The last two weeks Gregor Blanco has a 44.4 percent line drive rate, the best mark in baseball. How the hell did he bat only .262 in that time? #BadLuck
Yoenis Cespedes is extremely cold. Over the last two weeks he’s hit .086 with a .114 SLG. Yikes. The slump has dropped his average to .266, just four points off his career mark. Seems about right overall, despite the horrible slump. Oh yeah, Michael Conforto, his teammate with the Mets, is batting .244 with a .317 OBP this season. Just awful. Conforto has been an unmitigated disaster his last 11 games as he’s hitting .103 with a .163 OBP. I tried to warn you.
The last 30 days Ian Desmond is batting .379 with five homers and six steals. He’s on pace to blow past 20/20 and is batting .310 overall. Be cautious of the impending fall. Desmond has hit .255 and .233 the past two seasons, is a career .266 batter, and simply has no shot to maintain his .371 BABIP given his skills and track record (career .325). Love what he has done cutting down the whiffs though.
Billy Hamilton is finally hitting. I know, I can’t believe it either. Over the past 12 games he’s hit .359 with seven steals and eight runs scored as he’s looked really sharp. I know everyone just gave up on the guy a month ago, but that was extremely shortsighted to have done.
Kelly Johnson was dealt from the Braves to the Mets Wednesday for RHP Akeel Morris. You might have read that same sentence last year as this is actually the second time in thirteen months that the Braves dealt the veteran to the Mets. Johnson is nothing other than a backup depth play in NL-only leagues at this point of his career.
Manny Machado is not smart. Admittedly if some punk was throwing 97 mph fastballs at me I would be pissed too, but Machado charging the mound to take on Yordano Ventura after taking a pitch to his side was idiotic. Machado is too important to the Orioles to be this lame. He’s going to be suspended, likely for a week I would think, and that will hurt the Orioles substantially. What if they miss the playoffs by one game just so that Machado could look tough? Like I wrote on Twitter, Ventura is a moron, but two wrongs don’t make a right.
I love Nachos. Just sharing.
It’s National Best Friends Day.
Mike Napoli has been amazing the past 30 days with eight homers, 22 RBI and 21 runs scored. Stupendous work. Alas, he’s also struck out 45 times, the worst mark in baseball, meaning he’s struck out 42 percent of his last 106 at-bats. That’s scary bad. Keep an eye on the whiffs.
Rougned Odor has one walk his last 18 games, the same total as Matt Kemp in his last 28 games. Wow is that hideous. See the Big 3 Video for more on Kemp.
Paulo Orlando and Ender Inciarte combined for 107 plate appearances the past two weeks. The combined to produce zero RBI.
One pitching note… did you know that the Cubs have four pitchers in the top-7 in WHIP as of this writing? Truly amazing.
Trayce Thompson’s HR numbers are not sustainable. Lonnie Chisenhall has quietly been producing. Brian Dozier’s turnaround has begun. SEE THE VIDEO.
What would you do if this showed up in your front yard?
If it was April 1st and someone told you that Travis Shaw, through 58 games, would be hitting .277-7-33-36 with a .818 OPS you would be overjoyed with that level of production. Alas, it’s been a very front loaded effort from Shaw who is batting .198 with a .570 OPS over his last 21 games. He’s just stopped hitting. If you 
haven’t already, start exploring corner infield options immediately in case the slump continues.
I got some dope Fila shoes at Costco last weekend. Bought em for $19.99. They make me really fast.
The last 11 games Joey Votto is batting .295, a marked improvement from earlier in the year. He’s posted a .380 OBP in that time as well, a marked improvement from earlier in the year. However, the most exciting number might be .750, as in his SLG the last 11 games. That’s right, Mr. Softy according to some has a .750 SLG and five homers the last 11 games. Toss in his five doubles and that means Votto has 10 extra base hits in 11 games. Hopefully you maintained the faith.
Ben Zobrist was on a 6-game hitless streak before singling and homering against the Phillies. He’s still hitting a remarkable .325 on the year so more slumps are a coming for the .268 career hitter in nearly 1,250 big league games.
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).