Nolan Arenado hit .287 in 2014. He hit .287 in 2015. This season, oh boy, he’s hitting .282. I write “oh boy” for the following reason. Arenado hit .295 in April, .269 in May, .311 in June and just .239 so far in July. That’s two of the last three months that Arenado has failed to hit .270. The counting category numbers are elite, but as I said many times, many many times, he’s not shown the skills to be a .300 hitter and he’s hit just .255 on the road this season, so there’s that.
Alex Bregman Player Profile. Check it out.
Players who might be able to help you out who could still be on waivers in your setup? Check out our Category Impact article.
Chris Coghlan has been dreadful this season. Still, activated off the DL after missing a month with a rib cage issue, he’s immediately going back into the lineup and, get this, batting leadoff for the Cubs Friday. The team optioned Tommy La Stella to the minors despite a .295 batting average and .388 OBP to open up a roster spot for CC. Here’s to hoping that Coghlan can recapture the level of performance he tossed out there last season.
For my thoughts on the Andrew Cashner and Eduardo Nunez deals check out this edition of the Daily Trends.
David Dahl Player Profile. Check it out.
Ian Desmond has become the fourth player to have a 20 homer season as a shortstop and as a center fielder (the last to do it was Robin Yount).
The Daily Dive video Friday breaks down Kyle Gibson, Dan Straily and David Price.
Jeurys Familia has blown his last two save chances. He still leads baseball with 10 saves the past 30 days. Mark Melancon is second with eight.
Joey Gallo Player Profile, check it out.
Adonis Garcia isn’t on any team of mine. Don’t like the overall game or the approach. That said, the guy has a .405 batting average with three homers the last 10 games. He’s had a hit in each contest.
“It’s frustrating,” Rich Hill said of his continual absence from the lineup due to a blister on his pitching hand. “Craig Kimbrel came back from knee surgery in less time than it’s taken for me to come back from a blister.” Couldn’t have said it better myself Mr. Hill, you soft son of a gun. The hope is that Hill might pitch Sunday. Many. “Am I optimistic? I don’t know. Semi,” manager Bob Melvin said.
Max Kepler, Ryan Schimpf and Trevor Story have become the first trio of rookies to hit eight homers in a calendar month – ever.
Lance McCullers has six games with double-digit strikeouts in his career. That means he joined Yu Darvish as just the second man since 2000 to have six games with double-digits in his first 35 appearances.
Robbie Ray leads baseball with a 13.50 K/9 rate the last 30 days. I shared my concerns about the hurler Thursday and why he’s struggling for success despite huge strikeout totals.
I’ve warned about Aaron Sanchez and concerns about his workload, as recently as two days ago actually in this Daily Trends article. I caught an article this morning written by the great Jayson Stark. "My job is to go out there and start games until I'm told not to," Sanchez told Starks earlier this month. "Nothing has changed," Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said this week. "The whole time, what we've been trying to balance is what's best for the team and what's best for Aaron, and to weigh that against a lot of alternatives." You can read Stark’s in-depth article but here’s the short-hand: no one seems to know how many starts and innings Sanchez will be allowed to throw this year.
Tyler Skaggs Player Profile. Check it out.
What’s going to happen in Week 18? Check out our weekly preview to find out all about the matchups you need to know about.
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).