The Boston Red Sox hold a 17-16 record and a -11 run differential entering play Tuesday. To get back into playoff contention, the Sox face a steep climb up baseball’s version of Mount Kilimanjaro, the AL East. With the Yankees and Rays playing superbly, Boston currently has a seven percent chance of making the playoffs according to coolstandings.com and a 15 percent shot according to Baseball Prospectus.

Much attention has been paid to the disappointing start of Josh Beckett. After inking a four-year, $68 million contract extension in early April, Beckett has been bombed for a 7.46 ERA over his first seven starts. What gives?

Let’s start with the obvious: he hasn’t been that bad. While Beckett’s ERA makes him look like he should be mopping up for Billy Ray “Rojo” Johnson, he has been subject to terrible luck on balls put in play and has stranded far fewer base runners than usual. Beckett’s BABIP is .365 (.303 career), and his left on base rate is 56.9 percent (71.5 percent career).

While the 30-year-old (this Saturday) has undoubtedly gotten some bad breaks, he also hasn’t been his usual dominant self, either. In 41 innings, Beckett has 7.46 K/9 (lowest since 2006) and 3.51 BB/9 (highest since ’06). His 4.35 xFIP is a run higher than his 2009 mark, and is also his highest since the righty’s first year in Beantown back in 2006.

Beckett’s 8.6 percent swinging strike rate is right in line with his marks in recent years. His 82 percent contact rate is just slightly higher than his 80-81 percent figures from 2006-2009. The big change lies in Beckett’s percentage of pitches thrown within the strike zone: his Zone%, in the 52-54 percent range from ’06-09, was consistently above the 48-51 percent MLB average. This year, however, Beckett has located 47.8 percent of his pitches within the zone (the MLB average thus far is 48 percent).

The main culprits for Beckett’s so-so control and slightly elevated contact rate appear to be his two-seam fastball and his curveball. In 2009, he threw his two-seamer for a strike 64.5 percent (57.2 MLB average), with a 10 percent whiff rate (5% MLB average). This year, his two-seamer has been thrown for a strike 58.1 percent, with a 7.5 percent whiff rate. Beckett’s curve got strikes 59.6 percent in ’09 (58% MLB average), with batters whiffing 11.5 percent (11.6% MLB average). In 2010, the hammer’s strike percentage is 54.3, and its whiff percentage is 9.4. Beckett is throwing fewer curves this season (18.8%, compared to 25.5% in 2009), mixing in more cutters and changeups.

It’s true, Beckett hasn’t been great to begin 2010. But I don’t see any reason for outright panic. After years of fantastic pitching, he has gone though a stretch during which he has been merely average. Beckett’s not suddenly getting battered. Rather, he’s having some difficulty placing his two-seam fastball and signature curve and has subsequently issued more free passes than usual. This looks like a good time to pry Beckett from a frustrated owner: ZiPS projects 8.3 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 3.37 FIP for the rest of the season, and I see little reason to think he’s more than a mechanical adjustment away from resuming his role as Red Sox co-ace.

Mired in a three game losing streak, the Cubs shook things up last week by shifting Ryan Theriot to second base and calling upon top prospect Starlin Castro to assume shortstop duties. Bryan ranked him as the 25th best prospect in the game coming into the season, then introduced you to him on Friday, so let’s not reinvent the wheel and instead focus on what his arrival means for you fantasy owners.

Castro debuted in a huge way, whacking a three run homer in his first big league plate appearance before ripping a bases clearing triple later in the game, making him the first player in history to pick up six RBI in his debut. And that’s on top of being the youngest shortstop in Cubs’ history. It was without a doubt an impressive debut, and as things like that tend to do, it sent more than one owner scrambled to the waiver wire to gobble him up before anyone else did.

CHONE projects a .251/.290/.339 batting line (.280 wOBA by my calculation) with three homers and 14 steals this year, and a projection like that would have him outside of the top 16 fantasy shortstops. Unfortunately for your fantasy team, a big chunk of his value comes from his ability to field a premium position, which does nothing for you unless you’re in a league that counts UZR or +/- (that would be pretty cool).

