Ubaldo Jimenez won his 15th game of the season yesterday in his final start before the All-Star break. He struck out 6 over 8 innings, and only allowed 1 earned run. I want to see his next start before putting my concerns to rest, but he definitely looked a lot better.
Mat Latos won his 10th game of the season, throwing 7 shutout innings against the Nationals. It has been noted that Latos is on an inning limit for the season, and is already at 106 2/3 innings. The Padres are in the thick of the race, and I really wonder if they are going to stick with that limit if the race is close. I could see them skipping him or putting him on an extra day or two of rest between starts to help keep him available through the whole season.
Carl Crawford hit 2 homeruns yesterday, raising his season total to 10. He is now hitting .321 with the 10 homeruns, 48 runs batted in, a ridiculous 66 runs scored, and 29 stolen bases. Clearly, the Rays aren't going to unload him because he's a free agent. But he's definitely going to get paid after the season, especially if he hits his pace: .321, 18 homeruns, 90+ RBI, 110+ runs scored and nearly 60 stolen bases. He could very well end up as the top outfielder overall.
Clayton Kershaw struck out 12 and allowed only 2 earned runs en route to the Dodgers' victory yesterday. Interestingly, he was pulled after 8 innings with only 97 pitches in favor of closer Jonathan Broxton. The part that stands out to me though is that Kershaw was able to not walk a batter in the game, only the second time he's done that all season. If he can keep that up, he could vault into the elite group of starters.John Danks took a no-hitter into the 7th inning and ended up with a shutout against the Angels. Danks now has 8 wins on the season, and a 3.29 ERA. I don't think he's going to fit into the top-20 of starters most likely, but he's probably right on the outskirts of the list.
Roy Oswalt just continues to raise his trade value, throwing a 1 hit shutout yesterday against the Pirates. I think he is still likely to be moved before the trade deadline, and to me the team that makes a lot of sense is the Mets. Especially if the Mets can't acquire Cliff Lee instead.
Jose Bautista hit his 23rd home run of the season yesterday in the Blue Jays' victory. I am having a real hard time trying to figure out where to place him in my outfielder rankings, as he is on pace for 40 homeruns this season, but with a very poor batting average. I'm not a believer that he can keep this up, but if he finishes with the 17 more homeruns and 45 more runs batted in to get to 40/100, there's a lot of value there.