Brief Notes from 4-15-08

>K-Rod saved his fifth game, but still is struggling with control. He’s walked seven in 6.1 innings and his WHIP is 1.97.

>Texas OF David Murphy stole his 3^rd bag and is hitting .292. If you need a fifth OF to start for an injured player he has been playing everyday.

>John Danks followed up a disastrous start by pitching 7.2 innings of shutout ball, striking out four. Expect ups and downs like this throughout the year.

>Conor Jackson quietly has 13 RBI and is batting .333 after a 2-4 game.

>Micah Owings improved to 3-0 (6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K’s, 1 ER)

>Mark Grudzielanek may be a nice 2B fix for a while if all you need is average. He only has one extra base hit, but is sporting a .341 BA.

>Paul Byrd had a nice game against Boston allowing just an unearned run and striking out 6 in 6 innings. Joe Borowski is on the DL and there were no good answers to fill his role as the bullpen blew up, giving up 7 hits, 4 runs, and 4 walks in 3 innings.

>Pat Burrell has 15 RBI and 5 HR.

>Shawn Chacon pitched 8 shutout innings, but Jose Valverde blew his second save surrendering 2 HR’s in the ninth. Maybe this is the same Valverde who couldn’t keep his job in 2006 and was sent to the minors.

>Carlos Gomez is running half the time he reaches first or second base.

>OF Luke Scott has 6 multi-hit games, is playing everyday, and batting .386.

>Scott Olsen shut out the Braves over 7 innings allowing just 5 hits and no walks.

>Is there a more overpaid player in baseball than Jason Giambi? He’s making $23.4 million and hitting .094.

>Jose Reyes was 4-5 and was caught stealing, but at least he was running. Mike Pelfrey had a great outing (7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K’s)

>Derrek Lee’s power appears to have returned. He has 5 homeruns and 6 doubles.

>Pujols’ owners may not be enthused with his RBI numbers (8), but his OBP is .517 and his SLG is .667. Also, he is batting .378.

>Line of the day goes to San Diego’s Randy Wolf (7.0 IP, 1H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 9 K’s)

>Russell Martin hit his first dinger of the year and every Dodger starter had at least a hit against the Pirates pitching.