Even if we want to dream a little bit and say that Castro will instead approach the league average .326 wOBA with 15 or so steals the rest of the year, it puts him on fantasy par with guys like Alexei Ramirez and (not to mix positions, but) Luis Castillo. Basically backup options in mixed leagues or second and third tier starting options in deep mixed or AL/NL-only leagues. However, I look at Castro and think he compares favorably to another NL Central rookie shortstop: Alcides Escobar.

For whatever reason, Escobar has gone from a 20+ SB threat to zero (and just one attempt) through the season’s first month. He says he’s going to steal more, but it hasn’t happened yet. ZiPS sees a .271 AVG with 18 SB and five homers the rest of the way, and I think Castro could give you almost exactly that as well. If anything, I’d expect just a little more pop from the Cubs’ shortstop because of his home park. 20-year-olds are tricky to project, so there’s a whole lotta dreamin’ that has to go on here.

Castro set the bar high in his big league debut, but he’s done a good job of following that up and has reached base in all four games he’s played. If you’re a frustrated Escobar owner, swapping him out with Castro could net you those steals you thought you were getting, and maybe even a little more. He’s owned in just 10% of Yahoo! leagues, so chances are he’s still available in yours as well.

Back after a week lost to illness, here are your third base rankings. wOBA numbers are listed as “(Current, ZiPS Updated)”. If the wOBA numbers are a couple of points off, don’t sweat it, because it’s just me writing these things up ahead of time.

Big Three
Alex Rodriguez (.363, .389)
Evan Longoria (.417, .397)
David Wright (.401, .401)

According to wOBA and ZiPS, Wright is wright (intended, shamelessly) on target.

Medium Three
Ryan Zimmerman (.432, .385)
Pablo Sandoval (.337, .371)
Mark Reynolds (.377, .371)

I decided to place Zimmerman above Kung Fu Panda. He’s got more power and the batting average is more than good enough. Reynolds is still cranking balls out of the park, but that’s partly because he’s been getting the ball in the air more often.

Third Base Group X
Jorge Cantu (.350, .341)
Ian Stewart (.395, .362)
Michael Young (.312, .339)
Scott Rolen (.339, .346)

Cantu and Stewart move up at the expense of Young. Cantu is very steady, and I like what Stewart is doing at the plate.

The “A” Team
Aramis Ramirez (.218, .324)
Adrian Beltre (.361, .350)

Yes, America, I hear your cries regarding A-Ram. He’s aging, and even though his numbers say he’ll bounce back, I don’t think it will be enough to be anything special. If you ask me, he’s almost done.

The “C” Team
Chipper Jones (.352, .382)
Casey McGehee (.396, .347)
Casey Blake (.336, .347)
David Freese (.387, .352)
Chase Headley (.369, .335)

McGehee sure is slugging the ball, eh?

The Rest of ‘Em
Andy LaRoche (.362, .341)
Jhonny Peralta (.301, .323)
Mark Teahen (.304, .327)
Kevin Kouzmanoff (.295, .322)
Alex Gordon (.299, .329)
Mark DeRosa (.243, .313)
Edwin Encarnacion (.296, .315)
Brandon Inge (.322, .314)

I originally had LaRoche and Peralta in their own group, but decided to just lump them together with the rest of these fools. Seriously, though, can someone please save Gordon from the hell that is the Royals organization?

Back after a week lost to illness, here are your first base rankings. wOBA numbers are listed as “(Current, ZiPS Updated)”. If the wOBA numbers are a couple of points off, don’t sweat it, because it’s just me writing these things up ahead of time.

The Machine
Albert Pujols (.407, .455)

Albert’s OPS is below 1.000. I’m shocked.

Big Ballerz
Miguel Cabrera (.460, .420)
Ryan Howard (.336, .385)
Mark Teixeira (.331, .366)
Prince Fielder (.346, .389)

Cabrera holds strong at number two, with Teixeira overtaking Fielder for the number four spot. It wasn’t his power surge in Boston that did it. Just kidding, it was his power surge in Boston.

