DOZIER CANNOT BE STOPPED
I keep writing about him, but my goodness, Brian Dozier is out of control.
Monday night he hit his 40th homer, the most ever for a second baseman in American League history.
Over his last 13 games he’s hit, sit down if you’re standing up, 10 home runs. He’s also stolen three bases, has driven in 16 and has scored 13 times while batting .339.
Dozier has hit 23 homers his last 41 games.
The last three seasons Dozier has averaged 24 homers a season. Amazing.
Dozier is the first Twins’ player with 40 homers since Harmon Killebrew in 1969.
He’s now one steal from a 40/15 season.
GOMEZ LEADING OFF
Carlos Gomez has had a mad year. Period. No way around it.
Gomez has appeared in 18 games since being dealt to the Rangers, and he’s been an effective player. He’s hit only .220 which stinks, but he’s also posted a .333 OBP and .458 SLG, and those are solid numbers. Ditto the .342 wOBA. Not great, but playable. Gomez has hit four homers, stolen three bases, has driven in 12 and scored 10 times in those 18 games to further produce value. An interesting point with Gomez is that he’s been rewarded for his success by being moved to the top of the order the last three games. That’s yet another boost to his September outlook.
WONG LEADING OFF
Kolten Wong came into the season with some excitement in the fantasy game. The faith in Wong hasn’t been fulfilled as he’s gone .242/.333/.353 and even spent time in the minors, but things have gotten better of late, markedly so. Over the last 10 games Wong has hit three homers and has stolen a base. Over the last 10 games Wong has scored seven runs while driving in seven. Over the last 10 games Wong has hit .286 with a .395 OBP and .600 SLG. Over his last four games he’s hit either 1st or 2nd in the Cardinals lineup because of that success. He’s a sneaky solid play at the moment.
OH NOT AVAILABLE FOR CARDS
Seung Hwan Oh has missed time with a groin issue of late. He missed the weekend and it sounds like he will also be out until later this week, at best. Oh has posted 17 saves in 19 opportunities in 70 games in his first season in the majors. The 34 year old righty has dominated with a 1.87 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 97 punchouts over 72.1 innings. In the short-term it would seem that Kevin Siegrist or Zack Duke will get save chances if you’re desperate for a save or two.
SALAZAR DONE
Danny Salazar might return for the post season, but it sounds like the mild strain of his flexor muscle in his forearm will end his regular season. Salazar has dealt with a myriad of issues this season, and no one knows for sure if his current issue is related to anything previously. Salazar has dominated at times this season going 11-6 with a 3.87 ERA and 161 strikeouts in a mere 137.1 frames. Alas, he’s been a sinkhole since the All-Star game with a 1-3 record, 7.75 ERA and, get this, he’s allowed a .916 OPS against over 38.1 innings.
Drop away.
COLE NOT DONE, BUT DONE?
"There were some good pitches, but obviously not enough to keep us in the ballgame," Gerrit Cole said. "I'd like to just take it day by day at this point.” Cole also stated that his physical situation is just poor as he said this is "as good as I'm going to get." Cole did hit as high as 96 mph on his fastball, and 88 mph on his slider, so the velo was there. He just couldn’t locate in his first game back from the DL for an elbow issue.
Since August started Cole has made six starts. Five of those six outings he has failed to last six innings. Additionally, the last four starts, just not good at all. Cole has thrown 18 innings. He’s gone 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA, 2.39 WHIP and 35 hits in those 18 innings.
Unless you’re in a keeper league, he shouldn’t be on your roster at the moment.
Drop away.
EDITORS NOTE:The Pirates placed Cole on the 60-day disabled list with right elbow posterior inflammation. He's done for the year.
JUNG HO KANG – SEPTEMBER SUPERSTAR
Jung Ho Kang qualifies at shortstop and third base. That’s a nice boost to any player’s value.
He has tons of off the field issues. No way around that. He also was having issues on the field with health before returning after missing a month on September 5th. Over the eight games since he returned to action he’s been a flat out star as Kang has hit four homers, a double, has driven in 10 runs and has scored seven times. Check out the slash line as well which is blazing: .519/581/1.000. He also won the NL Player of the Week award.
If he’s on waivers in your league, that’s a mistake.
VOGELBACH ARRIVES
Daniel Vogelbach reached the majors Monday night, and he could get some run here as Adam Lind is likely to miss 3-4 days with an injured finger. While Daniel’s first game was a mixed bag, Vogelbach does have a nice power bat. He tore it up at Triple-A this season with 23 homers, 96 RBI and an impressive .292/.417/.505 slash line. "Even though he looks the part of the big lumbering power hitter, he actually uses the whole field to hit and controls the strike zone very well," manager Scott Servais said. "He does have big-time power to all parts of the field, so he's not just locked into doing one thing.” Vogelbach works the count, takes pitches he can’t handle, and has a bright future as a solid power bat from first base. Dae-Ho Lee is around as well in Seattle and though he’s been moderate this season he has had a nice push in eight games in September with a .333/.400/.481 slash line and he will get in there as well.
Vogelbach is likely to only be of use in AL-only leagues the rest of the season.
HANRAM RETURNS
Hanley Ramirez has always been a strong performer when healthy. He’s not always healthy or able to drag his body out there, but when he does he produces. He must be healthy right now as he’s crushing it. Over his last 12 games HanRam has hit seven homers with 19 RBI and a.383/.442/.851 slash line. He’s smoking hot. That late push has helped to vault Ramirez’s number skyward, though many seemingly haven’t noticed. Over 130 games this season Ramirez has hit 24 homers, has driven in 97 runs, has scored 75 times and has stolen nine bases while batting .287. Here is the list of players who have gone .287-24-97-75-9 this season: Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez. That’s it.
Hell of a season.
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 9 PM EDT on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).