the Twins rotation early next month. He's eligible for activation from his PED suspension on July 4. Twins manager Paul Molitor said the timing of his return will depend on his health rather than his results in the Minors. Santana has always been an erratic but valuable mixed league starter. Last season he started off very well but his .320 BABIP against and a drop of 7 points to a 72% Strand Rate resulted in more mixed results. Still he won 14 games for the Braves and posted a 3.95 ERA with a 22% K rate and a 7.7% walk rate. The move to Minnesota will certainly help his sometimes high HR/FB rate. There is of course a risk in any situation involving a player coming off a suspension for violating MLB Drug policy. But Santana is still only 32, and has a proven track record, so if he is available in your mixed league and you are in need to pitching help, now would be the time to consider picking him up.
Chris Young (SP-KC)
What are we to make of Chris Young who after yesterday's brilliant start against the Brewers has a 6-2 record with a 1.98 ERA? I'm afraid that if there was ever a candidate for a major collapse Young is it. To his credit, he has reduced his walks to a career best 2.44/9 innings, but there is no other underlying reason to support this level of success. Young is benefiting from a very generous and lucky .199 BABIP and an 82.6% LOB rate which most certainly will adjust quite dramatically. You need to look no further than his 5.47 SIERA and 4.89 xFIP to understand what the future brings for this 36 year old soft tosser.
@stevietheshu
This is just a small sample our our daily analysis, join our member area for more premium content: http://www.fantistics.com/join/join.php3