Not Quite Elite
Adrian Gonzalez (.369, .379)
Joey Votto (.424, .398)
Kevin Youkilis (.425, .399)

Am I the only one who thinks Youkilis could hit way more homers if he wanted to? Also, Joey Votto is really good.

A Cuban, A Canadian, and a Fat Guy
Justin Morneau (.466, .412)
Kendry Morales (.354, .356)
Adam Dunn (.393, .396)
Derrek Lee (.304, .355)
Paul Konerko (.455, .393)

This group keeps on growing. Adam Dunn jumps up two spots, and Konerko continues his ascent back into fantasy relevance.

Writers Block
Carlos Pena (.295, .357)
Billy Butler (.364, .365)
Adam LaRoche (.371, .380)
James Loney (.337, .350)

Remember, folks, Billy Butler is only 24 years old. It doesn’t look like it will be this year, but his power will continue to develop and he will be freakin’ awesome.

Two Men and a Baby
Garrett Jones (.348, .359)
Justin Smoak (.314, .327)*
Todd Helton (.306, .354)
Lance Berkman (.288, .375)

Smoak does not have a ZiPS Update, so his number is simply his ZiPS projection. I like what he’s doing thus far, and yes, I’d rather have him than Helton or Berkman going forward.

The Rest of ‘Em
Daric Barton (.371, .360)
Luke Scott (.282, .333)
Russell Branyan (.263, .336)
David Ortiz (.291, .358)

Branyan is yet to hit a dinger this year, and Big Papi is showing little signs of life once and awhile. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very close to done, but he might have one decent year left in him. At least, that’s what the Red Sox are hoping.

During his first full year as a big league starter, Max Scherzer showcased a sizzling fastball. The University of Missouri righty, who came to terms with the Diamondbacks after a protracted holdout that included a stint in indy ball, averaged 94.1 MPH with his heater. In 170.1 frames, Scherzer whiffed 9.19 batters per nine innings, walked 3.33 and posted a 3.88 xFIP that ranked in the top 20 among NL starting pitchers.

Shipped to Detroit over the winter as part of a three-time trade that put Curtis Granderson in Yankee pinstripes, Scherzer was expected to team with Justin Verlander to give the Tigers a pair of high-octane aces at the front of the rotation. Recapping Scherzer’s ’09 season, I wrote the following back in January:

Overall, Scherzer’s first year as a permanent starter was extremely promising. Many have wondered why the Diamondbacks shipped him out of town, preferring two years of team control over Edwin Jackson and six years of Ian Kennedy over five years of Scherzer and six years of Daniel Schlereth.

The most likely reason is that Arizona doubts Scherzer’s long-term health and viability as a starting pitcher. To recap his extensive injury history since 2006: shoulder and biceps tendinitis in ‘06, shoulder inflammation in 2008, shoulder fatigue and tightness in 2009. His health certainly bears watching, especially considering that Scherzer’s innings total increased from 109 in 2008 to 175 in 2009 (major league innings plus one rehab start).

There’s little doubt that Scherzer has the talent to become one of the top 20-30 starters in the majors. Few pitchers combine his ability to miss bats with quality control. The question is: can he hold up physically?

While Scherzer hasn’t missed any time in 2010, he also hasn’t displayed the electric stuff that made him such a prized commodity in fantasy circles: his average fastball velocity is 91.7 MPH this year. In 2009, batters whiffed at Scherzer’s gas 13.1 percent of the time. That blew the six percent big league average out of the water. In 2010, though? his whiff rate on the fastball is a nothing-special 5.9 percent. His fastball was thrown for a strike 65.6 percent last year, but that figure has fallen to 61.7 percent with the Tigers (64.4 percent MLB average).

