The Tigers lost a valuable piece of their offense in leadoff man Curtis Granderson to a finger injury this spring. Granderson is a dynamic part of that offense and is obviously sorely missed. The Tigers are having to experiment with their lineup until he returns and the results haven't been great.
| Kansas City | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Bannister (W, 1-0) | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Detroit | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Renteria, SS | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .444 |
You know there's something wrong with your offense when Brian Bannister, he of a feeble 77 strikeouts in 165 innings in 2007, shuts you down. There is nothing in Bannister's skillset to evidence his ability to do this consistently and last year he was just as likely to give up four or more runs in an outing as he was to turn in a quality start. He's not a bad gamble against a poor offense, but not someone I would be rostering in a mixed league. (Edit: Check out a great article by Jeff Passan on Bannister's strategy in using stats to his advantage)
Edgar Renteria was the Tiger's lone savior, but his three hits weren't going far without him stealing second, third, and home on his own. I am still skeptical of Edgar's ability to adjust to the AL after his struggles with the Red Sox and his comments that he was not able to adapt to the AL style of pitching. He is leading off for a great offense until Granderson returns, which gives him great value for the time. I wouldn't hesitate to sell high on this performance, though.
| Washington | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Redding (W, 1-0) | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
Don't be encouraged by Tim Redding's performance here against the Phillies, no matter how impressive it may seem. This is a 30 year old journey-man minor league pitcher, not a major league caliber starter. For his career Redding has pitched 892 minor league innings against only 520 major league innings.
In his minor league career Redding has struck out over one batter per inning, but that ability has never translated over to the majors and at this stage in his career there is little hope of that happening. Allowing one hit to an excellent Phillies offense in their tiny ballpark is certainly an impressive feat, but expect Redding and the Nats to cool off as the summer heats up.
| Cincinnati | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Keppinger, SS | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .429 |
Filling in while Alex Gonzalez recovers from a knee fracture, Jeff Keppinger has started out hot this season starting with a tremendous spring. At 27, Keppinger is not exactly an emerging rookie, but in 2154 minor league ABs he has struck out only 139 times. That is some flat out amazing contact ability.
Keppinger has never shown much power or speed, hitting only 23 home runs and stealing 27 bases in his entire minor league career. However, he is currently batting second in the Reds' lineup and should be picking up plenty of hits to score and drive in runs. You could definitely do a lot worse for your MI spot and he is a good target to pickup if you're hurting for batting average.
| San Diego | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Barrett, C | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .667 |
Catcher controversy in San Diego? Michael Barrett is only a year removed from hitting .307 with 16 home runs in Chicago. After being booted out unceremoniously following some bickering with Carlos Zambrano, Barrett ended up in San Diego as a backup to Josh Bard.
It's easy to see how al this drama may have derailed Barrett's 2007 season. If he continues to hit he could steal playing time from Bard and be an excellent offensive option at catcher. Unfortunately to realize his true value he will probably need an injury to Bard or a trade, but this is a guy to keep an eye on. Not many waiver wire catchers are going to actually help your batting average and I can practically guarantee he is available in nearly all mixed leagues.
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