Eddie Butler will be sent to Triple-A after the Rockies finally decided that a 5.90 ERA and 1.82 WHIP over 16 starts isn’t good. Butler has made 19 starts in his young career with a 6.04 ERA, 1.83 WHIP and 0.96 K/BB ratio. The worst pitcher in baseball since the start of last season with at least 95-innings pitched?

The Braves added Edwin Jackson on a one year deal. Why?

Paul Goldschmidt leads baseball with a .400 BABIP. Normally I completely scoff at a mark that high but he did have a .368 mark last season and his career level is .357. Man is he amazing. Speaking of BABIP, Albert Pujols who has 30 homers owns a mark of .231.

Josh Hamilton (knee) is back in the lineup Friday for the Rangers. Apparently the MRI he had Friday didn’t show anything significant out of place. Not surprisingly Hamilton has been a mess hitting .252 with a .299 OBP and .415 SLG. He’s just not able to keep his body healthy, and as a result his productivity is uncertain at best.

Desmond Jennings has been activated off the DL after being out since April due to a left knee injury. It’s anyone’s guess how he will perform. Since the start of last season it hasn’t been very good. Jennings has 614 plate appearances since the start of the 2014 season and he’s hit a mere .242 with a .317 OBP and .362 SLG. Can’t get more league average than that. He has scored 71 times with 10 homers and 20 steals, but he’s nothing more than an AL-only option until he proves his health and we see his bat do something. Meanwhile teammate Grady Sizemore has appeared in 24 games with the Rays hitting six big flies in 81 at-bats. Four of those homers have come the last eight games but don’t be fooled. He’s still hitting a mere .247 with a .262 OBP with the Rays.

Leonys Martin has a broken hamate bone. That’s an injury you can read about below when I talk about Stanton. The usual timeline for a return is about 4-6 weeks which certainly would seem to signal that his dreadful season will end with a whimper. He hit .220 with a .578 OPS in just over 300 plate appearances with five homers, 26 runs and 14 steals.

The Royals had won 126-straight games in which they led after eight innings before they fell to the Angels Thursday.

Drew Smyly will be activated and join the Rays’ rotation Sunday. Big fan of the talent, but he’s trying to make it back from a partial tear to his left shoulder, and it’s uncertain how many bullets he has in his arm or how he will perform. An AL-only option for now.

George Springer has finally been cleared to resume baseball activities… other than swinging a bat. His return from a broken right wrist is taking longer than hoped (the original 4-6 week timeframe has already been reached). Similar to Giancarlo Stanton who also hasn’t been cleared to take batting practice. Stanton was placed on the DL June 27th with a 4-6 week timeframe to return from a broken hamate bone. He’s already surpassed his initial timeframe as well. These two sluggers are examples 7,456 and 7,457 as to why timeframe for return from injuries are just best guesses and shouldn’t be taken as gospel.

Jose Valverde will be suspended for 80 games for testing positive for stanozolol. His career is likely over at this point if you ask me.

THE BEST ROAD HITTERS IN BASEBALL

Nori Aoki, on the 7-day concussion DL, leads baseball with a .368 average on the road. Teammate Buster Posey is second with a .338 mark. Speaking of Posey, no batter has more than his 48 road RBIs (Anthony Rizzo is next with 46).

Nelson Cruz is the only slugger in baseball with 20 road long balls. He has 24. Nolan Arenado is second with 18.

Mike Trout leads the way with 43 runs scored. No one else has 40.

Road wOBA leaders:

.466 Nelson Cruz

.447 Bryce Harper

.433 Mike Trout

.418 Anthony Rizzo

.416 Paul Goldschmidt

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 8 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).