That fastball is clearly key to Scherzer’s success: per Trip Somers’ tool, Scherzer threw a fastball 74.3 percent of the time in 2009 and has gone to it 68.5 percent in 2010. Given the big drop in whiff rate on the pitch, it’s not surprising to see that Scherzer’s contact rate is up to a MLB average 81 percent, compared to last year’s 76.9 percent mark, and his swinging strike rate is also right around the big league average at 8.2 percent. In 2009, it was 10.6 percent.

Back in April, Mike Fast estimated that a starter’s run average increased by 0.25 runs for every MPH of fastball velocity lost. So far, Scherzer has a 6.81 ERA in 37 innings pitched. He hasn’t been that bad: a .346 BABIP and very low strand rate (58.3 percent) haven’t done him any favors. But with just 6.08 K/9 and 3.41 BB/9, Scherzer’s xFIP sits at a mediocre 4.85. A two-plus MPH loss in velocity would suggest a rise in runs allowed per nine frames in the neighborhood of six-tenths of a run. For a guy as reliant on the heat as Scherzer, perhaps it’s a bit more.

This isn’t to set off panic alarms. I’m not going to channel Jim Cramer and scream “Sell! Sell! Sell!” (Plus, I don’t have a fancy sound-effect board, so it wouldn’t have the same resonance.) But, given Scherzer’s checkered health history, the drop off in velocity is troubling and should be monitored. Scherzer hasn’t shown the same ferocious fastball with his new club.

When it comes to offensive ineptitude, the Houston Astros reign supreme. Collectively, ‘Stros batters have a MLB-worst .260 wOBA. That’s 29 points below the mark posted by the second-to-last Mariners. Houston ranks dead last in the majors in walk rate as well, at 5.1 percent. It’s not close, either: the Royals and Orioles, tied for 29th-place, look downright patient by comparison, drawing free passes at a 7.2 percent rate. Not surprisingly, the Astros have hacked at plenty of pitches out of the strike zone (29.8 percent, 6th-highest in the majors; the MLB average is 25-27% in recent years).

The biggest hacker, aside from Humberto Quintero, has been right fielder Hunter Pence. Houston’s second round pick in the 2004 draft broke into the big leagues in 2007, hitting .322/.360/.539 with a .384 wOBA. While Pence displayed excellent pop during his rookie year (.217 Isolated Power), his .377 batting average on balls in play was bound to come down. It did in 2008 (.301 BABIP), and his line dropped to .269/.318/.466 (.334 wOBA). Pence again put a charge into the ball, with a .197 ISO, but his free-swinging ways were more of a problem without all of those additional bloops and bleeders avoiding leather.

In 2009, Pence showed more restraint at the plate and turned in a quality offensive season. After swinging at 29.8 percent of pitches out of the zone in ’07 and 31.1 percent in ’08, Pence chased 26.6 percent of outside pitches in ’09. His walk rate, 5.4 percent and 6.2 percent the two previous seasons, climbed to nine percent (right around the MLB average). With more walks, similar power (.190 ISO) and a .308 BABIP, Pence produced a .282/.346/.472 triple-slash (.351 wOBA).

At 27, Pence appeared ready to settle in as a good fantasy option with a passable walk rate, above-average power and a dash of speed (he cracked the double digits in SB each year from 2007-2009). ZiPS predicted a .350 wOBA, while CHONE (.358 wOBA) and the FANS (.363 wOBA) expected slightly more.

Instead, Pence has sputtered to a .231/.252/.343 line so far, with a feeble .254 wOBA. Those plate discipline gains haven’t carried over to 2010, as he has swung at 34.4 of pitches off the dish. Pence has worked opposing pitchers for a walk just three times in 111 plate appearances (2.7 percent). He’s putting the ball in play on the first pitch or getting behind in the count 0-1 at the highest rate of his career, with a 65.8 first pitch strike percentage (57-58% MLB average).

Pence is making contact at the highest rate of his career, but most of that additional contact is coming on those pitcher’s pitches off the plate: his percentage of contact within the zone is 89 percent (85% career average), but his O-Contact is 75.4 percent (57.5% career average). Swinging at and making contact with so many bad pitches has led to plenty of weakly hit balls put in play for Pence.

