For all the Ervin Santana home/road splits talk, Wandy Rodriguez actually puts him to shame. On the road this year, Rodriguez has a 7.45 ERA and 1.66 WHIP. At home, he posts a 1.81 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. He's obviously more valuable in daily leagues.
Do you realize David DeJesus is on pace to score 120 runs this season? Also, Billy Butler looks awfully good hitting in the middle of that lineup. The opposite is true when he's holding a glove, however. As bad as Kansas City is perceived, their current lineup is probably better than 75 percent of the N.L. teams.
I've underrated Aaron Harang long enough. He'll always give up too many homers to post a sub-3.50 ERA, but his WHIP is solid because he limits base on balls, his strikeout rate is very strong and he pitches deep enough into games to usually finish with nice win totals. Not only was Harang the only pitcher in MLB history to lead his league in wins and Ks and not win the Cy Young award last year, he didn't even receive a single vote.
Remember when all of those ESPN pundits picked Bobby Crosby as their MVP choice for the 2006 season? Good times. At least he had injury excuses in the past. This year, he's stayed relatively healthy but simply can't hit. A .272 OBP? Are you kidding me? His OPS is nearly in the 500s. Speaking of talented players failing to live up to expectations – Daniel Cabrera, you're on deck.
I would be willing to bet Adrian Beltre's 2004 season is one of the greatest outliers of someone's career in the history of major league baseball. Let's take a closer look by comparing numbers from that season with the second highest totals throughout the rest of his 10-year career: he had 23 more homers, 32 more RBI, hit .44 points higher and slugged .152 points better than his second best marks during his decade of playing. We can all thank Beltre for perpetuating the "contract-year" theory more than it's true significance.
This just in: Chase Utley is very, very good. Since May ended, he's batting .380 in 163 at-bats. After previously struggling a bit against lefties, Utley has posted a 1.014 OPS against southpaws this year, terrible news for the rest of the league.
A funny thing happened to Dontrelle Willis on the way to stardom – he never got there. He's basically unusable in fantasy leagues right now. In 95 innings against right-handed hitters this season, Willis has walked 47 batters and served up 15 homers. That simply won't get it done.
Watching Andrew Miller pitch, it's clear he's going to be special. Like all young hurlers, there will be ups and downs (specifically control with Miller), but he's a highly coveted commodity in keeper leagues right now. Lefties are a combined 2-for-34 with 16 strikeouts against him. The Tigers are going to have one of the very best front ends of a starting rotation for many years to come.
If you're not watching "Flight of the Conchords," you're missing out on the next great comedy. "Scott Baio is 45 and Single" is terrific as well, but for totally different reasons.