Baseball Weekly Plays (May 9-15)

Again, courtesy of Mr. Ferris and me via the Birmingham News.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Put 'em in

David Dellucci, OF, Rangers. Lasik eye surgery has given him 20/10 vision. His near .500 on base percentage won't be maintained. But Dellucci is leading off in a productive lineup and has decent speed and power.

John Lackey, P, Angels. He's striking out over eight batters per nine innings (like he did in the second half last year) and would sport a respectable 3.80 ERA with just average luck and defense on balls put in play. The 26-year-old righty has two starts this week (Cleveland, at Detroit).

Bench 'em

Joe Blanton, P, A's. The rookie righty has good control but doesn't miss enough bats. This week, he faces the Yankees for the second time in a row. Always be wary of young pitchers facing the same lineup in consecutive starts.

Nook Logan, OF, Tigers. Last year in the minors, Logan hit .260 with no power and four times as many strikeouts as walks. Logan is drawing attention for his speed, which is legitimate, and his high average, which is not.


NATIONAL LEAGUE

Put 'em in

Luis Gonzalez, OF, Diamondbacks. His nifty start is still flying a little under the radar, and here comes a four-game set at Coors, where his career OPS is 1.031.
Brett Tomko, P, Giants. He's worked six innings or more in five of his six turns, and now he gets to attack the two worst offenses in the NL, the Pirates and Astros.

Bench'em

Russell Branyan, 3B, Brewers. The five homers look nice, but Branyan still isn't starting against lefties and the Brewers face at least three of them in six games this week.

Oliver Perez, P, Pirates. Normally we'd be excited about 28 strikeouts in 31.2 innings, but when you oppose that with 23 walks and eight home runs allowed, the whiffs don't bail out Perez. Something's fishy here.