Alex Rodriguez left last night's game after making 1 at bat, and there is talk that the injury to his calf could put him on the disabled list in the coming days. Clearly, his owners don't want to hear that, and hopefully he will be back in the lineup by Sunday.
Roy Halladay has re-inserted himself into the forefront of the NL Cy Young race, recording his 16th win last night and throwing 7 shutout innings with 5 strikeouts. His ERA on the season now sits at 2.16, has a 1.03 WHIP, and 180 strikeouts in 200 innings.
C.J. Wilson has really become the poster boy for how to convert a reliever to a starting pitcher the right way, and had another great start last night. He went 8 2/3 innings, struck out a career high 12, and only allowed 4 base runners in the victory. I think that he may have to be a top-25 starter for my rankings for next season, as he continues to put up great starts. He now has a 3.02 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 158 innings pitched.
Armando Galarraga pitched well against the Indians yesterday, striking out 8 in 7 innings and walking 0. However, it was against the Indians, so I still would start Galarraga only occasionally, as he could still very easily get blown up in his next start.
A.J. Burnett pitched poorly again yesterday, allowing 6 earned runs, 3 walks, and 12 hits in his 7 innings of work. I saw a few of the highlights of this one, and he really looked like he was mailing it in. I don't know if there's an injury we don't know about, or if something is just not all right with Burnett, but I wouldn't trust him against any opponent at this point.
On the other side of the bump, King Felix had another dominant start, striking out 11 in the victory. He's a top 5 pitcher for me for next season, probably only behind Halladay and Lee.
Ryan Dempster had a good start wasted by the bullpen yesterday, as he went 8 innings, allowed 2 earned and struck out 7. Dempster has really had a very solid season, and is probably not going to get near enough credit for it when the time comes. His WHIP is a bit on the high side (1.28), but he's sporting a 3.56 ERA and 160 strikeouts in 172 innings so far.
Brian Duensing has really become a play in nearly all leagues at this point. He struck out 7 in 8 innings yesterday, walked none, and allowed just the 1 earned run. He's posted a 2.41 ERA since the All-Star break, although the strikeouts aren't nearly as plentiful as they were last night. I still would run him out there in nearly all his starts.
Lyle Overbay went nuts against the Red Sox yesterday, going 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored, 2 homeruns, and 7 runs batted in. Kudos to him for a great night at the dish, but I'm not sure he's ownable in anything but the deepest of leagues, and don't really see this as a sign of things to come for him.
Casey McGehee hit his 20th home run of the season yesterday, and now has 81 runs batted in to go with his .287 batting average. I think he's honestly going to be a top-10 3B for next season, and for him the thing that stands out to me is that he doesn't really hurt you in anything except steals. His run total of 55 seems a bit low, but that could be a product of the hitters behind him more than anything.
The Giants' rotation has become extremely scary at this point, with Madison Bumgarner filling out the 5 spot very well. He went 7 innings, allowed 2 earned runs and struck out 5 in the victory. He's now at a 3.20 ERA on the year, and has been going deep into each of his starts.