Josh Hamilton has struggled in a big way over the last few months, but he might be breaking out of his slump now. He went 3-5 with a HR, a triple and 4 RBI in the Rangers 10-9 win over the Red Sox. Hamilton's June and July were absurdly bad, and here is what his slash lines looked like:
June: .223-.318-.436, 4 HRs, 16 RBI
July: .177-.253-.354 , 4 HRs, 11 RBI
For 2012, he is now hitting .288-.351-.575 with 30 HRs, 66 runs, and 95 RBI, and he is on pace to hit 44 HRs and drive in 140. Over his last 10 games, he is 15-46 with 2 HRs and 12 RBI. I wonder if his possible free agency is wearing on him? I think Texas will allow him to walk this offseason.
Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is definitely hot, but it certainly took him quite awhile to start hitting. AGonz went 3-5 with 3 runs and 3 RBI last night, and is now hitting .310-.353-.465 with 11 HRs, 34 doubles, 58 runs and 72 RBI. Over his last 10 games, he is 17-37 with a HR and 10 RBI, and has multiple hits in 6 of those 10 games. Heading into 2013, he will certainly drop in my first base rankings after the huge drop in home runs this season.
Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez had a slow start to the 2012 season, hitting just .214-.264-.381 in April, but since then his worst month was May where he hit .274-.364-.484 with 3 HRs and 20 RBI. Here are his slash lines for June through August:
June: .295-.374-.523, 4 HRs, 15 RBI
July: .373-.409-.608, 4 HRs, 21 RBI
August: .353-.353-.824, 2 HRs, 4 RBI
So, it pays to be patient with some hitters and ARam is one of the more streaky hitters in the game. I remember another fantasy baseball writer at another site, telling readers that Ramirez would have a down season hitting in Milwaukee. Well, right now, he is hitting .294-.357-.515 with 15 HRs, 61 runs and 70 RBI for the season. He is third amongst all third baseman in RBI, tied for 6th in HRs, and is 5th in batting average. Not bad.
More Roundup after the jump, including news about Dylan Bundy:
Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton had a monster night at the plate last night, going 4-5 with 2 HRs, 2 runs and 4 RBI. Stanton missed a month but looks like he hasn't missed time at all. He is now hitting .290-.367-.577 with 21 HRs, 48 runs, 55 RBI and 5 stolen bases thus far in 2012. He is on pace for 30 HRs this season, but I think that projection is underselling his power for the rest of the season.
As I was checking out Twitter last night, I came across this tweet about Orioles pitching prospect Dylan Bundy:
On the radio right now but hearing that Bundy is headed to Bowie and will start there next Tuesday.
— Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) August 9, 2012
I am hoping there are a few rainouts next week, so Bundy makes his first AA start in Trenton, as I will be attending the Trenton-Bowie game next Friday.
When he was promoted to the big leagues, some prospect experts questioned how long Mark Trumbo would last in the big leagues, as he was prone to the strikeout and didn't take the free pass too often. Trumbo had a solid rookie season in 2011, hitting .254-.291-.477 with 29 HR, 65 runs and 87 RBI. This season, he has proven his critics wrong, as he has increased his walk rate, and while still striking out around 22% this season, he is hitting .291-.346-.574 with 29 HRs, 54 runs and 73 RBI, and is on pace to hit 42 home runs and drive in 100+ runs.
Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson is having another excellent season at the plate, and that continued last night as he went 3-5 with a HR, a double, 2 runs and 4 RBI. Granderson is triple slashing .244-.338-.498 with 30 HR, 78 runs, 66 RBI and 8 stolen bases, but has struck out in just under 28% of his at bats this season. After hitting 41 home runs last season, many expected him to struggle to duplicate that power surge, yet he is on pace for 44 HRs this season. Hitting in the new Yankee Stadium has been especially kind to the Grandyman.
Orioles catcher Matt Wieters is catching fire at the plate of late, and he went 2-5 with 2 doubles and 5 RBI last night to help the Orioles beat the Mariners 9-2. Wieters is now hitting .246-.320-.424 with 15 HRs, 42 runs and 57 RBI. Over his last 10 games, Wieters is 13-42 with 2 HRs and 11 RBI.
The Giants traded for Marco Scutaro after third baseman Pablo Sandoval landed on the DL and Scutaro has been playing third base ever since. Last night, Scutaro went 3-6 with a HR, a double, a run scored and 7 RBI to help the Giants trounce the Cardinals 15-0. He has multi-hit games in 4 of his last 9 games, and is now hitting .279-.331-.376 with 5 HRs, 52 runs, 43 RBI and 7 stolen bases in 11 attempts. He will be moving over to second base when Sandoval returns from the DL.