I broke down the plight of corner infielders in this piece.

Elvis Andrus has hit .276 with six steals the past month. He continues to do what he always does – disappointing some while still producing solid numbers.

Derek Dietrich has hit a strong .318 the last 25 games with a .375 OBP, very strong work from the waiver-wire addition. Despite that impressive work DD has only one homer, eight RBI and 11 runs scored over 25 games. Seems like he should be more productive in the counting categories given his overall work, doesn’t it? Blame his teammates for that.

I kept telling ya to add Brian Dozier. Over his last 30 days he’s hit .313 with a .405 OBP and .545 SLG leading to a .951 OPS, the second best mark at second base the past month (DJ LeMahieu at .972). Dozier has also hit four homers, stolen four bases, driven in 14 runs and scored 17 times. He’s “back” after a slow start.

Can you believe it? Star Trek pretty much got it all right.

Danny Espinosa has a .261 average and 22 runs scored his last 27 games. That’s solid production indeed. What really stands out though is his bonkers run of power that has led to 10 big flies. Ten in 27 games (it’s actually 10 in 25 games). Espinosa has hit 13 homers in 71 games this season while playing strong defense which means Trea Turner continues to wait in the minors.

Scooter Gennett is batting .319 with 15 RBI his last 24 games. He’s struck out 21 times in 94 at-bats which paints the picture of a fella who is really going to have to get lucky to keep his batting average over .300.

Didi Gregorius is batting .323 with 17 RBI his last 28 games. He really has. I looked it up. Twice. He’s not that hitter, we all know that, but he’s doing a very good Derek Jeter impersonation right now. The run has pushed his batting average to .286 on the season though he still has a mere .320 OBP and .419 SLG.

Josh Harrison has stolen five bases the last month. He’s only hit .255 with a homer and nine RBI though, and his total of 11 runs scored in 25 games is just a number. Harrison has been really solid this season, but at the same time there’s nothing impressive here. He is what he is. That’s a solid contributor in batting average and steals for a middle infielder.

Jose Iglesias is a very limited fantasy performer but at least he can help in one category – batting average. He’s only batting .258 this season but he’s been on his game of late batting .312 with 16 runs scored his last 26 games. He’s hit .300 twice in the last three seasons by the way meaning the current version of Iglesias is more likely who he is than the slob we saw earlier this season.

No one is talking about Francisco Lindor as he’s settled into that realm of we just ‘expect’ a guy to do it. Lindor has hit .302 with five homers, 18 RBI and 17 runs scored his last 27 games continuing his excellent work. That’s elite production as he carries on the start to his big league career from last season. All told he’s appeared in 169 big league games batting .311 with 20 homers, 24 steals, 88 RBI and 95 runs scored. Flat out terrific stuff and better than any talent evaluator thought was possible for Lindor.

Carlos Santana has had a great June. Asdrubal Cabrera is the same hitter he has always been. Trevor Plouffe is starting to heat up and this could be a turn for the better. CHECK OUT THE VIDEO.

Brett Lawrie is batting .184 with 28 punchouts his last 26 games as he’s simply stopped hitting. Terrible work has Lawrie put forward with two homers, one steal, eight RBI and six runs scored over 26 games.

Jed Lowrie has one homer and two RBI his last 100 plate appearances. He stinks.  

Daniel Murphy is hitting only .277 the last month. No one cares as he still has hit six homers with 18 RBI and 15 runs scored in 26 games. That’s an impressive level of production, regardless the batting average.

Eduardo Nunez continues to be an absolute monster as he is batting .319 the last 27 games with six homers and nine steals. That’s off the charts, elite level stuff. Rather shocking when any player is that good, let alone a guy no one drafted. He has only nine RBI in 27 games, but his owners could care less. Remarkable has been his run but he simply doesn’t own the skills to sustain it.

Joe Panik is batting just .257 his last 101 at-bats. The good though is that he’s still managed to score 20 runs in 25 games. Folks seem to be down on Panik, after all he hit over .300 his first two seasons in the big leagues and is batting .259 overall, but he’s also on pace for 70 RBI and 90 runs scored with 15 homers. Since when are those bad numbers for a second baseman?

Dustin Pedroia has hit .327 the last 27 games. That’s a solid effort indeed, but he’s also hit just one homer with eight RBI in that time. Can’t complain about the .380 OBP or .445 SLG though. He’s just seen a slow-down in the counting categories, not in his hitting.

Jonathan Schoop has hit .304 the last month. Jonathan Schoop. That might be the most amazing number in this article. With the run of hitting Schoop is now batting .285 on the season. Impressed am I. Not a believer though am I. Schoop has 11 walks this season, six have come the last 30 days, and his 0.19 BB/K ratio is still awful and half the big league average. He still doesn’t’ hit the ball on the screws with a 31 percent hard hit ball rate and 16.7 percent line drive rate. I see the batting average number, but I’m still not believing it.

Can you learn how to be a genius?

Corey Seager is hitting .324 with nine homer his last 28 games. He’s also scored 20 times. He’s a star folks, even in his first full season. Through 100 big league games he’s batting .301 with 20 homers and a .898 OPS. Star.

Trevor Story has 40 punchouts his last 26 games. Love the six homers, 16 RBI and 15 runs scored but the strikeouts have led to a .240 batting average and .315 OBP. Those are league average numbers. I’m actually amazing he continues to be so productive given the 0.24 BB/K ratio and 102 strikeouts in 68 games, a historic pace. Tough times are ahead if he continues to swing and miss as much as he has (33.6 percent K-rate).

Jonathan Villar has an amazing 11 steals the last 30 days. For more on the streaking speedster check out his Player Profile.

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).