His groundball rate, 49-53 percent between 2007 and 2009, has spiked to 65.3 percent. Pence’s rate of fly balls hit has dipped to 24.2 percent (32.4% career average) and his line drive rate is 10.5 percent (15.3% career average). Ground balls, obviously, don’t lead to many extra-base hits. Grounders hit in the NL have a .250 slugging percentage in 2010, compared to .615 for fly balls and .988 for line drives. When Pence isn’t pounding the ball into the grass, he’s popping it up. His infield/fly ball percentage is 26.1 percent, compared to a 12.1% career average and the near-eight percent big league average. The University of Texas at Arlington product might have a .239 BABIP, but he’s been awful by any measure.

Pence owners should ride out this rough stretch, as his value is at its lowest point. This could be a good time to grab Pence at a serious discount, though, as he’s owned in just 65% of Yahoo leagues and has surely frustrated some of those owners who have held on to him. Of course, Pence being a buy-low candidate capable of paying dividends is predicated on his taking a plate approach that doesn’t resemble a stoner with the munchies swinging at a pinata. Pence needs to show better patience if he’s going to rebound significantly.

Updates on three rotation spots from around the league…

Derek Holland | Rangers

Matt Harrison is on the disabled list with a biceps tendon issue, so Texas is turning to Holland to fill his rotation spot. The 23-year-old posted an unsightly 6.12 ERA with a 1.50 WHIP in 138.1 IP for the big league team last year, though his 4.38 xFIP is a bit better. He was extremely homer prone, surrendering one long ball for every 5.1 IP, and it wasn’t just a function of Texas’ ballpark either (1.25 HR/9 on the road). Holland is still one of the brightest young lefties in the game, absolutely destroying the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League before his promotion (2.16 FIP, 8.6 K/9, 5.3 K/BB). His next two starts are at home, so the homers might continue to be a problem, but he’ll face the A’s (.308 wOBA) and Angels (.317 wOBA), hardly offensive powerhouses.

Holland is owned in just 2% of Yahoo! leagues, but he should be a nice boost for your team over his next two starts, if not more.

Kris Medlen | Braves

Jair Jurrjens, a fantasy darling last year because of a 2.60 ERA and 14 wins, is on the disabled list with a bum hammy, leaving his starts to the 24-year-old Medlen. He held the Phillies to one run over 4.1 IP in his first start over the weekend, and overall he’s got a snazzy 6.33 K/BB and 3.38 xFIP, albeit in just 22 IP. Medlen’s somewhat limited track record suggests that he can miss bats (9.8% career SwStr%), keep the ball on the ground (41.4 GB%) and thus limit homers (0.60 HR/9), but he’s still a bit of a roll of the dice. His next start comes against the Diamondbacks, and it sounds like Jurrjens will be back shortly after that. Despite sexy ERA and WHIP totals, I consider him non-rosterable in anything but the deepest of deep leagues.

Ross Ohlendorf | Pirates

Back spasms kept the former Yankee on the disabled list for the last month, but he’s set to return to the Buc’s rotation later today. Ohlendorf’s sparkling 3.92 ERA last season hid some poor peripherals – 5.55 K/9, 1.27 HR/9, .265 BABIP – so it’s tough to expect him to maintain a similar ERA going forward. Following today’s start against the Reds, he’ll take on the Cubs in Wrigley, so they aren’t the best of matchups. In a deep mixed or NL-only league, Ohlendorf has a smidgen of value as a matchup 6th or 7th SP. He’s still available in 97% of Yahoo! leagues, but I wouldn’t rush out to get him. Not until he shows he’s over the back issues and is somewhat serviceable, anyway.

Here are three players with low ownership rates who could pay immediate dividends in fantasy leagues:

Mike Aviles, Kansas City Royals (owned in 7% of Yahoo! leagues)

In 592 lifetime PA in the majors, Aviles has a .298-13-61-83-9 fantasy line which is outstanding production for a guy to slot in your MI position. Of course, the problem is that Aviles toils for the Royals, who think he fits in behind both Yuniesky Betancourt and Chris Getz in the pecking order and sent him to the minors early in the year. But Aviles has started five of the past six games (and pinch-hit in the other). Eventually talent wins out so expect Aviles to log more playing time than either of those inferior players for the remainder of the season.

