Jay Bruce is batting .111 the last 13 games with a .156 SLG. He just cannot get on track.
Madison Bumgarner is killing it right now. He not only had 12 strikeouts in three August outings, batters just couldn’t hit any of the balls he threw for the month. MadBum allowed a total of 23 hits over 37.2 innings as they hit .173 against him. He also walked a mere four batters while striking out a total of 53. He went 5-0 in the five starts and posted a 1.43 ERA and 0.72 WHIP in the month. Hell, he even hit .277 with two homers in August. He’s making a late push for the NL Cy Young though he has two Dodgers to overcome.
Steve Clevenger is back from the paternity list. You may not think it matters, but it kinda does. Seriously. The guy only has 48 plate appearances to his name, but he’s got a hit in 8-straight games and is batting .391 with a .417 OBP and .543 SLG. That’s a nice boost in AL-only leagues no doubt, but don’t get carried away in mixed leagues. The dream will end soon, much like my dream of dating this lady.
Travis d’Arnaud please stay healthy for once, just once. Over his last five games he’s gone deep three times leading to nine RBIs and six runs scored. Since the start of last season, 582 plate appearances worth of work, Travis is batting .251 with 22 homers, 69 RBIs and 73 runs scored. If he does that in a season he’s a top-5 option at the catcher’s spot.
Prince Fielder has no homers and an OPS under .500 the last two weeks. He’s batting a mere .259 in the second half but that slow-down has still dropped his average down to an impressive .316. Fielder hit .313 back in 2012, the only time in his 11 year career that he’s hit .300 in a season.
Yan Gomes was hitting, now he’s not. Been a rough year for Gomes do mostly to injuries, and over his last 11 games he’s batting .146 with three RBIs. On the year he’s batting .223 with eight homers over 70 games.
Carlos Gomez isn’t 100 percent physically. We all know that. He’s stolen an impressive six bases in 24 games with the Astros, but he’s batting .196 with a .531 OPS in that time. I could have purchased Gomez or Gerardo Parra in AL-LABR at the trade deadline (I had the most money to get a hitter). I chose Parra. He’s produced a wee bit better though he’s hitting only .250. Parra has hit five homers, stolen two bases, and scored 19 times in 25 games for the Orioles.
Dee Gordon has stolen 10 bases the last 13 games. That’s nuts. Crazy pants.
My neighbor just moved in. He’s working on something in the driveway every day. He’s driving me nuts. Hammering this, sanding something, banging on that… I mean seriously. How’s a guy supposed to get any work done with all that racket in the background? Luckily I’m a star… I don’t think a mere mortal could do it.
Justin Morneau (concussion) will start a minor league rehab assignment at Double-A New Britain Friday night. I wish him all the luck in the world, though I can’t envision a scenario in which he will be anything other than an NL-only option, even if he’s healthy, the rest of the way. The power is gone at this point – he has 20 homers his last 602 at-bats and last hit 20 in a season in 2009, but he has hit .314 over his last 602 at-bats including .290 in 27 games this season.
Denard Span is done for the year as he will need left hip surgery. It’s been an awful year for him as he’s had multiple surgeries, core muscle issues, back woes and now the hip. Span was really effective this season hitting .301 with a .365 OBP, but he just couldn’t stay on the field. The team has a built in replacement with Michael Taylor. Unfortunately Taylor is set to miss a few days as he’s dealing with knee woes of his own. The hops is that he will be able to return next week meaning Matt den Dekker will fill-in for the short-term. Taylor has racked up 404 plate appearances this season, and while he strikes out far too much (128 times in 374 at-bats) leading to a poor .241 batting average, he does provide a nice power (13 homers) speed (15 steal) combo in the fantasy game (he has 55 RBIs as well).
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