Revisiting pitching predictions and Cy Young voting

While I was here making my post about rarities, I looked at my previous post from June 5 about pitchers to seek and to avoid.
As usual, it was good advice.
I advised that Alex Wood, Jameson Taillon and Cole Hamels should be good for more wins.
Wood had won one game at the end of May. He added eight wins, even though he made just eight starts after the All-Star Game after making 19 before that artificial midpoint.
Taillon had six wins in the first half, eight in the second.
Hamels had five wins at the All-Star break, four thereafter. He had three at the end of May and six over the final four months, essentially the same rate of 1.5 wins per month. But look more closely and you'll see that he was 4-0 in August after being traded to the Cubs, but was 0-3 in September as part of -- a big part of -- the team's overall slide.
I said Felix Hernandez would not do as well during the second half. He had five wins at the end of May, three more in June and zero over the final three months.
The June post said you could expect to see Masahiro Tanaka's ERA to go down and Jake Arrieta's to go up. Tanaka had a 4.54 ERA at the All-Star break and 2.85 thereafter. Arrieta's splits were 3.23 and 5.04.
Look at the list of pitchers with a 2 rating (the best in the Hittability/Strikeability ratings). Nine of the 10 pitchers on the list received Cy Young Award votes.
AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell was rated 3. So was Miles Mikolas, with a note calling him "a surprise player to watch," and he also receive Cy Young votes.
The lowest-rated players at 8 mostly continued to pitch badly. Zach Godley was the exception who turned his season around.
Trevor Williams, rated at 7, and Carlos Carrasco, Kent Freeland and David Price, all with average ratings of 5, pitched much better later in the season.
A Cy Young award note about NL winner Jacob deGrom. I have no problem with the writer who didn't give deGrom a first-place vote. He might have been thinking as I was, that at a time when most starters' goal is to pitch well and long enough merely to "give the team a chance to win."
I had written, possibly in this blog, a well reasoned piece on why Felix Hernandez shouldn't have won a Cy Young in a 13-win season. My argument showed that he hadn't performed well while the Mariners were in key games that could have helped them in that season's pennant race. I complained -- and continue to complain -- against the analytical hysteria that says individual pitchers' wins don't mean anything.
The Mets were just 14-18 in deGrom's starts. His record was 10-9; a poor bullpen was 4-9 after he left games. Was deGrom not pitching enough innings to give the Mets a chance to win? On close inspection, I can't say that. He pitched more than six innings in about two-thirds of his starts.
In 1992, I wrote for a publication that I think was named "Left Field Baseball" about reasons why Doug Drabek seemed to get fewer wins than would have been expected from the ace of a good Pirates rotation and team at that time. One of the factors I explored was whether Pittsburgh's batters didn't feel such a need to produce with Drabek on the mound because he would hold down the other team. I think that idea was partly responsible for deGrom's low total of wins. His average run support was 3.49; the Mets' offense averaged 4.17 for the season, or about 20 percent more than when deGrom was pitching. The clincher: in his 32 starts, he allowed more than three runs once -- when he allowed four. So I have no trouble with the voters' choosing deGrom, either.

Pitching forecast: Kluber, Scherzer solid; Colon, Tanaka should improve; beware King Felix, Arrieta

