Who’s Hot? Who’s Not? Let’s find
out here!
Hunter Pence: Pence has been a star for the Giants,
even though they still can’t seem to win. Two nights ago, Pence went four for
five and drove in six runs, but they still lost 9-8 to the Rockies. He now is
batting .393 with 3 homers and 9 RBI’s, and is now batting .289 on the year. He
joins the 20-20 list with 21 homers and 21 stolen bases, too. Do I think he was
a valuable pickup for the Giants? Eh, I would say no because he’s worth $13.8
million, but he is performing better than last year.
Mark Trumbo: I saw Trumbo hit one out the other day,
and it was absolutely killed. If you don’t know Trumbo, that’s probably because
guys like Trout, Pujols, and Hamilton overshadow him in the media. Trumbo is
like Hamilton, who has a sub-par batting average, but has a career high 33
homers. He is your average power hitter, but can’t walk as much as the other
guys. This week, he’s batting .448 with four homers and 9 RBI’s. He has a
.244/.300/.474 slash this year, which is about his career averages, except for
batting average, which is ten points lower.
Jonathan Villar: Another young prospect in the Astros
system. Villar hit his first career home run this week, and has been a fun
player to watch. At only 22, the shortstop has a .281/.352/.384 slash line with
17 steals in 42 games. This week he bats .313 with his lone homer and five RBI’s,
as well as 5 stolen bases.
Mike Napoli: I still think that this was a great
pickup for the Red Sox in the offseason. Although they have Jarrod Saltalamacchia
catching, Napoli moved to first base and has done a good job. He bats
.258/.356/.478 with 21 homers and a career high 87 RBI’s, but also a career
high 176 strikeouts. This past week he’s batted .391, clubbing out three homers
and driving in ten. He is a good player to have because he can drive in runs,
and when you have hitters like Jacoby Elsbury and Dustin Pedroia in front of
you that can get on base, you get a good upper half of the batting order.
Anibal Sanchez: Sanchez has been absurd, going 3-0
with a 1.71 ERA in his last three starts, and has now moved to 14-7 with a 2.50 ERA. Could he be the AL Cy Young?
With a 5.8 WAR and 178 strikeouts, you can make your argument that he should.
It’s all been Max Scherzer this year, but Sanchez has been the best pitcher for
the Tigers, and probably the best pitcher in the AL since the all-star break. 
Chris Sale: If Chris Sale was on any other team but
the White Sox (well, maybe not the Astros), he would win the Cy Young Award
with ease. In his last three starts, he’s gone 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA, accompanied
with a 26/4 K/BB ratio. The problem with Sale is that he’s only 11-12. I don’t
think he’ll pull a Felix Hernandez 2011 year this year and win it with a
terrible record, which is unfortunate. He has a 2.90 ERA with 207 strikeouts
and an AL best (for pitchers) 7.1 WAR. His salary is also under $1 million. Is
he the best pitcher in the American League? Yes, if not top three. Will he win
the Cy Young? Nope.
Koji Uehara: Ok, you had to see this one coming from
me. This is why I don’t like how the Rolaids Relief Award is set up, because
Uehara has been the best reliever in the American League, but since he became
closer on June 26th, he hasn’t had enough saves to get him there.
Nevertheless, Uehara has been quite a story, as he’s on track to break the
consecutive batters put out streak. He has retired 34 consecutive batters, and
has showed no signs of stopping. He’s yet to give up a run since the all-star
break, and now is 4-0 with a 1.08 ERA and 19 saves. He also has a 93/9 K/BB
ratio, which is incredible. What a pickup for the Red Sox.
That’s it for who’s hot. Now, who
do I now want for my beat the streak, and what pitchers do I want to go after
for my streak?
Dan Uggla (Braves): Note: You should never pick
Dan Uggla for your Beat the Streak, even if he holds the Braves record for a
consecutive hit streak. This week he’s yet to get a hit, and now is batting
.180/.308/.366 with 21 homers and 53 RBI’s. The Braves have taken him out of
the lineup, and it seems like Fredi Gonzalez is done with him and BJ Upton. I
swear, ever since he committed three errors in the all-star game, he’s completely
fallen from baseball. Granted, that happened in 2008, but since then he’s
batted only .236.
Collin Cowgill (Angels): Cowgill is
more of a defender than a hitter, but he’s batting only .095 in his last seven
games, and is now batting .211 on the year. For a team that is nothing but
hitting, it’s sort of surprising. Since being traded from the Mets to the
Angels, Cowgill has batted .236/.257/.347 in 35 games.
John Danks (White Sox): Danks used
to be a tank in his younger days, having a WAR of 6.4 in 2008, when he was 23
years old. These past three years, however, Danks has not been the same. This
year, he’s 4-13 with a 4.73 ERA, but has a career best 3.22 K/BB ratio. He is
not worth $14 million though.
Brian Flynn (Marlins): Flynn saw
his first two MLB starts quite miserable. In two games, he’s 0-1 with a 10.13
ERA, and has walked nine while only walking six. That makes up a 2.625 WHIP,
all in only eight innings. In the Minors, he went 6-11 with a 2.80 ERA in AAA
New Orleans, so it’s actually kind of tough to tell if he should be doing this
bad or not.
Chie-Jen Lo (Astros): Lo blew two
saves for the Astros this past week, piling up a 12 ERA and going 0-2. This
year, he’s 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA and is 2/5 in save opportunities. Looks like the
Astros have not found a solution to a closing role…yet.
Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any
questions/comments/concerns.
-Evan Boyd
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