AL Studs and Duds 4/9/11
With week one in the books I'd like to take a second to see which individuals got to a quick start out of the gates and those who couldn't figure out how to open theirs. I'll start with the American League and then share those Studs and Duds in the National League later today.
We'll start on a positive note with the studs. While in their first two starts Dan Haren was exceptional and Edwin Jackson punched out a league leading 20 batters, my pick for AL stud pitcher of the week goes to Jered Weaver of the Angels. While he wasn't facing the beasts of the AL in the Rays and Royals, Weaver only allowed 5 hits and 1 ER over his first two starts. We will see if this 0.69 ERA holds up next week against a tougher opponent in the Blue Jays.
Now we get to the AL masher of the week, Carlos Quentin. Quentin boasts a .458 average to go along with his 1.435 OPS. He already has a 5 RBI game as well as a 4 hit effort that included 2 doubles and a homerun. Quentin can certainly be a streaky hitter, but he is currently a part of a White Sox lineup that ranks 1st overall in runs scored.
The next two players fall on the other end of the spectrum. Bringing up the rear this week was pitcher Brad Penny of the Tigers. Penny was beat down by the AL Beast this week, facing the hot new look Orioles and powerful Yankees. He gave up 4 and 8 runs in his two starts, going a combined 9.2 innings. Over those innings Penny allowed 13 hits and walked one more (7) than he struck out. If there is one positive to take from week one Brad, it won't be that hard to improve that ERA next week!
I recently wrote about the futility of the Rays and especially their bats. Not surprisingly a Ray found his way to this week's AL offensive dud. Giving me many options to chose from, the Rays have 3 players with the lowest batting averages in the AL. Johnny Damon and Matt Joyce get a pass this week thanks to their teammate Dan Johnson. Johnson came into Friday with 1 hit in 23 tries. Get out the calculator and you'll see that Johnson is sporting an embarrassing .043 batting average. On the plus side his only hit was a double; this helped raise his OPS to .130.
We'll start on a positive note with the studs. While in their first two starts Dan Haren was exceptional and Edwin Jackson punched out a league leading 20 batters, my pick for AL stud pitcher of the week goes to Jered Weaver of the Angels. While he wasn't facing the beasts of the AL in the Rays and Royals, Weaver only allowed 5 hits and 1 ER over his first two starts. We will see if this 0.69 ERA holds up next week against a tougher opponent in the Blue Jays.
Now we get to the AL masher of the week, Carlos Quentin. Quentin boasts a .458 average to go along with his 1.435 OPS. He already has a 5 RBI game as well as a 4 hit effort that included 2 doubles and a homerun. Quentin can certainly be a streaky hitter, but he is currently a part of a White Sox lineup that ranks 1st overall in runs scored.
The next two players fall on the other end of the spectrum. Bringing up the rear this week was pitcher Brad Penny of the Tigers. Penny was beat down by the AL Beast this week, facing the hot new look Orioles and powerful Yankees. He gave up 4 and 8 runs in his two starts, going a combined 9.2 innings. Over those innings Penny allowed 13 hits and walked one more (7) than he struck out. If there is one positive to take from week one Brad, it won't be that hard to improve that ERA next week!
I recently wrote about the futility of the Rays and especially their bats. Not surprisingly a Ray found his way to this week's AL offensive dud. Giving me many options to chose from, the Rays have 3 players with the lowest batting averages in the AL. Johnny Damon and Matt Joyce get a pass this week thanks to their teammate Dan Johnson. Johnson came into Friday with 1 hit in 23 tries. Get out the calculator and you'll see that Johnson is sporting an embarrassing .043 batting average. On the plus side his only hit was a double; this helped raise his OPS to .130.
