Week That Was: Week That Was: Almost Perfect

Last Friday, Marco Estrada carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning against a quality Orioles lineup before being foiled by a bloop single off the bat of Jimmy Paredes.

He followed that up in Tampa Bay on Wednesday by taking a perfect game into the eighth, but Logan Forsythe ended his perfecto and no-no by tapping an infield single to third with five outs to go.

It’s unfortunate that Estrada came up short in both instances, but his stellar work on the mound lately has definitely been eye-opening. Even looking beyond these two stellar outings, the Toronto starter has won four consecutive decisions and has a 2.45 ERA in June, with 30 strikeouts in 33 frames. He has completed seven or more innings in five of his last seven starts. And he remains unowned in more than 75 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

Over the course of his career, Estrada has often served as a swingman, and in fact he opened this season in the Jays bullpen, but it’s never been difficult to see his upside as a starter. He consistently posts strong K/BB ratios and has always had a knack for limiting hits, though proneness to the long ball has been an issue at times.

Estrada has thrown a total of 247 pitches in his last two starts, and it remains to be seen how his somewhat untested arm will handle the heavy workload; he set a career high in innings last year with 150 2/3. Still, his tremendous work is hard to ignore, especially with a phenomenal Toronto offense backing him up.

* With his name swirling in trade rumors, Cole Hamels turned in his worst start of the season in New York on Wednesday, coughing up five runs over five innings with three strikeouts and three walks. Considering his excellent overall numbers and his impeccable track record, it’s unlikely the outing did a whole lot to ding his trade value. The Rangers are believed to be Hamels’ hottest suitor, even though a source with the team told MLB.com’s TR Sullivan this week that a potential deal is “not on the board.”

* It’s been a long time, but Albert Pujols is finally looking like Albert Pujols again. The Angels first baseman smacked three more home runs this week, pushing his total for the month of June to 12 in 23 games. Holy smokes. Overall, Pujols leads the AL with 23 homers (just five short of his 2014 total) and is on track to finish with an OPS above 900 for the first time since he left St. Louis.

* Joe Blanton delivered a second consecutive strong outing, helping solidify his place in the Royals rotation. The 34-year-old, who missed the entire 2014 season and came close to retiring, was pitching extremely well out of the Kansas City bullpen before transitioning into a starting role last week, and now has an 11-0 K/BB ratio in two starts. He looks refreshed and needs to be on AL-only radars.

* Freddie Freeman hadn’t played since June 17th and his sore right wrist wasn’t improving fast enough, so the Braves placed him on the disabled list on Tuesday. His injury is not believed to be serious and he might be back as soon as next weekend, but in the meantime Atlanta will be without his fantastic production at first base. Kelly Johnson has mostly filled in during his absence.

* An ugly outing against the Orioles on Sunday, in which he allowed four runs while recording only two outs, was the last straw for Brett Cecil, who has been officially removed from the closer role in Toronto. It looks like manager John Gibbons will go with the dreaded committee approach in the ninth; Roberto Osuna and Steve Delabar both converted chances this week.

* Many wondered whether J.D. Martinez‘s breakout season for the Tigers last year was a fluke. It certainly doesn’t look that way after the outfielder smashed six bombs this week, going deep three times on Sunday and then adding homers on three consecutive days Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The home run outburst puts him on pace to finish with 42, which would blow away last season’s total of 23.

Martinez’s batting average is down, as expected (he benefitted from a .389 BABIP last year), but he’s been more effective in just about every other category. The man can hit.

* Elsewhere in the AL Central, Cody Anderson made his big-league debut for the Indians on Sunday and was brilliant, hurling 7 2/3 scoreless innings at home against the Rays. The 24-year-old has never been viewed as a top-tier prospect but has always posted good numbers in the minors. With Shaun Marcum designated for assignment last week, Anderson has a chance to stick in the Cleveland rotation.

* Byron Buxton went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts (The Golden Sombrero) on Wednesday, and it looks like there was more to it than plain old Chris Sale domination. The rookie landed on the disabled list Friday due to a sprained thumb that he apparently suffered while sliding in Tuesday night’s game. Twins manager Paul Molitor said that Buxton is likely to miss “at least a month.” Bummer.

* That’s more like it: Doug Fister fired seven shutout innings against the Braves on Thursday, looking much improved after a shaky return from the disabled list last week.

* Ivan Nova made his highly anticipated return on Wednesday after losing a full year to Tommy John surgery, and he didn’t disappoint, firing 6 2/3 shutout innings. The strong performance came against a dreadful Phillies lineup and he only notched one strikeout, so we’re tempering our excitement for now, but if Nova returns to form he could be a huge difference-maker for the Yankees in a highly competitive AL East.

* The Red Sox sent a struggling Rusney Castillo to Triple-A on Tuesday after watching the outfielder post a 544 OPS with just one homer following his May call-up. He’ll be back later this year. Also demoted by Boston was right-hander Joe Kelly, who has fallen short of his preseason Cy Young prediction by posting a 5.67 ERA through 14 starts.

* Boston placed Dustin Pedroia on the DL with a hamstring strain. The second baseman will be sidelined for a few weeks and red-hot Brock Holt figures to draw regular starts in the interim.

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