It's fitting that I'm resuming this blog where I left off three years ago. This is a rundown on pitchers likely to have better results during the latter two-thirds or so of this season than they did in the first two months.
The first thing that struck me from the previous post was that at that point in the 2015 season, 109 pitchers had thrown enough innings (one per team game) to be on pace to qualify for the ERA title. Just three years later, the number of would-be qualifiers is down to 91 -- a 17 per cent decrease and fewer than three starters per team.
I attribute that decrease to the moronic way pitching staffs are handled these days. Starters are groomed to pitch five or six innings and "keep the team in the game." And far be it from a reliever to work more than one inning. I'll be writing more about that philosophy.
That trend had its roots 20 years or so ago, but its impact seems to be accelerating.
My method uses two simple statistics, opponents' batting average (which I call Hittability) and strikeout/walk ratio (Strikeability).
The eligible starters are broken down into four more-or-less-equal quartiles in each category. Those in the top quartile get 1 point, those in the bottom get 4. The best pitchers are in Quartile 1 in each category, so their total score would be 1+1=2. Those in both bottom quartiles would score 4+4=8. The average score would be 5. Those scoring 3 and 4 would be above average, and those at 6 or 7 would be below average, possibly clinging to their jobs.
My reasoning is that the batting average and K/W ratio measure pitchers' efficiency, and over the course of a season the results in terms of won-lost records and ERA, for example, the cream would rise to the top.
Moving up
Pitchers I expect to win more often over the remainder of this season: Bartolo Colon (really!), Alex Wood, Jameson Taillon, Cole Hamels, Tanner Roark, Kyle Gibson and Matthew Boyd. Masahiro Tanaka's ERA should be a run or so lower going forward.
Going down
On the other end, there are pitchers who somehow have won games without pitching very well. Expect more losses than wins for Marco Gonzales, Felix Hernandez, Jose Quintana and Chris Stratton. And a decline in strikeouts seems to be foreshadowing an upward spike in Jake Arrieta's ERA.
The cream of the crop
10 pitchers in the top quartile in Hittability (.152-.214 OBA) and Strikeability (4.11-8.80 K/W ratio):
Corey Kluber, Indians
Max Scherzer, Nationals
Justin Verlander, Astros
Gerrit Cole, Astros
Jose Berrios, Twins
Chris Sale, Red Sox
Patrick Corbin, Diamondbacks
Luis Severino, Yankees
Jacob deGrom, Mets
Aaron Nola, Phillies
You want those guys on your fantasy teams.
Avoid at any cost
The eight pitchers in the bottom quartile in Hittability (.257-.313 OBA) and Strikeability (1.35-2.14 K/W):
Tyler Anderson, Rockies
Zach Godley, Diamondbacks
Andrew Cashner, Orioles
Danny Duffy, Royals
Homer Bailey, Reds
Sal "Mad Men" Romano, Reds
Lance Lynn, Twins
Ty Blach, Giants
In Hittability, the second quartile pitchers allowed opponents an average between .220 and .238, and the third quartile was from .241 to .255.
The second quartile in Strikeability included pitchers with K/W ratios between 2.74 and 4.00, and the third quartile ranged from 2.18 to 2.73.
The remainder of the pitchers included:
3
(1 in Hittability and 2 in Strikeability)
Zach Greinke, Diamondbacks
Miles Mikolas, Cardinals -- a surprising player to watch
Daniel Mengden, Athletics
Bartolo Colon, Rangers
Stephen Strasburg, Nationals
J.A. Happ, Blue Jays
Nick Pivetta, Phillies
(2 and 1)
Sean Manaea, Athletics
Charlie Morton, Astros
James Paxton, Mariners
Blake Snell, Rays
Trevor Bauer, Indians
4
(1 and 3)
Noah Syndergaard, Mets
Alex Wood, Dodgers
Rick Porcello, Red Sox
(2 and 2)
Jakob Junis, Royals
Kyle Hendricks, Cubs
Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees
Eduardo Rodriguez, Red Sox
Jameson Taillon, Pirates
Cole Hamels, Rangers
(3 and 1)
Mike Foltynewicz, Braves
Caleb Smith, Marlins
Tanner Roark, Nationals
Kyle Gibson, Twins
Garrett Richards, Angels
Mike Wacha, Cardinals
Matthew Boyd, Tigers
5
(1 and 4)
Ivan Nova, Pirates
Dylan Bundy, Orioles
(2 and 3)
Carlos Carrasco, Indians
Vincent Velasquez, Phillies
Jose Urena, Marlins
Tyler Skaggs, Angels
Dallas Keuchel, Astros
Luke Weaver, Cardinals
(3 and 2)
Lance McCullers, Astros
Kyle Freeland, Rockies
David Price, Red Sox
Jon Lester, Cubs
(4 and 1)
Sean Newcomb, Braves
6
(2 and 4)
Jhoulys Chacin, Brewers
Julio Teheran, Braves
Chase Anderson, Brewers
James Shields, White Sox
Reynaldo Lopez, White Sox
(3 and 3)
Tyson Ross, Padres
Gio Gonzalez, Nationals
Chad Kuhl, Pirates
Mike Clevinger, Indians
Clayton Richard, Padres
Jake Odorizzi, Twins
Jake Arrieta, Phillies
(4 and 2)
Kevin Gausman, Orioles
Jon Gray, Rockies
Brent Suter, Brewers
Marco Gonzales, Mariners
Mike Leake, Mariners
Chris Archer, Rays
Brandon McCarthy, Braves
7
(3 and 4)
Felix Hernandez, Mariners
Chad Bettis, Rockies
Trevor Williams, Pirates
Derek Holland, Giants
Michael Fulmer, Tigers
Jose Quintana, Cubs
Chris Stratton, Giants
Aaron Sanchez, Blue Jays
(4 and 3)
Ian Kennedy, Royals
Tyler Mahle, Reds
Luis Castillo, Reds
Jason Hammel, Royals
German Marquez, Rockies

