Anthony Rendon: 4/5 with his 6th HR while hitting .268. Rendon has been doing a nice job in this his first full season in the majors. The power leveled off after a big April which is not much of a shock since Rendon is not a 20 home run guy yet. However he is capable of more in batting average and with dual eligibility, is worth chasing since his stock price is not very high.
Adam LaRoche: 2/3 with his 7th HR while hitting .321. I thought LaRoche was supposed to struggle in the first half. Some nice BABIP is helping the average and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out LaRoche didn't all of a sudden figure out how to contend for a batting title. The average will slip quite a bit going forward but LaRoche once again will be in the running for the cheapest 25 home runs in the game.
Doug Fister: 6 IP 4 H 2 ER 1 BB 6 K with an ERA of 3.34. Had given serious thought to picking Fister back in the winter as our darkhorse Cy Young pick but chickened out. Either way Fister has been everything I expected with the low WHIP, boosted K rate, and nice ERA in moving from the AL to the NL.
Marcus Stroman: 6 IP 5 H 1 ER 0 BB 6 K with an ERA of 7.30. There we go. Was incredibly stupid of the Blue Jays to put Stroman in the bullpen his first call-up. Good to see that terrible stint didn't mess with his confidence. Stroman has nice power potential and should be picked up in all formats. Everyone should now be back full on this bandwagon.
Yagervis Solarte: 3/4 with his sixth HR while hitting .299. Just when it started to look like Solarte's shockingly good run was about to be over, he comes back in the last three days with some red hot hitting and a home run. No point in continuing to doubt the kid now two full months into the season. Fatigue in September is possible but Solarte is still an everyday play.
Masahiro Tanaka: 8 IP 4 H 0 ER 2 BB 9 K with an ERA of 2.06. Tanaka also has a 0.96 WHIP as he is giving himself a very good chance to win the AL Cy Young and the rookie of the year award. I think we can retire the "can they handle the bigger baseball and workload" question marks for awhile when talking about arriving Japanese starting pitchers. Even Tanaka's mom didn't think he would be this good.
Tyson Ross: 6 IP 5 H 1 ER 3 BB 5 K with an ERA of 2.85. Nice work considering Ross has been shaky on the road. Overall Ross has made good on making out sleeper lists coming into the season. The K rate is terrific and overall Ross reminds me somewhat of Jeff Samardzjia the 2012 version. There is a bright future here.
Oscar Taveras: 1/3 with his first HR while hitting .333. There you go. Of course Taveras homered in his first game. This guy is as can't miss as they get and should instantly be an outfielder 2 bat. My grade on Taveras is as high as it was on Mike Trout minus the steals which is saying something.
Michael Wacha: 6 IP 3 H 0 ER 0 BB 7 K with an ERA of 2.45. The Cards are limiting Wacha's innings somewhat as he was primed to go at least eight the way he was rocking. Still Wacha should hold a class with Tony Cingrani, Zack Wheeler, and Gerritt Cole about how to pitch in the major leagues effectively as a sophomore.
Charlie Blackmon: 2/4 with his 10th HR and 10th SB while hitting .317. The average has come down from the .340 which was a given but the power/speed game is still working in high order. HAs already looked down a spot on the all-value team for 2014.
Chris Dickerson: 1/3 with his sixth HR while hitting .346. Chris Dickerson is drawing envy from Carlos Gonzalez which is all you need to know about how poor the latter has been.
Trevor Bauer: 6 IP 4 H 2 ER 1 BB 8 K with an ERA of 3.63. As always you look at the walks first and everything else next with Bauer and today is what you get when he keeps the free passes to a minimum. The comparisons to an early Clayton Kershaw are uncanny as the Los Angeles Dodgers' ace had some pretty shoddy control himself when he first arrived which few remember. Only a matter of time before Bauer reaches ace level.
Cody Allen: scoreless ninth for his third save with an ERA of 3.09. Maybe now Allen can finally hold down the closer job that should have been his at the start of 2013. Bryan Shaw we hardly knew you.
Adam LaRoche: 2/3 with his 7th HR while hitting .321. I thought LaRoche was supposed to struggle in the first half. Some nice BABIP is helping the average and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out LaRoche didn't all of a sudden figure out how to contend for a batting title. The average will slip quite a bit going forward but LaRoche once again will be in the running for the cheapest 25 home runs in the game.
Doug Fister: 6 IP 4 H 2 ER 1 BB 6 K with an ERA of 3.34. Had given serious thought to picking Fister back in the winter as our darkhorse Cy Young pick but chickened out. Either way Fister has been everything I expected with the low WHIP, boosted K rate, and nice ERA in moving from the AL to the NL.
Marcus Stroman: 6 IP 5 H 1 ER 0 BB 6 K with an ERA of 7.30. There we go. Was incredibly stupid of the Blue Jays to put Stroman in the bullpen his first call-up. Good to see that terrible stint didn't mess with his confidence. Stroman has nice power potential and should be picked up in all formats. Everyone should now be back full on this bandwagon.
Yagervis Solarte: 3/4 with his sixth HR while hitting .299. Just when it started to look like Solarte's shockingly good run was about to be over, he comes back in the last three days with some red hot hitting and a home run. No point in continuing to doubt the kid now two full months into the season. Fatigue in September is possible but Solarte is still an everyday play.
Masahiro Tanaka: 8 IP 4 H 0 ER 2 BB 9 K with an ERA of 2.06. Tanaka also has a 0.96 WHIP as he is giving himself a very good chance to win the AL Cy Young and the rookie of the year award. I think we can retire the "can they handle the bigger baseball and workload" question marks for awhile when talking about arriving Japanese starting pitchers. Even Tanaka's mom didn't think he would be this good.
Tyson Ross: 6 IP 5 H 1 ER 3 BB 5 K with an ERA of 2.85. Nice work considering Ross has been shaky on the road. Overall Ross has made good on making out sleeper lists coming into the season. The K rate is terrific and overall Ross reminds me somewhat of Jeff Samardzjia the 2012 version. There is a bright future here.
Oscar Taveras: 1/3 with his first HR while hitting .333. There you go. Of course Taveras homered in his first game. This guy is as can't miss as they get and should instantly be an outfielder 2 bat. My grade on Taveras is as high as it was on Mike Trout minus the steals which is saying something.
Michael Wacha: 6 IP 3 H 0 ER 0 BB 7 K with an ERA of 2.45. The Cards are limiting Wacha's innings somewhat as he was primed to go at least eight the way he was rocking. Still Wacha should hold a class with Tony Cingrani, Zack Wheeler, and Gerritt Cole about how to pitch in the major leagues effectively as a sophomore.
Charlie Blackmon: 2/4 with his 10th HR and 10th SB while hitting .317. The average has come down from the .340 which was a given but the power/speed game is still working in high order. HAs already looked down a spot on the all-value team for 2014.
Chris Dickerson: 1/3 with his sixth HR while hitting .346. Chris Dickerson is drawing envy from Carlos Gonzalez which is all you need to know about how poor the latter has been.
Trevor Bauer: 6 IP 4 H 2 ER 1 BB 8 K with an ERA of 3.63. As always you look at the walks first and everything else next with Bauer and today is what you get when he keeps the free passes to a minimum. The comparisons to an early Clayton Kershaw are uncanny as the Los Angeles Dodgers' ace had some pretty shoddy control himself when he first arrived which few remember. Only a matter of time before Bauer reaches ace level.
Cody Allen: scoreless ninth for his third save with an ERA of 3.09. Maybe now Allen can finally hold down the closer job that should have been his at the start of 2013. Bryan Shaw we hardly knew you.