CHICAGO WHITE SOX

After a breakout season of 18-10 with a 3.50 ERA, Jon Garland has gone in the opposite direction thus far this season with a 6.04 ERA.  With a low K/9 ratio, he relies on pinpoint control and an ability to induce ground balls for success.  While the walks and K’s have remained steady, his G/F ratio is 1.03 compared to a 1.44 last year.  He was pitching over his head last year, but he is not this bad.  As his G/F regresses, look for his ERA to improve to the 4.50 to 4.89 range that he put up from 2002 to 2004.

Mark Buerhle is the flip side of the coin.  His 3.31 ERA is more the product of good fortune than solid skills.  His K/9 is an absurdly low 3.64.  That is about 2.50 lower than his usual numbers.  With his G/F right around his career marks, look for an ERA spike,  unless the K’s improve.

Rob Mackowiak is already platooning with Brian Anderson in centerfield.  Now the Sox are working out Pablo Ozuna there to see if he can handle it.  If he can, it will be Anderson’s ticket back to Triple-A.

CLEVELAND INDIANS

Cliff Lee had a breakout 2005 season with 18-5 record and a 3.79 ERA.  So far this season he has seen his ERA head north up to 5.17.  Lee’s downfall has been the longball.  After surrendering 22 last year, he has already allowed 10 this season.  With his other skills remaining steady and pitching half his games in low-scoring Jacobs field, an improvement is likely.

Bob Wickman continues to successfully close games with very mediocre skills.  For a closer, he has low strikeouts and borderline control; skills better suited for middle relief.

After getting bombed in the beginning of the season and then spending a stint on the DL, Fernando Cabrera is pitching well.  His K/9 of 11.50 is worthy of closing out games.  With a devastating sinker/splitter arsenal, if he can reign in the walks, he could be a very effective closer.

DETROIT TIGERS

Todd Jones’ mediocre skills are starting to catch up with him.  After converting 13 of his first 14 save opportunities, Jones has been hit hard in his last two outings.  With only 7 strikeouts in 20 innings, it was just a matter of time.  With Jim Leyland as manager, Jones will get a long leash, even though Fernando Rodney has better skills to close.

With nagging injuries and off-the-field problems, Dmitri Young has been very unproductive this season.  If Marcus Thames continues with his success against right-handed pitching, Young could find himself on the bench when he returns from the DL.

Mike Maroth had bone chips removed from his elbow and is expected to miss 2 to 3 months.  The Tigers gave Ramon Colon the first chance to take his place, but he failed.  Next up is Zach Miner, who got a tough assignment against Boston for his first start, in which he allowed 3 runs in 4 innings.  It is best to avoid him, as he was having some command issues in Triple-A.

Curtis Granderson is showing a nice power/speed potential.  With experience he should improve his contact rate and base stealing, skills that he showed in the minors.  For now, you get some power and a respectable batting average.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS

Mark Teahen was recalled from Triple A and should be the regular third basemen.  As a singles hitting third basemen, he does not bring much to the table and is only keeping the spot warm for super hot prospect, Alex Gordon. 

Zack Greinke is probably only a couple of minor league starts away from returning to the rotation.  Although he is very nice prospect, remember he is just 22 year old and is pitching for a bad team.  There will be some bumps in the road.

Starting pitcher Scott Elarton has somehow produced a 4.94 ERA while walking more batters than he has struck out and allowing 15 home runs.  With an extremely low G/F ratio of 0.54, he is probably lucky that he has not let up more home runs.  Get rid of him before he really starts to hurt your team.

David Dejesus is the most talented hitter on this pathetic team.  A nagging hamstring injury has limited him to just 49 AB.  Now healthy, DeJesus makes good contact and has some pop in his bat.  The problematic hamstring will not allow him to fully take advantage of his speed.

MINNESOTA TWINS

It looks like Shannon Stewart will need at least another week to recover from his heel injury.  In his place, Jason Kubel should see most of the action and should be kept active in AL-only leagues.

Now three starts into his major league career, Boof Bonser looks like he some potential.  The 18 K’s in 18 innings is very impressive, as is the 4 walks allowed.  Of course the real test comes with the second time around the league. 

Nick Punto has been stealing playing time at shortstop from Juan Castro.  Although 74 AB is a small sample size, Punto has shown some improvement in his batting eye and contact rates.  If he can maintain this, he will get on base enough to take advantage of his speed and have some use in AL-only leagues.