I received Bill Gilbert's mid-season report on major league candidates for triple milestones -- 30 homers, 100 RBI and a .300 batting average for batters, and 20 wins, a sub-3.00 ERA and 200 strikeouts for pitchers.
He noted that the toughest milestone to reach now is 20 wins. That gave me an opportunity to rant, through an Email, to him with my thoughts. With minor modifications, that rant follows:

The lack of pitching wins seems to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

I'm a firm believer in sabremetrics, but I believe the sabermetricians, or perhaps the application of their teaching, have steered us wrong in the thinking that pitchers' wins aren't important. 

Evidence for "wins aren't important": 

1. Relief pitchers who enter with a lead, pitch an inning and give up a run to tie the game and receive a win when their team regains the lead.
2. Starters who pitch well for their six or seven innings, leave with the lead and watch the bullpen blow the lead. 

The whole emphasis on pitch counts and inning counts has led to the belief that pitchers' workloads should be protected at all costs. Pitchers -- and their agents -- have bought in, figuring that a couple of extra years at the end of their career could lead to a few million more dollars. 

Evidence against "wins aren't important":

1. If limiting pitch counts can prevent injuries and lengthen careers, why do there seem to be more injuries now? (There probably are more injuries/pitcher, but I don't have empirical evidence.)

2. If limiting workloads for pitchers is beneficial, why don't teams do more to limit plate appearances and innings in the field for position players? Sure, you see hitting stars come out in the last couple of innings of blowouts or for defensive replacements in close games. But when was the last time you heard "Ausmus is taking Cabrera out because he already has 4 plate appearances" in a tie game? Or "Jeter has eight chances already, so Girardi is putting in Dean Anna" in the seventh inning of a tie game? (That was before the Pirates claimed Anna on waivers.)

There are reasons why pitchers like Greg Maddux, Steve Carlton and Nolan Ryan won a lot of games. 

1. They were good pitchers.

2. They pitched a lot of games, and innings.

3. They often finished what they started, so there was no worry about having a bad bullpen take away wins. You noted that Felix Hernandez hasn't won 20 games. He has, however, had a lot of wins snatched away by bad bullpens after he's left a game early.

4. Those pitchers of old also knew when to coast. "I have an 6-1 lead? Why not throw a fastball down the middle to this No. 9 hitter? He can't hurt me much anyway." (David Price did that very thing Sunday. He led 7-1, gave up two solo homers and didn't leave the game until he had walked two in a row with two out in the ninth.)

5. They knew part of their job was to win games, not "to give the team a chance to win." Hey, I can give the team a chance to win by showing up and cheering loudly, but I don't think that's as important as getting a win.

I see the problem, if it is one (and I think it is), of not having many 20-game winners getting even worse. I see highly touted prospects in the Texas League leaving start after start after 3-4-5 innings, and maybe 60-70 pitches thrown, "to keep down their innings count." Some of those starts are in the insidious practice of piggybacking two guys for 4 or 5 innings each.

Soon these pampered, overhyped and soon-to-be-overpaid pitchers will arrive in the majors, and won't even be capable of going 6-7 innings.

