USA TODAY International Edition
Betances steps in as Yankees’ fill- in closer
Valencia again has red- hot bat in May
As we pass Mother’s Day into the second half of May, the moms of this week’s sizzlers have every reason to be proud of their sons. The fizzlers’ mothers do, too, of course. Let’s take a look ( statistics through Sunday).
SIZZLERS
RP Dellin Betances, New
York Yankees: Betances, who converted 12 saves last season, becomes the go- to guy in New York with Aroldis Chapman down for possibly a month. He has been his usual dominant self in a setup role, posting a 0.75 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 12 innings. 1B- OF Danny Valencia, Se-
attle Mariners: In his career, Valencia has an average of .248 with five homers and 34 RBI ( 97 games) in April but has gone .264 with 17 homers and 60 RBI ( 103 games) in May. That trend is continuing in 2017, as Valencia had a .188 April with one homer and five RBI but has hit .340 with three homers and 12 RBI in his first 50 at- bats in May. SP A. J. Griffin, Texas Rangers: Back in the rotation and healthy, Griffin has been effective mixing a mid- 80s fastball with a mid- 60s curve, winning four games and posting a 3.15 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP in six starts. OF Colby Rasmus, Tampa Bay Rays: Rasmus missed the first month because of a sports hernia and hip issue and has returned to hit three homers with eight RBI in his first 10 games back. Rasmus can be streaky, but with that come big days and weeks. OF Tommy Pham, St. Louis Cardinals: With Stephen Piscot- ty hurt and Randall Grichuk struggling, Pham has come to the rescue, hitting .371 with three homers and three steals to go with eight RBI in his first eight games.
FIZZLERS
SP Derek Holland, Chicago White Sox: Kind of a pitching parallel to Valencia, Holland has thrown 168 April innings with an 11- 9 mark featuring a 3.68 ERA,
but come May the numbers are 12- 9 with a 4.76 ERA to go with a 1.47 WHIP. His ERA has jumped a run since the end of April. OF Hunter Renfroe, San
Diego Padres: Renfroe did bang his sixth homer Sunday, but his season line still shows a .209 batting average and lean .262 onbase percentage ( OBP). Since the Padres are developing, they might be patient with the fly chaser, but you need not be.
3B- OF Eduardo Nunez, San Francisco Giants: Nunez was a pennant- run darling for the Giants last year, and he does have nine steals — but no homers, nine RBI and a .281 OBP. The presence of Christian Arroyo and the fact that Nunez has been playing in the outfield suggest a part- time role at this point. SP R. A. Dickey, Atlanta Braves: Knuckleballers are always iffy, but Dickey’s 4.22 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and mere 22 strikeouts in 422⁄ innings mean you 3 can do better. OF Matt Joyce, Oakland Athletics: Joyce is another guy who had a successful weekend, going 5- for- 11 with two homers and five RBI, but that belies a .210 average, .280 OBP and the fact that fellow left- handed platoon outfielder Mark Canha just returned from the DL.