Starting Pitchers Ivan Nova, New York Yankees- Nova got his 12th win of the season on Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals, despite allowing seven runs over 5.1 innings. He has won five straight starts, is 8-0 with a 3.90 ERA over his last nine starts, and is now 12-4 with a 4.21 ERA over [...]
Starting Pitchers Kevin Slowey, Minnesota Twins- With Scott Baker (elbow) being placed on the disabled list again on Tuesday, Slowey will finally get an opportunity to start some games for the Twins. He has been pitching at Triple-A Rochester recently, and has posted a 3.55 ERA with just six walks in 50 innings there this season. Slowey struggled to adjust to a [...]
Starting Pitchers Rich Harden, Oakland A’s- The oft-injured Harden made his 2011 debut last Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks and was fairly impressive, allowing two runs on four hits over six innings while striking out six and walking none. He battled a injury to his the lat muscle in his right shoulder during spring training, then a setback delayed his return to action. [...]
Starting Pitchers Brian Matusz, Baltimore Orioles- Matusz has yet to pitch for the Orioles this season after suffering a strained intercostal muscle just prior to Opening Day, but will reportedly make his final minor league rehab start on Friday and could join the team soon after as long as he has no setbacks. Matusz led [...]
Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Ervin Santana had his best out of 2011 on Fridayagainst the Atlanta Braves, as he threw a complete game shutout while allowing just four hits (all singles) and striking out seven. He did not walk a batter in the game, which was his sixth career shutout, and is now 2-4 with a [...]
Starting Pitchers Johnny Cueto, Cincinnati Reds- Cueto (shoulder) made his 2011 debut last Sunday against the Chicago Cubs, pitched six shutout innings and was able to get the win. He allowed five hits while striking out four and walking one as he threw 103 pitches. Cueto had 23 wins combined in 2009 and 2010 and showed improvement over that [...]
Thus far in the 2011 season, the usual suspects (Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum, Cliff Lee, etc.) have all been generally as good as advertised and have justified their lofty draft position. But a big key to success is being able to recognize opportunities on the waiver wire during the season, even at this early stage, and having [...]