It makes sense that the starters are the most talented pitchers on a staff. Limiting their innings and turning those over to less-talented relievers -- and increasing numbers of relievers, because the starters will be working fewer innings -- can only reduce the number of wins for those starters.

It's likely that it will be just a few years before 20-game winners go the way of 30-game winners. When some middle reliever leads the league with 15 wins, that will be further "evidence" that wins aren't important. Self-fulfilling prophecy.

The first sign of the baseball apocalypse will be when MLB changes the scoring rules to declare that a starter needs just 4 innings, or maybe even 3, to qualify for a win.

Strasburg, Storen sent down by Nationals

The Nationals’ future will remain in the future. They have sent their 2009 first-round-draft-pick right-handers, Stephen Strasburg and Drew Storen, to their minor league camp. The expectation is that Strasburg would be in Washington by June and Storen at least by September.
The Dodgers demoted RHP James McDonald a day after he gave up six runs in 1 1/3 innings.
After saying the switch of 3B Chone Figgins to second base and 2B Jose Lopez to third was just an experiment, the Mariners played them both consistently at the new positions. Now the word is that the team will use Figgins at third and Lopez at second on occasion during the remaining exhibitions, but Seattle will almost certainly have Figgins in the middle of the infield and Lopez on the hot corner on Opening Day.
A bigger problem for the Mariners could be OF Milton Bradley. He has been ejected from his last two exhibition games for seemingly minor infractions. The question is whether his reputation has preceded him and put him on a short leash, or that there was more to the ejections than meets the eye and they’re a bad sign for the volatile player.
Game time:
The Padres again had RHP Mat Latos and LHP Wade LeBlanc starting in separate split-squad exhibition games. Again, they both pitched very well, almost identically. In a 4-1 victory over the White Sox, Latos lowered his ERA to 1.93 with a pitching line of 521105. The run came on a home run by OF/1B Andruw Jones. In a 5-1 victory over the Dodgers, LeBlanc lowered his ERA to 1.93 with a pitching line of 511113. The run came on a home run by 2B Ron Belliard after LeBlanc had thrown 4 2/3 hitless innings. San Diego will separate their days to pitch because it’s pretty clear that they’ll both make the season-opening rotation.
The day was full of outstanding pitching performances, with seven shutouts. Our Cy Young Award for the Day goes to Cubs RHP Carlos Zambrano, whose line was 530024 in a 4-0 win over the Royals.
In the other shutouts, RHP Felix Hernandez’s line was 520012 as the Mariners defeated the Diamondbacks 4-0 using home runs by OFs Franklin Gutierrez and Ryan Langerhans against RHP Dan Haren; RHP Tim Wakefield was in mid-season form with a line of 520023 in a 6-0 victory over the Orioles; RHP Todd Wellemeyer’s line of 540023 was plenty good enough in the Giants’ 6-0 win over the Reds that included 1B Aubrey Huff’s third homer; Twins LHP Francisco Liriano had a line of 330004 in a 6-0 victory over the Rays that could have been worse except for five Tampa Bay double plays including three involving 2B Sean Rodriguez and SS Reid Brignac; the pitcher who says, “Ni,” Tigers LHP Fu-Te Ni, used a line of 320001 to outpitch RHP Roy Halladay to help defeat the Phillies 3-0, and Brewers RHP Yovani Gallardo not only had a line of 540023, but also hit a homer for the only run in their 1-0 win over the Royals.
Athletics Ben Sheets lowered his ERA to 17.28 with a line of 431134 in a 7-4 victory over the Cubs.
The Indians used an eight-run second inning against RHP Jason Jennings to defeat another team of Athletics 12-4. Included was Cleveland DH Travis Hafner’s three-run homer, his second. He won’t be playing regular-season games in Arizona, but if he can have some offensive success that could make the Tribe’s offense pretty potent.
OF Cameron Maybin hit his first two homers, against Nationals RHPs Garrett Mock and Shairon Martis, and RHP Chris Volstad had a line of 561122 in the Marlins’ 5-3 win.
In the Dodgers’ 5-4 victory over the Rangers, RHP Ramon Ortiz’s ERA increased to 1.38 on a line of 452226. He was the winning pitcher in relief of RHP Josh Towers, over Rangers LHP Derek Holland.
The Rockies overcame the Angels 11-10 with five runs in the bottom of the ninth against RHP Juan Mateo and Nick Pugliese. Colorado 2B Eric Young cleared the bases with a triple. In a sloppy game, 2B Clint Barmes had three of the Rockies’ five errors.
The Cardinals defeated the Mets 6-5 on 2B Ruben Gotay’s homer in the bottom of the ninth against RHP Kiko Calero. St. Louis OF Colby Rasmus hit his third homer, a two-run shot against New York RHP John Maine, and Mets rookie 1B Ike Davis also had his third, against RHP Jason Motte.
