Derek Holland of the Rangers threw a shutout against the Indians his last time out and struck out seven in five and two-thirds innings in the start before that (though he allowed five runs). With his top-prospect pedigree, increased average fastball speed (93.44 mph vs. 92.1 last year) and continued seasoning, he’s the type of player who could put it all together in the second half.
Grady Sizemore is back again from the disabled list, but it’s hard to get too excited about it. He’s hitting .266 in 109 at-bats, and given his track record (.272 career average), vast improvement should not be expected. Sizemore has attempted only one steal (unsuccessfully), and that part of his game is likely to be greatly diminished if not gone entirely. What’s left is a player with good but not great power (think of Juan Rivera if Rivera were to have a full season of at-bats); poor plate discipline (5 walks against 33 strikeouts); and high injury risk.
Carlos Marmol was excellent last year despite an ungodly 52 walks in 77 2/3 innings pitched largely because his strikeout rate (16 per 9 innings) was off the charts. This year, he has cut down on the walks slightly (14 in 27 innings), but his strikeouts have also dipped to a merely elite 12.3 per 9 IP. He has also blown his last two save chances and seen his average fastball velocity dip from 94.1 last year to 91.6 this season. It’s an open question whether he can get away with the poor control at his current capacity, and that the Cubs are dysfunctional and playing poorly probably doesn’t help.
Jonny Venters didn’t win the Atlanta closer job out of spring training, but he’s the rare middle reliever who is valuable in nearly any format. Venters’s 35 strikeouts and 11 walks in 35 2/3 innings are solid but unspectacular for a late-inning reliever, but his unheard-of 9.29-to-1 groundball-to-fly-ball ratio sets him apart. Of the 16 hits he has allowed on the year, only two (one double and one triple) have gone for extra bases. He has allowed only two earned runs so far this season, while posting four wins and one save.
Typically relievers don’t throw enough innings to move the needle in E.R.A. or WHIP, but when the E.R.A. is 0.50 and the WHIP is 0.757, their impact is significant. Put differently, subtract Venters’s numbers from C.C. Sabathia’s (93 1/3 IP, 88 hits, 26 walks, 29 earned runs, 70 K, 2.80 E.R.A., 1.221 WHIP, 7-3 record), and you get a pitcher who is 3-3 with 35 strikeouts in 57 2/3 IP with a 4.21 E.R.A., a 1.510 WHIP and minus-one save, i.e., someone below replacement value in many formats.
Source: http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/fantasy-focus-moving-the-needle-9/?scp=8&sq=moving&st=cse
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