All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 101

Fernando Rodney - Fernando Rodney recorded two outs on Monday against the Red Sox en route to his fourth save of the season. The former Tiger has now tossed 4 1/3 innings and allowed just one base runner on a...

NL Quick Pitch: Saves on Sunday from Sean Marshall and Joel Hanrahan (first of the year for both), and Arizona's Bryan Shaw (his second - more on him in a minute). ... With the news that Brian Wilson is done...

AL Quick Pitch: Brandon League is a perfect 4-for-4 in save opportunities to begin 2012. If he can normalize his road/away splits from last year (SLG% of .254 at Safeco, .407 everywhere else), he'll be considered near the top of...

Kelly Johnson - Johnson bashed his third homer of the young season yesterday in the 6-4 loss to Baltimore. I think Johnson is in store for a big year north of the border, as he's coming off of a second...

Freddy Galvis - Second Base - Phillies 21-year-old Freddy Galvis started off the season 0- for -10 before collecting a 2-run double to snap the streak. He entered the weekend 5- for -14 including his first career HR on...

Jacoby Ellsbury - Our Fantistics software pinned Jacoby Ellsbury as one of the top overall players in 2012 so it's understandable if his fantasy owners said a few extra prayers last evening after the Boston outfielder injured his shoulder sliding...

Ryan Ludwick- CIN- Stats- Ludwick has a Batting EYE of 1.00, which would indicate a marked increase in selectivity. However, it looks like that might be a statisrtical bubble when his plate discipline numbers are examined. His Swing% has actually...

AL Quick Pitch: Derek Holland has now pitched two straight quality starts to begin the season. With improvements to WHIP and his GB% over the last couple of years, there are good things ahead (except for an unlucky schedule...

Nick Markakis- BAL- Idea- Markakis has gone 4 games without a hit after opening the season with 2 multihit games. His average now stands at .238. This could be a good time to buy low if you need some help...

NL First Pitch: There were a bunch of "aces" scheduled to throw on Wednesday, but a few of them turned out to be jokers as Tim Lincecum and Josh Johnson both had outings that could arguably go down as...

Hitters 31 Mason Williams NYY OF B+ Two doubles in debut. .863 OPS and 28 SB in just 68 games a year ago. 32 Jonathan Singleton HOU 1B B+ 4-for-16 to start AA career. Hopefully a big part of...

Kyle Drabek SP (TOR) - I am a little bit more optimistic about Drabek than my co-analyst Joe Hettler. Drabek was a disaster last year, but his status as a former top prospect and reports in Spring Training of...

David Freese - Freese is one of my favorite kinds of guys to draft mid-round: a guy that hasn't yet had success at the big league level yet has never failed to have success elsewhere (career minor league line of...

Yu Darvish - It's safe to say Yu Darvish had a less than desirable first inning in the majors. Facing the Mariners, Darvish walked the leadoff batter, Chone Figgins, struck out Dustin Ackley, allowed three straight singles, threw a wild...

Andrew Cashner (RP-SD) - Cashner is a former first-round draft pick, so it's not a surprise that when he's healthy, he's good. Watching him Saturday, Cashner was in the 98-100 mph range with his fastball. He mixed in an 88...

Max Scherzer SP (DET) - Scherzer 's attempt to rebound from a disappointing 2011 season got off to a rocky start. Scherzer did not make it out of the 3rd inning against the Red Sox. He gave up 7...

Kurt Suzuki/Derek Norris - Suzuki is another player that, like J.P. Arencibia in Toronto, can't really afford an off-year with a top prospect breathing down his neck. Derek Norris has opened 2012 with five hits in his first three games,...

Drew Smyly - Tigers - SP The Tigers will start the season with Drew Smyly as their 5th starter, even if he will start the season in the minors to get a start in while the 5th slot comes around....

Mike Moustakas 3B (KC) - Moustakas went 0-3 in his 2012 debut. Moustakas came up last season as one of the Royals best prospects and could be a star in the future. However, I have doubts that he will...

Chris Perez RP (CLE) - Joe H. and I have talked previously on Twitter and in this space about the warning signs revolving Chris Perez. Sure enough, he blew a 3 run lead on Opening Day. Perez gave up...

Chris Perez RP (CLE) - Joe H. and I have talked previously on Twitter and in this space about the warning signs revolving Chris Perez. Sure enough, he blew a 3 run lead on Opening Day. Perez gave up...

NL First Pitch: Mets fans probably didn't notice that the fences were moved in at all on Thursday as the Mets won a pitcher's duel 1-0 behind a strong effort from Johan Santana and the Mets bullpen. Santana's velocity...

As a reminder, each week from here until the end of the minor league season, we'll provide prospect notes on more than 60 players as well as updates to our Top 50 hitters, Top 50 pitchers, Top 5 prospects in...

NL Quick Pitch: Happy Opening Day! We get started reviewing some tidbits from last night's game. Josh Johnson struggled a bit by scattering 10 hits, but still got the QS despite earning the loss. The ongoing question with JJ will...

News, notes and analysis from spring training camps, as I celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday... Neftali Feliz- TEX- Control is the big question about Feliz as he moves from closer to starter for the Rangers. His BB/9 rose from 2.34...

Dodgers closer - Javy Guerra is likely to enter camp and perhaps the season as the team's closer, but soon enough, it's going to be the Kenley Jansen era. Among all players in baseball history with a minimum of 50...

Randall Delgado - Randall Delgado has been adequate in his 7 starts this year for the Braves, posting a 2.83 ERA while managing only 1 quality start with very poor peripherals relative to his minor league totals. Delgado is certainly...

Joe Mauer - Joe Mauer didn't play yesterday and isn't playing tonight because, as we all know, he's out with mild pneumonia. However, Mauer will be healthy to start next year (in theory) so one of the big questions heading...

Brian Matusz- BAL- Stats- Matusz' record setting (and not in a good way) ERA of 10.69 this season had a huge component of bad luck in it. His BABIP was .382 and his LOB% was 56.4%. Matusz yielded homers like...

Jerome Williams - Williams improved to 4-0 in his return to the big leagues after a 4-year hiatus, as he's posted 4 QS in 6 while tallying a 2.95 ERA. His standard rates don't look all that impressive on the...

Jhoulys Chacin - In what will be his last start of the season, Jhoulys Chacin draws the Astros today looking for his 12th win in 2011. In 30 starts, Chacin hasn't been as sharp as he was in 2010 when...

Alfredo Simon- BAL- Hot- Simon allowed 3 run on 6 hits and only 1 walk while striking out 5 in 8 IP last night. For the 4th start in a row he got more ground balls than fly balls. For...

Clayton Kershaw (SP--Dodgers) If you were given the task of picking a pitcher, one pitcher, to build your team around not only now but for the future, there might be a pretty heated debate. Names like Strasburg, Verlander and King...

Kosuke Fukudome- CLE- Hot- Regression to the mean had been hitting Fukudome, as he went 3-for-26 in the 7 games before last night. That was to be expected as he came to the Indians with a .330 BABIP. He countered...

Chris Capuano (SP-NYM) Capuano did not earn a decision on Thursday against the Cardinals. He allowed 4 runs on 8 hits, 2 home runs and 2 walks while striking out 4 in 4.2 innings of work. His ERA increased...

Alexei Ramirez- CHA- Hot- Regression to the mean has been Ramirez' friend. He extended his current hitting streak to 8 games and is hitting .321 in September. His .34 monthly BABIP has his season mark up to .289 so there...