Garrett Richards has been red hot for the surging Angels. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)
MLB Fantasy Scoop: Who’s Hot or Not?
By Matt Johnson, Lindy’s Blogger/Intern
Who’s Hot?
David Price, LHP-Tampa Bay Rays
No pitcher is as hot as Price is right now. He has recently found great success by striking out double digit batters in five straight starts. Price currently leads the majors with 144 Ks. His excellent play comes at a great time for him as he is likely a trade target for teams that are contending for a title. The Dodgers, Cardinals and Royals are a few teams have shown interest in trading for Price. But I think it’s safe to say every team in the majors should have interest in this ace.
Mike Leake, RHP- Cincinnati Reds a
Leake has won three straight games for the Reds, the last of which coming last night in All-Star style. He held the Giants to one earned run over eight innings while striking out 12 batters. Leake’s last outing was his second outing in a row where he lasted eight innings. He typically doesn’t strike out many batters, but he currently sports a career-high strikeout rate of 6.98. His ground ball rate is also at a career high at an outstanding 54.3%. Look for Leake to stay hot next Tuesday at spacious Petco Park in San Diego.
Garrett Richards, RHP-Los Angeles Angels
Garrett Richards is just 26 years old and is as hot as they get right now in the majors. He has a shiny 8-2 record with a 2.76 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. His strikeout rate currently sits at an outstanding 8.82 and his fastball is averaging 96.1 mph. Richards primarily relies on two pitches. He throws his fastball 67% of the time and his slider 26% of the time. The only concern with Richards right now is workload and how far the Angels are willing to push him. His career high for innings pitched in a season is 145 last year. He has already thrown 101 innings this year, so look for the Angels to take the foot off the pedal a little later in the season.
Who’s Not?
Justin Masterson, RHP-Cleveland Indians
Masterson entered the season with some hype after really coming into his own last year with the Indians. He stuck out a career high 195 batters in 2013 and had a career-high 9.09 K-rate. This year has not been the same story, as he currently sits at 4-5 with an ugly 5.09 ERA and 1.54 WHIP. He is walking a career high 12% of batters faced and his fastball velocity has diminished to 90 mph from 93 last year. On top of all of that, in a statement released today, Masterson said he has been dealing with a knee ailment since his second outing of the season. Masterson is a mess right now.
James Shields, RHP-Kansas City Royals
James Shield’s overall record of 8-3 looks pretty nice, but a look into the numbers shows some signs of recent troubles for the ace. Over Shields’ past eight starts he has a 5.26 ERA and has only one quality start. Shields’ strikeout rate is at a career low of 7.01 but other than that his peripheral numbers are around career averages. The star has had a forgettable June but look for him to pick it up after the All-Star break.
Ervin Santana, RHP- Atlanta Braves
Santana has dropped three straight games and has seen his struggles increase since a disappointing outing at Colorado on June 12, where he was tagged for six earned runs. Santana is striking out more batters than usual and is on average with his career walk rate. Santana currently has a BABIP of .324, which is higher than the major league pitching average of .300. This tells us that Santana has had some bad luck so far this year. He has also had a forgettable month of June and will look to get his first win in his next start since May 31.
Player Updates
- Gerrit Cole will make his return from the disabled list on Saturday against the Mets.
- The Mariners Taijuan Walker is in play to get a call up next week to fill the void in the Mariner rotation left by Erasmo Ramirez.
- Cliff Lee could get a rehab start next week.
- Andrew Cashner will play some catch today to test out his ailing shoulder.
