MIGGY SURGING
If you had just woken up from a long nap, let’s say a four monther, and you saw that Miguel Cabrera was on pace to go .306-37-105-93 with a .928 OPS this season you would say, yep, that’s Miggy Cabrera. Believe me, not everyone thought we would get there as I’ve gotten many questions over the months about what is wrong with Cabrera. Answer – nothing. Miggy hit three homers his last two games and has six big flies in 11 games. There it is.
He’s one of the best right-handed hitters of all-time. That’s just a fact.
PUJOLS SURGING
Much like Cabrera, people were nervous with Albert Pujols a few months into the season. I kept saying something to the effect of ‘he is what he is at this point, deal with it.’ By that I mean that he was a .250-30-90 guy if things broke right. The days of dominance were in the rearview and not returning. As we sit here, with two months left in the season, Pujols is on pace to go .258-31-124. Over his last eight games he’s driven in nine runs as he continues to produce. He’s only scored 44 times though, putting him on pace for 67 this season, which is partially because of a lack of run scoring production low in the lineup and because his OBP is just .328. Note that his .328 mark would be a 3-year high.
Pujols is what he is – a nice power hitter, nothing more.
CAIN HOPING FOR STRONG FINISH
Lorenzo Cain has appeared in the following games the last three years: 115, 133 and 140. He’s never appeared in 145 games. He obviously wont this season either as he’s only appeared in 77 games. That’s long been my issue with totally buying in with Cain – I don’t trust him to be on the field.
Folks are disappointed with Cain’s work this season. Why?
Cain has a .284/.331/.405 slash line this season.
Cain’s career slash line is .287/.336/.416.
He’s been exactly the same this season as he has been over the course of his career.
Second, he’s on pace to go 12-60-60-12 this season, injuries and all.
Do you know how many times he’s reached all four of those numbers in one season?
The answer is once, last season (16-72-101-28).
The only mistake here was expecting a full repeat of Cain’s performance from last season.
FORSYTHE SLOWING
Logan Forsythe has missed time with injury, and as a result many of his owners are a bit disappointed. Even with the missed time, Logan is still on pace to hit .272 with a .332 OBP and a .443 SLG. Do you know what his career marks are? Well, I’ll happily tell you: .255/.325/.390. That means Logan has bettered all three of his career numbers this season.
Second, Forsythe is on pace for 15 homers, 45 RBI and 68 runs scored with eight steals. Forsythe barely bettered those marks last season with 17 homers, 68 RBI, 69 runs scored and nine steals. Basically the same, ain’t it?
Third, Forsythe has stunk of late, and that is being kind. Logan’s June was hit the children scary as he hit .196 with a .239 OBP and .336 SLG. That’s pathetic stuff. He also struck out 26 times in the month while walking only four times.
I’ve maintained all along that Forsythe is just a guy and that he really doesn’t deserve much of a look as a mixed league option. As the data continues to come in that position continues to be strengthened.
MONCADA PROMOTION COMING?
The Red Sox have called up Andrew Benintendi, and I wrote about that future star in a Player Profile. That call-up has folks now dreaming of a Yoan Moncada call up. I think it could happen this September, and I’m not alone. “The fact that he’s come as fast as he has, you are forced to readjust,” Red Sox GM Mike Hazen said. “If he had gone level to level and it took four years for him to get up here, we might not have this problem. But the fact that he has developed as quickly as he has, we’re now facing this.”
The question then comes to this – where does Moncada suit up?
Dustin Pedroia is at second base with Xander Bogaerts at shortstop.
Moncada not making any inroads there.
Might he be asked to play third base, a position he has never played as a professional? “I’m not going to guess on that,” Hazen said. “I don’t know. He’s a really good player. We’re lucky to have him. Time is going to tell. I don’t think a month ago we anticipated Andrew being here. Need is part of it, yes, and it’s also performance pushing the envelope to the point that we feel he's going to be a solid contributor.”
Guess it could happen, Moncada playing third base in Boston, in September if Travis Shaw continues to struggle, if you call what he has done late “struggling.” Shaw did hit .214 in June and .246 in July, but since the All-Star break he’s posted a .805 OPS with a .487 SLG, and those are still some pretty good numbers.
If you’re in a redraft league I can’t envision a scenario in which stashing Moncada is a great idea. A passable one, maybe, but that’s it.
DFS DIAMONDS
*The following list of players are guys that Ray recommends as daily plays.
CATCHER: Stephen Vogt hit .281 in May. He hit .278 in June. He hit .273 in July. He’s hit .286 at night. He’s hit .321 with two homers and a .974 OPS against Jered Weaver in 30 plate appearances.
FIRST BASE: Kennys Vargas has hit a homer and batted .538 against Trevor Bauer. On the road this season Vargas has a 1.171 OPS. At night, the mark is 1.004. He also has a hit in seven of eight games.
SECOND BASE: Robinson Cano has two homers and five RBI his last three games. He has hit .308 with a .910 OPS at night this season. Against the Red Sox in his career (.308/.353/.504). Cano has also hit .370 with a .939 OPS against Rick Porcello (29 PAs).
THIRD BASE: Tyler Duffey has an ERA of 7.45 his last 10 starts. Laughable. Lonnie Chisenhall has hit .308/.354/.473 against righties this season and has hit .298/.353/.404 his last 16 games.
SHORTSTOP: Zack Cozart has a finger issue, so make sure he is in the lineup. In 20 at-bats against Michael Wacha he’s produced 10 hits. That’s a .500 average. Hard to sweat that.
OUTFIELD: Ryan Braun has scored 10 runs the last 10 games and has walked five times the last six outings. He’s hit .331/.388/.535 on the road and he’s posted an .877 OPS against Edwin Jackson over 33 plate appearances.
OUTFIELD: Seth Smith has a .275/.372/.451 slash line against righties. The marks were slightly better in July (.281/.379/.544). The marks are even better against Rick Porcello (.562/.588/.875 over 17 PAs).
OUTFIELD: Dexter Fowler is 4-for-6 with two RBI and three runs scored his last two games. This season against righties he’s gone .276/.393/.474. Lefties have hit .275 with a .364 OBP against Tom Koehler this season.
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).