There were some completely crazy lines this past week in the world of baseball, some by the usual suspects, and some by some guys totally out of left field. Note: if you hate the AL East, get the hell out of here.
SCORCHING HITTERS
Matt Joyce, Rays. .526/.591/.895, 7 R, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 3 K, 1/1 SB
“Matt Joyce is a part time player” was a tagline that’s followed Joyce over his whole career. Well, that may be true: he still can’t hit lefties, posting only a .466 OPS against them this year. But boy, he’s murdering righties (1.021 OPS in 74 plate appearances). Is it just me, or would a platoon of Matt Joyce and Matt Diaz be the most intriguing thing ever? To steal a joke from Bill Simmons, if the two ever get on the same fantasy team, they should be merged into one player: Matt Joyaz. If only Diaz wasn’t playing terrible against lefties this year…
Brett Wallace, Astros. .611/.650/.778, 1 R, 2 RBI, 3 2B, 2 BB, 4 K, 1/1 SB
The bare essentials of his stats aren’t really great…only two walks and two extra base hits? Hogwash! But the man went 11/18 on the week. That’s crazy, no matter how you slice it. Wallace is on his fourth organization at the age of 24, and he’s put together a great first month after a rather awful debut season in the majors last year with the Astros. More power would be nice, but he’s never really shown great pop throughout his minor league career, so that could be asking a little too much.
Ben Zobrist, Rays. .440/.444/.960, 8 R, 13 RBI, 5 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 1 BB, 1 K, 2/2 SB
Probably the best overall performer on the week. In one doubleheader against the Twins, Zobrist drove in ten, scored five times, and had five extra base hits. Talk about one hell of a fantasy day. After a dismal 2010 with the bat, the man they call Zorilla is back with a vengeance in 2011. After hitting ten homers all of last season, he’s already got seven in a month this year. Be forewarned though: the walks have vanished.
Jose Bautista, Blue Jays. .350/.594/.800, 6 R, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 2 HR, 11 BB, 1 K, 2/2 SB
I’m going to have a more in depth piece up about Bautista tomorrow, but for now, I’ll say this. HOLY WOW. Eleven walks in one week, with only one of those being intentional, and only one strikeout? That’s insanity. Pure, unadulterated insanity. He even stole two bases for the hell of it. Adding his new approach at the plate this season to his new stance from 2010 has resulted in the creation of one of the best hitters in the league out of the shell of a journeyman corner infielder. Who would have imagined that?
Luke Scott, Orioles. .389/.429/.944, 5 R, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 3 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
Scott’s hot bat allowed the Orioles to win five out of six on the week and get out of the cellar in the AL East. Scott is the kind of asset that the Orioles should look to flip at the deadline: a cheap, productive veteran. There are several on this team, and unless the team is hanging on in the division in July (somehow, some way), they should dump all of these guys. All they’re doing is blocking the path to the majors for several of their younger players.
FRIGID HITTERS
Brendan Ryan, Mariners. .059/.059/.059, 1 R, 5 K
The Mariners acquired Ryan for his historically good glove. His bat has never been worth a damn. Welll, this season, not only is his bat awful (.500 OPS in 90 plate appearances), but his glove isn’t looking too hot either (already a -2 on the +/- fielding system). The Mariners should just DFA him, but then again, it’s not like they’re going anywhere this season. But with uber prospect Dustin Ackley lurking, and Jack Wilson playing out of position at second base (and doing horrendous with the glove there), Ryan’s time in Seattle might not make it through the summer.
Mark Ellis, Athletics. .050/.050/.050, 4 K, 1/1 SB
Like Ryan, Ellis is another glove first middle infielder. Unlike Ryan, he’s providing some semblance of a glove this season for the A’s. He’s in the final year of his contract, and the A’s have a pair of AAA 2B prospects named Jemile Weeks and Adrian Cardenas who will likely be major league ready after the season. It’s looking like this will be all for Ellis as an Athletic, and his departure could be hastened if Weeks or Cardenas really takes off with the bat and Ellis continues to struggles. Unlike Ryan, he could have some worth for a contender.
Magglio Ordonez, Tigers. .087/.087/.087, 5 K
Ordonez did nothing of worth. No RBI, no runs, no stolen bases. Just two singles that ended with nothing. He’s been in a steady streak of injury plagued decline, and his Tigers career has been a borderline disaster outside of the stellar 2007 season. He’s hurting the team with his bat, he’s hurting the team in the field, and he’s hurting the team’s ability to make anymore moves with his salary. On the bright side Tigers fans, the $10 million he’s making this year is a decrease from the $15 million option the team declined at the end of the season, and a decrease from the $18 million he made in 2010!
Jose Lopez, Rockies. .111/.111/.111, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 K
The Rockies figured a move from the spacious Safeco Field into the cozy Coors Field would result in a nice boost for Lopez’s offensive statistics. It hasn’t worked that way. He’s never walked at all in his career, and this season, that exaggeration is almost true: one walk in 76 plate appearances. But his BABIP is only .145, so there’s some room for a rebound there. You can never count out a hitter in Coors Field.
Alex Rodriguez, Yankees. .120/.120/.160, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 8 K
From the penthouse to the outhouse. Baseball is a game of streaks, and that happens sometimes. Unlike most everyone else above him, Rodriguez provided some sort of value with his bat, getting a whopping one extra base hit. But the eight strikeouts are ghastly. He’s still Alex Rodriguez, so I wouldn’t expect to see him under that blue headline too much this season.
