The Cubs traded OF Alfonso Soriano
to the Yankees for a minor league prospect, sources say. Soriano is 37, and
expensive, so it probably is good that he’s leaving a team that’s trying to
rebuild. The Yankees, who had Soriano in the beginning of his career, need
power, and Soriano has more home runs in the month of July (8) than the entire
team in July (7). The Cubs get money from the Yankees and a pitching prospect,
but the Cubs do still need to owe Soriano about $18 million.
Soriano was really hot. He hit 11
homers in his last 22 games, and was batting about .380 before the all-star
break. After the break, he has been pretty cold. Who else has been hot or cold
after the all-star break? Let’s take a look!
Who’s Hot:
Mike Napoli: If you didn’t see his walk off home run
this week against the Yanks, you need to see it! It was his second of the day,
and he gets four RBI’s to help get the win in extras. In the first week back
from the break, Napoli has been the best, batting .391 with three homers and
five RBI’s. He now is batting .266 with 14 homers and 63 RBI’s.
Hanley Ramirez: Forget about Yasiel Puig, it’s all
about Hanley Ramirez this year. In 46 games with the Dodgers this year, he bats
.384/.438/.686 with 10 homers and 31 RBI’s. This week he’s actually been worse
than his numbers, but is still batting .375 with two homers and six RBI’s.
Speaking of Puig though, he’s still batting .379/.419/.593.
Junior Lake: Who? You’ll hear his name more and more
soon. Cubs prospect Junior Lake just came up at the start of the 2nd
half, and has batted .484/.500/.774 with two homers and five RBI’s. He’s only
23 years old, and could be just another big prospect for the Chicago Cubs.
Matt Garza: A former Cub, Garza had a great start with his new team, the Rangers. He went 7.1 innings, giving up just one unearned run in a win against the Yankees. He is now 7-1 with a 2.87 ERA, and is probably pitching the best that he ever has been. He’s now not injured and can be a big help towards winning a division, and a pennant.
Patrick Corbin: He and Paul Goldschmidt are possibly the only two that are keeping the D-Backs in the division race. Corbin has gone 3-0 in his past three starts, having a 1.31 ERA and 26 K’s. He’s now 12-1 with a 2.31 ERA and a 3.7 WAR. Could he be the next Cy Young? There’s a big chance that he could if he keeps it up. The D-Backs are now 18-2 when Corbin starts.
Craig Kimbrel: 5/5 in Save Opportunities this week, and now has 28 saves. This week he’s put up a 1.29 ERA while striking out 16, and now has a 1.45 ERA with 59 K’s.
That’s about it for who’s hot. How
about who’s not?
Jedd Gyorko (Padres): A young prospect from San Diego
is now batting .138 in the second half, and has dropped his batting average
from .280 to .262 in just 12 days. He’ll still probably be up for Rookie of the
Year, but really needs to get hot if he wants to beat Jose Fernandez or Shelby
Miller.
Jose Iglesias (Red Sox): From what looked like an easy
pick for the AL Rookie of the Year might come down to something different if he
plays like this. After the break he has batted a poor .120, but don’t worry, he
still bats .343.
Jed Lowrie (A’s): Lowrie looked
like he’d be one of the most dangerous hitters in the AL at the start of the
year. Now, however, he bats .283 with only 37 RBI’s, and is batting .138 after
the break. Step it up, dude! You have a division title on the line!
Justin Verlander (Tigers): Yeah,
Verlander just isn’t having the year of his career like before. He is 10-8 with
a 3.99 ERA, and is 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA in the past 3 starts. He also has walked
51 batters this year too, that just might be the reason why he’s been
struggling.
Carlos Marmol (Dodgers): How was
Marmol’s first appearance as a Dodger? Terrible. He now has a 10.29 ERA with the
club, which just makes it a 6.53 ERA. He already has blown a save for them.
Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com with any
questions/comments/concerns.
-Evan Boyd
No comments:
Post a Comment