Roto Lunch – August 8
Posted by Rob McQuown on Saturday, August 8, 2009 at 10:09 am
Four out of 5 pitcher picks for yesterday did well, but it may be time to evaluate the 5th pick, and one of the underlying assumptions we made about Oakland. Bannister got roughed up, and we’re not surprised, since – while we admire the fact that he looks at his Pitch F/X data (hopefully in addition the tape that most pitchers review to get a sense of the same things) – he doesn’t exactly bring the most tools to the Carpenter’s Convention. His mediocrity was shrugged off with, “Brian Bannister doesn’t inspire much confidence, but he’s been doing a great job recently. Far be it from the Oakland A’s to slow him down – they can only beat Boston and Texas.” While the quip about Boston and Texas was meant as pure snark, since the A’s are a bad team which had taken series from these two competitors, maybe their “awakening” recently has some legs?
A’s batters in July: .296/.351/.429 (5.3 RPG)
A’s team scoring in August: 36 runs in 7 games (5.1 RPG)
… no, neither of these rates seem amazing, but compared to the team’s 4.5 RPG rate for the season, it’s a big step up. Well, we’re not going to change our opinion of the A’s offense. Why? Holliday and O-Cab got hot in July, and are now gone. The 5.1 RPG is August is borne by a paltry .243/.303/.404 batting line. Expect Oakland to again be seen as a safe harbor for your starting pitchers starting immediately.
[ed - added notes: Added of Gerardo Parra and ss Everth Cabrera as SB sources, and wanted to share this Onion Baseball article link, which is hilarious: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/blue_jays_gm_confirms_there_never?utm_source=a-section]
Starting Pitchers:
- Mat Latos was reportedly going to be held to 100 IP (total – majors and minors) this year. But it’s impossible to ignore him today against the injured Mets and Parnell in San Diego.
- Justin Masterson faces the White Sox and is a decent play, though the White Sox – with Quentin back and Beckham becoming established as a star - is much more dangerous than they were earlier in the season.
- If you need to take a flier on pitchers, the “youth” matchup of Chris Tillman and Brett Cecil features two good pitchers against average offenses. Either could help, though Cecil has shown more so far.
Batters:
- dh Travis Hafner. @ Chicago. Against someone named “Carlos Torres”. Buy.
- In a grab-to-own move, Billy Butler is on track now, and facing lefties has always been fun for him.
- of Gerardo Parra
- 3b Scott Rolen faces Zito.
- c A.J. Pierzynski faces off against Masterson, who’s shown some weakness against LHB.
- 2b/3b Ian Stewart against Dempster is a danger of an 0-for-4 with 3 K’s, but could also easily go deep.
- of Melky Cabrera continues his good season – .308 with 3 HR the past 2 weeks.
- of Dexter Fowler has been hitting, and with Soto behind the plate, Dempster could be vulnerable to steals.