The Blue Jays’ 7-6 win over the Braves had a last-inning rally typical of what we see in spring training. Toronto scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, with Michael McDade hitting a game-winning double against RHP Jon Huber. Neither will have an impact in the majors or in fantasy baseball this season.
Injuries:
Mariners LHP Cliff Lee could begin the season on the disabled list because of a lower abdominal strain. Whenever he is ready to pitch, he’s subject to a five-game suspension for throwing at Diamondbacks C Chris Snyder. Lee is appealing the suspension. If he isn’t in the rotation the first time around, LHP Jason Vargas and RHP Doug Fister both are expected to make the rotation. They have been fighting for the fifth starter’s job. Fister left today’s game after Reds 1B Joey Votto hit a line drive off the pitcher’s forearm. The injury has been diagnosed as a bruise.
The Rockies said RHP Huston Street has no structural damage in his sore shoulder. However, he is likely to begin the season on the disabled list, possibly on an injury-rehab assignment. In his absence, LHP Franklin Morales and RHP Manuel Corpas could be Colorado’s closers.
Orioles 2B Brian Roberts (herniated disk) has resumed baseball-related activities.
Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval is expected to be out two days after having five stitches in his right shin to close a cut resulting from a collision at home plate. 3B Ryan Rohlinger will fill in for Sandoval. The news isn’t as good for 2B Freddy Sanchez, recovering from shoulder surgery. He won’t play until late April or early May. Jose Uribe is likely to get most of the playing time at second, but San Francisco also will use LF Mark DeRosa in the infield while Sanchez is out.
Astros CF Michael Bourn is out because of a strained right oblique muscle. Playing in his place, OF Jason Bourgeois stole his fourth base and improved his batting average to .286 in an 8-6 win over the Yankees.
NCAA news and blues:
No, I’m not just bitter because the teams I picked are dropping like flies in the NCAA basketball tournament. I am disappointed in the subjectivity and bias toward big conferences and big programs by the selection committee. If Kansas truly was the No. 1 overall seed, then why did Duke get a road to the Final Four only slightly tougher than Syracuse’s December schedule?
As short as I can make this discussion, the tournament should take one of two paths. 1. Become a tournament of champions, with each conference sending the regular-season champion and the survivor of a post-season tournament excluding the champ to the dance. Who really needs the ninth-place team with a losing record in a major conference to help decide the winner? 2. Let everyone in, using the conference tournaments as preliminary rounds. The tournament champs plus the remaining teams in the losers’ bracket of a double-elimination format would advance. The whole thing would be double-elimination, so the conference tournament champs would have to lose twice to be out. The conference tournaments still would have meaning and produce a champion. The regular season couldn’t be more meaningless than it is now, and it would lead to seedings for the conference tournament.
Sample Scouting Report:
Mat Latos, RHP, Padres
Ht.: 6-5 Wt.: 210 T: R Age: 22 Inj. Risk: 10 Alt. Pos.: SP
{2010} Latos so thoroughly dominated low Class A ball last season, that San Diego jumped him to Double-A San Antonio. After he went 5-1 and made the Texas League All-Star game, they only place for him was to go straight to the majors. Latos made another 10 starts for the Padres before they shut him down in September. He throws a mid-90s fastball complemented by both a slider and a curve. The hulking, multi-tattooed Latos has the potential to become a staff ace in time. He should do just fine this year as well. Born: Dec. 9, 1987, Alexandria, Va. 2009: Padres, 51 IP, 4 W, 4.62 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 0 S, 39 SO.
Projection
IP: 133 W: 11 ERA: 3.92 WHIP: 1.27 S: 0 SO: 105 Value: $5
Wade LeBlanc, LHP, Padres
Ht.: 6-3 Wt.: 200 T: L Age: 25 Inj. Risk: 10 Alt. Pos.: SP
{2010} LeBlanc completely turned around his 2008 season last year. At Triple-A Portland, he had poorer results (4-9) than in ’08, when he won 11 games, but pitched much better (3.87 ERA and 1.16 WHIP). He was pitching well enough that the Padres called him up for nine starts, in which he turned around his 1-3 major league mark from 2008 by knocking more than four runs off his ERA and 89 points off his WHIP. He’s not likely to become an ace because his fastball barely reaches 90 mph. LeBlanc does have a sharp-breaking curve and a changeup not far on this side of Johan Santana’s. Born: Aug. 7, 1984, Lake Charles, La. 2009: Padres, 46 IP, 3 W, 3.69 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 0 S, 30 SO.
Projection
IP: 124 W: 8 ERA: 4.28 WHIP: 1.30 S: 0 SO: 88 Value: $2

