OAKLAND ATHLETICS

Joe Blanton threw a five-hit shutout against the Seattle Mariners, which was his second such game in his last three starts.  In between, he had a poor start against Cleveland, allowing six ER in 5 innings. Blanton has been inconsistent all season and expect that to continue unless he can get his K/9 from its current 4.59 to the 6.5 area.

Frank Thomas has been placed on the 15-day DL with a strained quad.  The timing is perfect for him to rest because starting on Monday, the A’s will play nine straight games in NL parks. 

Keep an eye on Bobby Crosby.  If he can get over the multiple minor injuries that have plagued him all year, he could be in for a good second half.  When healthy he is capable of putting up better power numbers then he has so far this season.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM

After a fourth straight dominant start, it would be hard to believe that Jered Weaver is the one who will lose a spot in the rotation when Bartalo Colon comes back this weekend.  It is more likely that older brother Jeff gets sent to the pen, where he will have no value.

Darin Erstad’s return will cut into Juan Rivera, Tim Salmon and Dallas McPherson’s playing time.

23-year-old, Ervin Santana is putting together a nice sophomore season, going 6-3 with a 4.29 ERA.  The K/9 of 6.21 and BB/9 of 2.90 are solid but hardly spectacular.  A warning sign is that he has only surrendered 7 home runs with a low G/F of 0.75.  If his ratio remains in this area, the home runs will fly out at a greater pace.

Next week the Angels play six games in NL parks, look for DH Tim Salmon to lose AB.

Talk up Dallas McPherson’s hot start and what a big-time prospect he is, then deal him.  He doesn’t have the plate patience or make enough contact to maintain the .278 batting average.  Once the average goes down, a decrease in power will follow.

SEATTLE MARINERS

Jeremy Reed has been hitting better as of late.  He has cut down on the strikeouts and improved his plate patience.  If he continues with the better contact, he could make a nice pickup because he offers some power and speed potential.

Richie Sexson’s power is returning with 4 homers in his last 13 games.  However, he will have to improve his 69% contact rate, if the .204 average is going to see significant improvement.

This is probably as good as it is going to get for Raul Ibanez.  In the past five seasons, the closest his HR totals have been to his doubles total is 12.  This year he has 12 homers and 14 doubles.  A higher percentage of his long fly balls are going to stop leaving the park and become either doubles or outs.

Considering that he has yet to put on a glove this season, Carl Everett will lose AB next week, as the Mariners play six games in NL parks.

TEXAS RANGERS

Despite Akinori Otsuka being 11-for-13 in save opportunities, it would not be too surprising if the Rangers went back to Francisco Cordero as their closer.  In his last 10 appearances covering 10.2 innings, Cordero has posted 10 K’s, 3 BB and a 2.53 ERA.  Those are the kind of numbers that have made him a successful closer the previous two seasons.

John Koronka’s soft skills are catching up with him.  In his last six starts, he has an ugly 7.18 ERA.  If you haven’t already done it, cut bait. 

If only Kevin Millwood could start all of his games on the road.  In seven starts at home his ERA is 7.23 and in seven starts on the road his ERA is 2.44.  He is walking more and striking out less batters at home.  It begs the question of whether he pitches differently at home because it is the second highest scoring park in the majors.  Those in shallow leagues should consider benching him when Millwood pitches at Ameriquest.