Who's Hot/Who's Not 9 20 13

With the Dodgers clinching and other teams following their steps, let’s see who have been hot or cold that have helped or hurt their chances. For today’s special event, all of these players will be on contending teams!

 

Hanley Ramirez: If you think Yasiel Puig is the only reason for the Dodgers upswing in June, don’t ever forget about Hanley. He’s been playing better, batting .351 with 20 homers and 57 RBI’s. Plus, in some intense games this week, he managed to bat .500 with four homers and seven RBI’s. Go ahead, celebrate in the D-Back’s pool!

Elvis Andrus: Though the Rangers have been choking, Andrus is hitting pretty well. How about a .321 average, with 2 homers and 8 RBI’s, including some clutch on base running in the series against the Rays? He has helped tie up the wild card, and is now batting .272 with 4 homers and 64 RBI’s.

Jay Bruce: I have a feeling that there are a lot of good Red ballplayers that go unnoticed. Jay Bruce is the perfect example. A big power hitter, Bruce has 30 homers and 103 RBI’s on the year, and has put up 10 RBI’s this week with a .385 average. If he can continue that pace into the postseason, the Reds not only might win the division, but they can be scary in the playoffs.

Matt Holliday: Holliday still is a good ballplayer, even though his age is starting to creep up on him. He’s been the hottest player on the red hot Cardinals, batting .407 with 7 RBI’s in his last seven games. He now bats .294 with 20 homers and 89 RBI’s on the year.

Clay Buchholz: If Buchholz wasn’t hurt this year, I don’t want to know how good he would be. He’s arguably the best pitcher in baseball even though his injury hides that fact. In his last three starts, he’s 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA, and in 95 innings pitched, Buchholz is 11-0 with a 1.51 ERA and 90 K’s on the year. The Red Sox are quite glad that he’s back.

Gerrit Cole: The number one draft pick for the Pirates in 2010, Cole has shown some great but not amazing stuff, but has been red hot in September. That’s a great sign for a team that usually declines by this time, especially since Cole is a rookie. Cole is 3-0 with a .90 ERA in his last three starts, and is now 9-7 with a 3.23 ERA on the year.

That’s good for who’s hot. Who’s been hurting their team to get into the playoffs?

B.J. Upton (Braves): To be fair, as well as the Braves have been doing, Upton has been god awful. In his last seven games he’s batted only .053 with no RBI’s, and is batting only .188 with 9 homers and 26 RBI’s. For a guy that has put up outrageous numbers before, this is quite different from him. Not very surprising, but it’s a different look at Upton.

Ichiro (Yankees): I hate to say this, but the fact that Ichiro is only batting .263 on the year makes me think that he’s going to retire soon. That’s really unfortunate for such an amazing player, and the best Japanese player that came to America. In his last seven games, he’s only batting .176.

Derek Holland (Rangers): Though he had an ok start last time against the Rays, in where he picked up a no-decision, giving up 2 runs in 6 innings, his two starts before that were awful. In his last three appearances, he’s 0-2 with an 8.59 ERA. Yeah, that’s not something the Rangers want to see right now.

Jordan Walden (Braves): Walden had a tough outing against the Nationals Tuesday, as he gave up three runs on four hits in an inning. In his last seven appearances, he’s 0-2 with an 8.59 ERA, blowing a save when Craig Kimbrel got the day off. He is now 4-3 with a 3.30 ERA.

Ronald Belasario (Dodgers): Belasario went only a third of an inning before giving up five earned runs on two hits and three walks in a loss to the D-Backs. In his last seven outings, he’s 0-1 with an 11.12 ERA, striking out only one while walking five. He’s 5-7 with a 4.13 ERA on the year. Let’s see if he even plays in the playoffs.

Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any questions/comments/concerns.

-Evan Boyd