Hot and Not -- Beckett, King Felix looking good

The players listed here were the major league statistical leaders during the last week. Batting averages are based on 20 at-bats, and ERA and WHIP on seven innings pitched. In most cases, we eliminate batters with an average lower than .280 and pitchers with ERAs above 4.00 from the Hot list. Keep in mind players’ career performance and current-season totals even more than current trends in deciding on whether to keep those players in your lineup.

Hot

Pos. Name, Team H-AB Avg. HR-RBI SB

OF Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners 14-28 .500 1-1 1
OF Jermaine Dye, White Sox 12-24 .500 3-6 0
OF Nate Schierholtz, Giants 12-24 .500 2-3 0
SS Jack Wilson, Pirates 10-20 .500 1-3 1
1B Adam LaRoche, Pirates 11-24 .458 2-5 1
SS Stephen Drew, D-backs 10-23 .435 1-4 1
OF Josh Willingham, Nationals 9-21 .429 0-3 1
OF Carl Crawford, Rays 10-24 .417 0-3 2
OF Cody Ross, Marlins 9-23 .391 1-4 0
OF Franklin Gutierrez, Mariners 9-23 .391 1-3 2
SS Orlando Cabrera, Athletics 9-23 .391 0-1 0

Drew was on the Not list last week.

Home runs – Blue Jays 2B Aaron Hill 4; Dye, Mariners 1B/3B Russell Branyan, White Sox 1B Paul Konerko, Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez and Giants 3B/1B/C Pablo Sandoval 3.

Sandoval was on our Hot list during each of the previous two weeks.

RBI – Ramirez 15; Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez 9; Hill, Angels OF Bobby Abreu and Indians OF Grady Sizemore 8.

Stolen bases – Marlins 3B/2B Emilio Bonifacio 4; Padres SS Everth Cabrera and Yankees SS Derek Jeter 3.

Runs – Suzuki 8; Bonifacio, Hill, Jeter and Willingham 7.

Throws Pitcher, Team IP ERA W-L WHIP SO/BB

RHP Tommy Hanson, Braves 11.1 0.00 2-0 1.15 6:7
LHP J.A. Happ, Phillies 9.0 0.00 1-0 0.56 4:0
RHP Felix Hernandez, Mariners 8.0 0.00 1-0 0.63 9:1
LHP Ricky Romero, Blue Jays 7.0 0.00 1-0 0.43 7:1
RHP A.J. Burnett, Yankees 7.0 0.00 1-0 0.57 10:3
RHP Josh Beckett, Red Sox 7.0 0.00 1-0 0.86 6:0
RHP Ricky Nolasco, Marlins 7.0 0.00 1-0 1.14 7:1
RHP John Lackey, Angels 7.0 0.00 0-0 1.14 9:3
LHP Doug Davis, D-backs 7.0 0.00 0-0 1.14 8:3
RHP Javier Vazquez, Braves 14.1 0.63 1-1 1.40 13:5

Beckett and Hernandez are on the Hot list for the second consecutive week.