Scott Hairston, San Diego Padres (owned in 3% of Yahoo! leagues)

Despite his great production for half a season for the Padres in 2009, Hairston opened the year as a platoon player and was in the lesser half as the right-handed part of the time share with Tony Gwynn Jr. But he has started 10 games since April 28th and has a .294 AVG with 4 HR in that span. RoS ZiPS gives him 14 HR in 337 ABs. If he can stay healthy, Hairston has a chance to exceed that playing time prediction. He can offer a nice power/speed combo but Hairston will need to cut back on his strikeouts, which currently sits at a 35.8 K%, if he wants to improve on his .254 AVG.

Scott Olsen, Washington Nationals (owned in 5% of Yahoo! leagues)

After getting lit up in his first two outings of the season, Olsen is 2-0 in his last three starts, with a 0.44 ERA. Additionally, he has 5 BB and 20 Ks in 20.1 IP in that stretch. Olsen has a little extra zip on his fastball this year, with his average velocity of 89.2 mph a full 1.2 mph higher than it was a year ago. That, along with throwing his fastball less often, has helped make a very poor pitch in 2009 (-17.8 wFB) one that is almost league average (-1.4 wFB) this year. Olsen has been throwing both his slider and change more often in 2010. His slider is a very good pitch and his change is now a plus offering.

Back after a week lost to illness, here are your catcher rankings. wOBA numbers are listed as “(current wOBA, ZiPS ROS)”. If the wOBA numbers are a couple of points off, don’t sweat it, because it’s just me writing these things up ahead of time.

Big Three
Joe Mauer (.388, .414)
Brian McCann (.347, .370)
Victor Martinez (.316, .364)

Victor had himself a week. He still has a nice LD%, unlucky BABIP and bad HR/FB%, but they are getting closer to normal. Enjoy the rest of your season with one of the games top catchers.

Happy to Have
Matt Wieters (.334, .341)
Russell Martin (.309, .340)
Jorge Posada (.406, .351)
Geovany Soto (.484, .366)

Half of the time Wieters puts the ball in play, it’s on the ground. Not good. If Jorge wasn’t so old, I’d be more excited about his start. Oh, and a HR/FB% of 27.8% doesn’t help his cause, either. Geo Soto has been tearing it up, and he’s walking more than he’s striking out thus far.

Name That Molina
Bengie Molina (.369, .324)
Yadier Molina (.358, .337)
Ryan Doumit (.364, .346)

Bengie’s average will go down, but he should show more power than he’s displayed thus far. If Ryan Doumit wouldn’t get injured every year, he’d be so much cooler.

I Am Jack’s Catcher
Kurt Suzuki (.367, .336)
Carlos Ruiz (.388, .339)
Ivan Rodriguez (.400, .299)
John Baker (.301, .320)

Suzuki wasn’t all that impressive early on, and an intercostal strain seems like something that could bother him when he comes back. I’m not overly worried yet, so let’s wait before pronouncing him dead.

Problem Children
A.J. Pierzynski (.253, .319)
Jeff Clement (.231, .340)
Miguel Olivo (.348, .313)
Chris Snyder (.372, .354)
Miguel Montero (.497, .351)
Mike Napoli (.321, .362)

When Pierzynski’s .202 BABIP regresses to the mean, it’s going to be glorious. Glorious! For someone who is supposed to be a power hitter, Jeffy likes to hit the ball on the ground. Is it okay if I call him Jeffy?

The Rest of ‘Em
Chris Iannetta (.243, .343)
Rod Barajas (.355, .308)
Jake Fox (.247, .326)
John Buck (.353, .317)
Carlos Santana

Welcome Fox and Buck to this list. And as far as Iannetta goes, getting sent to the minors is a good thing, right?

