I STINK RIGHT NOW
Xander Bogaerts is hitting .200 with one homer and four RBI his last 21 games. His OPS is .505 in that time. That’s pathetic. Even if we go back to the All-Star game Xander still has a mere .258 batting average and .305 OBP. This is what happens when a guy starts out too hot. I mean, the guy has still been tremendous this season with a .307-15-71-89-13 line. Stupendous work, even with the crash of late. Could always catch fire in September, but Xander is a pretty easy out right now compared to his all-world early season performance.
Brandon Crawford had that massive seven hit game which has hidden his struggles a bit. Remove that one game and Crawford is batting .205 in the other 35 second half games. He also has a mere two homers since the break and his wOBA, even with the historic game, is a mere .298. His bat as slowed to a parking lot speed.
Curtis Granderson could be replaced in the Mets lineup any day by Michael Conforto who is crushing it in the minors (in 27 games at Triple-A Conforto is batting .413 with seven homers, 23 RBI and 26 runs scored). Meanwhile, Granderson is batting .180 with a .239 OBP his last 33 games. His only positive number is five homers, but it’s too high a price to pay to have him active.
Jason Heyward has a .177-2-6-8-1 line his last 32 games. Total disaster.
Eric Hosmer has 24 RBI his last 38 games, a solid pace indeed. However, he’s hitting a mere .219 with a .281 OBP and .336 SLG the last 38 games. We can extend things out to 49 games, that’s 207 plate appearances of work, and Hosmer is batting .220 with a .275 OBP and .330 SLG. That’s a third of the season with Hosmer being really bad. He started out so strong too. In the end he’s hitting .275 with 17 homers, 73 BRI and 61 runs scored. He’s the same guy he’s always been, even after the early season hope of something more.
Jake Lamb has five homers and 17 RBI his last 32 games, numbers that play for sure. However, he’s weighed down his owners with a mere .206 batting average, .268 OBP and .389 SLG. He’s barely startable at the moment.
Kendrys Morales had a great two week run where he was the best hitter on the planet. Since then, not so much. Over his last 37 contests Morales has five homers, 10 RBI and nine runs scored. As bad as that is, his slash line is equally as concerning at .211/.299/.367. Morales has 20 homers but he’s really not that good, and he had no chance to replicate his success from last season this year.
I missed on Eduardo Nunez this season, that’s a fact. Still, I haven’t been totally wrong. Since the All-Star game Nunez has been an easy out with a .209/.270/.309 slash line despite playing every day. That’s pathetic. He has on homer and 16 runs scored. Not good. Amazingly though his wheels have kept him relevant as he’s swiped 10 bases. Right now the only part of his game that deserves to keep him in the lineup are those wheels.
Marcel Ozuna was going to be a star, that’s what folks said after Marcell Ozuna hit .411 with a 1.155 OPS in the month of May. Things have slowed tremendously since then. Ozuna hit .272 with a .830 OPS in June. He hit .250 with a .718 OPS in July. Ozuna is batting .167 with a .544 OPS in August. Add that all up and Ozuna has a .203 batting average, .255 OBP and .377 SLG over his last 37 games with a mere 11 runs scored. Sorry folks, the game ain’t that easy.
Michael Saunders was a star in the first half. I kept warning about two things. (1) An injury was coming. (2) His performance was going to tank. I might have only been 50 percent correct, but in the end all that really matters is that he flat out stinks right now. Saunders had a .298 batting average in the first half. He has a .289 OBP in the second half. Saunders had a .372 OBP in the first half. He has a .358 SLG in the second half. Saunders had a .923 OPS in the first half, .647 in the second half. He’s a total disaster right now, one that was predicted to occur months ago.
DFS DIAMONDS
*The following list of players are guys that Ray recommends as daily plays.
CATCHER: Russell Martin has produced two hits in 6-of-8 games. He’s also driven in 14 runs his last nine outings. Jered Weaver cannot get righties out with a .317/.352/.519 slash line (.849 OPS). He has a 5.97 ERA, 1.75 WHIP and .366 BAA his last seven starts.
FIRST BASE: Ryan Zimmerman has a .286/.304/.476 line over five games since he returned. He has a .294 average over 17 at-bats versus Ubaldo Jimenez. Righties are hitting .288 with a .376 OBP against the often off Ubaldo.
SECOND BASE: Howie Kendrick has hit .313 with a .875 OPS his last 34 games. He’s hit .429 over 14 at-bats against Matt Moore. Meanwhile, Moore has a mere 4.70 ERA and 1.48 WIHP over four starts with the Giants.
THIRD BASE: Righties have annihilated Jose Berrios to this point of his big league career with a .344/.447/.597 line. Playing a hunch here. Casey McGehee hasn’t hit since he was called up, but he was a monster in the minors last season.
SHORTSTOP: Asdrubal Cabrera has four hits, three doubles, his last two games and over his last four outings he has produced six hits and three RBI. He faces Adam Wainwright who is in a funk having allowed 16 runs his last 14 innings and 36 hits leading to a 1.83 WHIP his last 25.2 innings.
OUTFIELD: Adam Jones has a hit in 7-of-8 games. Only once more than one hit, but still producing. Check out what he has done against Max Scherzer – it’s impressive: 11-for-22 with three homers and a 1.500 OPS.
OUTFIELD: Kole Calhoun loves him some left-handed pitching with a .305/.371/.466 slash line. He takes on the surging J.A. Happ with a 4-for-7 line with two homers in the matchup.
OUTFIELD: Matt Kemp has a hit in 9-straight games and he has walked four times his last five games. He’s also scored five times in four games. He takes on Robbie Ray with a .455 average and two homers in 11 at-bats.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 11 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).