Wins – Hanson, Rockies RHP Aaron Cook, Padres RHP Chad Gaudin, Royals RHP Zack Greinke, Rays LHP J.P. Howell and Twins LHP Francisco Liriano 2.

Saves – Twins RHP Joe Nathan, Yankees RHP Mariano Rivera, Tigers RHP Fernando Rodney and Rockies RHP Huston Street 3-for-3.

WHIP – Romero, Astros RHP Felipe Paulino and Yankees LHP C.C. Sabathia 0.43; Gaudin 0.53; Happ 0.56.

Strikeout/walk ratio (10 Ks, at least a 2.5:1 ratio) – Dodgers RHP Hiroki Kuroda 14:0; Gaudin 20:3; Giants RHP Tim Lincecum 12:2; Phillies RHP Joe Blanton 10:2; Burnett 10:3;Tigers RHP Edwin Jackson 12:4; Mariners LHP Jason Vargas 13:5.

* * *

Not

Pos. Player, Team H-AB Avg. HR-RBI SB

SS/2B Luis Valbuena, Indians 1-22 .045 0-0 0
OF Alex Rios, Blue Jays 2-21 .095 0-1 2
SS/2B Alex Cora, Mets 3-26 .115 0-2 0
SS/3B/2B Marco Scutaro 3-25 .120 1-3 0
OF/1B Marcus Thames, Tigers 3-25 .120 0-0 0
2B/3B/SS Jeff Keppinger, Astros 3-25 .120 0-2 0
OF Ryan Ludwick, Cardinals 3-25 .120 1-2 0
OF/1B Nick Swisher, Yankees 3-25 .120 2-3 0
OF Dexter Fowler, Rockies 3-20 .150 0-0 1
OF Rick Ankiel, Cardinals 4-25 .160 0-2 1

The week’s hitless wonders were Nationals 1B Nick Johnson 0-for-17, Braves 2B Kelly Johnson and Phillies 2B/SS/OF Eric Bruntlett 0-for-11; Tigers SS/OF Don Kelly 0-for-10.

Beltre and Hermida were on the Hot list a week ago.

Walk/strikeout ratio (10 or more strikeouts) – Dodgers OF Matt Kemp 1:10; Athletics OF Jack Cust 2:12.

Caught stealing – D-backs 3B Mark Reynolds 0-for-2; Pirates OF Nyjer Morgan and White Sox OF Scott Podsednik 1-for-3; Rays OF B.J. Upton 2-for-4.

The pitchers on the next list each made two starts, doubly damaging their real and fantasy teams.

Throws Pitcher, Team IP ERA W-L WHIP SO/BB

RHP Matt Palmer, Angels 9.2 11.17 1-1 2.48 5:7
RHP Todd Wellemeyer, Cardinals 8.0 9.00 0-1 2.75 4:8
RHP Jeff Suppan, Brewers 10.2 7.59 0-2 2.16 8:5
LHP Garrett Olson, Mariners 10.1 6.97 1-1 1.26 5:1
RHP Trevor Cahill, Athletics 10.2 6.75 1-1 1.31 6:2
RHP Tim Redding, Mets 12.1 6.57 1-1 1.14 10:3
RHP Vin Mazzaro, Athletics 11.0 5.73 0-2 1.64 14:6
RHP Ryan Dempster, Cubs 11.2 5.40 0-1 1.97 8:7
RHP Micah Owings, Reds 11.2 5.40 1-1 1.71 5:6
RHP Carlos Zambrano, Cubs 12.1 5.11 0-1 1.46 7:4

Losses – Mazzaro, Suppan and Mets RHP Livan Hernandez 2. This is about the time of year when batters seem to catch up with Hernandez each season. Dump him if you haven’t already.

Blown saves – Tigers RHP Joel Zumaya 0-for-2; Astros RHP Jose Valverde 1-for-3.