MLB Player News

Despite his seven one-hit innings at Cleveland Friday, the White Sox's Jose Quintana is owned in 25 percent of leagues. That needs to change.

Even last year, when he had a 2.76 ERA in his first 17 appearances, his good control allowed him to pitch into the seventh inning in nine of his 15 starts during that stretch. Only when he entered uncharted territory with the number of innings did he struggle.

And last year might just be the beginning. As Chris Cwik points out, Quintana's average fastball velocity is higher than it was last year, which is especially notable at this point in the season, when velocities are normally down. A lack of strikeouts was his only real issue last year, but he had seven in that start against Cleveland. And his minor-league numbers suggest he shouldn't be a terrible source of strikeouts.

Tommy Hanson, James McDonald, Bud Norris, Jhoulys Chacin and Jake Westbrook are just a few of the pitchers owned in at least 50 percent of leagues who I'd be willing to drop for Quintana.

Rangers assistant general manager Thad Levine said Tuesday that pitcher Martin Perez has begun throwing off a mound in the bullpen but is not ready to participate in live batting practice, MLB.com reports. Perez suffered a broken left arm March 4 and was expected to be sidelined until at least late May.

White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana has flashed slightly higher velocity with his fastball in his first two starts of the season. 

After averaging about 91 mph last season, Quintana is throwing closer to 92 mph this year. That may not seem like a large boost, but it's actually pretty significant. Velocity tends to improve a tiny bit as the season progresses, so things could get a little better for Quintana as he pitches more. 

The increased velocity doesn't necessarily mean he'll experience more success, but it's something to keep in mind when evaluating his performance. Quintana had a nice run last season, but was ultimately done in by his lack of strikeouts. If more velocity leads to higher strikeout rates, Quintana could be in for a surprise season. Fantasy owners would be wise to keep an eye on both moving forward. 

Indians starter Justin Masterson has been the exact same pitcher this season, but has seen drastically different results. 

Masterson's low arm angle allows lefties to see the ball much better out of his hand. It's led to significant platoon splits over his career. Left-handers have hit .283/.363/.427 against Masterson over his career. 

While he's been able to neutralize lefties early this season, there's nothing in his pitch usage to suggest he has utilized a different strategy. Masterson has used the same three-pitch mix for quite some time now, and lefties always hit him well. There's no reason to expect him to continue dominating hitters at this rate. Teams are well aware of the scouting report against Masterson, and opposing managers will likely try and get as many left-handers into their lineups as possible. It's already obvious, but Fantasy owners should be looking to sell now, because this isn't going to last.

With Sunday's game against the Mets being rained out the Twins have pushed back their rotation.

Kevin Correia will start Monday's series opener against the Angels and be followed by Mike Pelfrey and Vance Worley before Thursday's scheduled off-day.

Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb couldn't keep up with Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz on Sunday in Boston. The Rays' young starter suffered one poor inning and pitched into the seventh, but it wasn't enough as he took the loss.

With Buccholz flirting with a no-hitter into the eighth inning, the four runs -- three earned -- Cobb gave up in the third inning was more than enough for the Sox to pull the win. Cobb, who dropped to 1-1 on the year after taking the loss, gave up four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings. The second walk came in the seventh as he was pulled shortly after.

Cobb, who struck out five on the afternoon while throwing 106 pitches, still has a solid ERA at 2.03 on the year. He was making his second start and has now allowed just three runs over his first 14 innings with 11 Ks. He is scheduled to make his next start Friday against Oakland.

Congrats to Indians starting pitcher Justin Masterson on a terrific start. He's certainly one of the biggest surprises to date and one of the most added players in Fantasy this week.

Logic tells us Masterson won't be able to keep his current pace, so there's no point in me stating the obvious. Obviously, you have to add Masterson in all Fantasy formats and ride the hot hand, but don't kid yourself -- a market correction is coming. Fantasy owners just have to decide whether or not to ride it out with Masterson or try and sell high.

There's no denying Masterson can be useful in larger Fantasy formats. He's surpassed 200 innings and has won 10-plus games the last two seasons, but he's not this good of a pitcher. Some of the more telling numbers to begin the season are Masterson is allowing just 4.1 hits per nine innings, which is well below his career average (8.8), and has a 94.7 percent strand rate (per FanGraphs.com), which is well above his career average (70.4 percent) and the league average (72.5 percent).

Twins starter Vance Worley could start Tuesday on three days' rest, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports.

Worley was hammered in his last start Friday, as he served up seven earned runs on seven hits without getting an out in the second inning. However, he only threw 57 pitches. With Tuesday's schedule starter Liam Hendriks optioned to the minor leagues, Worley could be the logical choice to fill the open rotation spot.

White Sox starter Chris Sale endured a rough outing as he suffered his first loss of the season during Saturday's contest against the Indians.

Sale (1-1), who made his third start of the season, surrendered a two-run home run to Nick Swisher in the first and a grand slam to Mark Reynolds in the fifth inning. The left-hander was charged with eight runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings of work in a 9-4 defeat. He also struck out three and walked two on 87 pitches, 56 strikes.

Sale has a 5.21 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP through three starts. He'll try to get back on track Thursday at Toronto. He has not faced the Blue Jays since 2011. The 24-year-old is 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in three career starts against Toronto.

Orioles starter Jason Hammel picked up his second win on Sunday against the Yankees. He allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits over six innings of work in a 5-3 victory. It was his second quality start.

Hammel (2-1) was tagged with a two-spot in the second, which included a solo homer by Travis Hafner, before Vernon Wells launched a solo shot off the right-hander in the sixth.

He threw 65 of his 95 pitches for strikes and struck out four while walking one.

His next start is scheduled for Friday against the Dodgers. Hammel is 2-5 with a 5.47 ERA in 13 appearances (nine starts) in his career against Los Angeles.