Here is the latest update to Week Six 2-start pitchers. Again this list is subject to change going forward.

Pitchers not listed on last update

BOS – John Lackey
FLA – Ricky Nolasco
TEX – Colby Lewis
STL – Brad Penny
TOR – Brandon Morrow
ANA – Joel Pineiro
HOU – Brett Myers
DET – Rick Porcello
NYM – Jonathon Niese
KCR – Brian Bannister
LAD – Carlos Monasterios

After getting roughed up by the Rays, Lackey has gone seven innings in each of his last three starts, picking up two wins in the process. His GB/FB ratio is essentially where it’s been the past few years, but Lackey is striking out fewer batters and issuing more walks. His 1.50 K/BB ratio is the worst of his career. Lackey is surviving thanks to a lower LD% and a lower HR/FB rate. He has posted a lower than average HR/FB rate in six of his eight seasons in the majors and so far this year it checks in at 7.1 percent.

Six of the seven homers allowed by Nolasco this year have come in his home park, where he has pitched 16 innings. The rest of the Marlins’ staff has allowed 7 HR in 135 IP at Sun Life Stadium. The average velocity on Nolasco’s fastball is down 1.1 mph and his K/9 has fallen from 9.49 to 7.26. A 1.82 BB/9 has kept his FIP and xFIP right around his ERA of 4.08, which checks in slightly better than the NL average of a 4.20 ERA.

A wicked slider which he throws over 30 percent of the time has helped make Lewis’ second stint in the majors go significantly better than his first. That has led to a 31.4 O-Swing% and a 10.24 K/9 rate. Somewhere on the West Coast, Carson Cistulli cracks a smile over this.

Last year Penny had a 1.13 GB/FB rate but it is back up to 1.49 this year. Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan gets all of the credit for the turnaround yet Penny had a 1.63 GB/FB rate last year with the Giants. Penny is posting the lowest walk rate of his career (1.77 BB/9) and perhaps Duncan deserves credit for that. Still, Penny is pitching better than his peripherals, with an xFIP nearly two runs higher than his ERA.

In his last four outings, Morrow is 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA and has 34 Ks in 24.1 IP. The overall numbers still look bad because of the brutal first two starts but you should definitely check the waiver wire to see if he is still available in your league.

Pineiro still has tremendous GB and BB rates, so why is his ERA sitting at 5.30 or nearly two runs a game higher than last season? Check out that 15.6 HR/FB rate, over twice as high as last year’s mark. Pineiro has also been unlucky with a .351 BABIP. The bottom line is that his xFIP of 3.89 is just slightly higher than last year’s 3.68.

This week Myers has two road starts. He has a 2.57 ERA on the road this year and an 0-2 record.

The K/9 for Porcello has risen from 4.69 to 5.70 this season. Unfortunately his BABIP has risen from .281 to .396 and combine that with a 58.4 LOB% and you get a 7.50 ERA. Porcello’s FIP and xFIP are right in line with last year, when he posed a 3.96 ERA and 14 Wins.

Omar Minaya eschewed adding a free agent pitcher in the offseason, saying he liked his internal candidates as much as what was available after Lackey signed. Niese is trying his best to make Minaya look good and has a 3.60 ERA after six starts despite a .382 BABIP.

This season Bannister has made three starts during the day and three at night. He is 1-0 with a 2.41 ERA in the sunshine and 0-2 with an 8.22 ERA under the lights. In his career, Bannister is 18-8 with a 4.06 ERA in day games and 13-32 with a 5.26 ERA at night.

Monasterios was originally signed by the Yankees out of Venezuela. He was shipped to Philadelphia in the Bobby Abreu deal and was underwhelming in three-plus years in the Phillies’ farm system. This year he was selected by the Mets in the Rule 5 draft and then sold to the Dodgers. He has been effective in relief for Los Angeles and gets bumped into the rotation as Los Angeles looks everywhere for help for its rotation. However, his xFIP is two full runs higher than his ERA.