Prince Fielder- MIL- Cold- Fielder was 1-for-3 last night, but that made him still just 2-for-27 on the Brewers’ current road trip. Overall, Fielder has some severe home/road splits, hitting .311 with 13 homers in 135 ABs in Milwaukee and .239 with 3 homers in 163 ABs away from Miller Park. Last year, he also had a better performance at home, but not as pronounced. In 2006, it was just the opposite, so we can’t declare this a bona fide trend yet. However, keep a watch on his splits and if this continues consider sitting him for week long road trips, especially against teams with strong pitching.
Mark DeRosa- CHN- Hot- DeRosa went 3-for-4 with 2 homers and 6 RBI last night to extend his current hitting streak to 6 games. For a guy who the Cubs seemed desperate to replace before the season started, he’s having a pretty good year. DeRosa seems likely to hit a career high in homers, as he already has 10 in 264 ABs, equaling the total he achieved in 502 ABs last year and only 3 behind his career best from 2006. His Batting EYE has improved dramatically since he came to the Cubs prior to the 2007 season, going from .44 in 2006 to .62 last year and standing at .64 so far in 2008.
Aaron Harang- CIN- Hot- Harang picked up his 3rd quality start in the 7 he has made since his emergency relief performance on May 23rd. He allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk in 7 IP while striking out 8. It’s a little too soon to declare Harang back from whatever screwed him up in that relief appearance, as he did have one similar solid start in this stretch before backsliding into a couple of poor outings again. Keep a watch on his next start to see if he gives more indications he has recovered.
Brian Fuentes- COL- Cold- Fuentes did not blow his second consecutive save opportunity, but only because he didn’t enter the game with a save opportunity but a tie game. He faced 6 batters, 5 of whom got hits and eventually scored. Of the last 10 batters Fuentes has faced, only two have been retired, 7 have gotten hits and one walked. He has not had a 1-2-3 inning in his last 8 appearances. It was exactly a year ago when Fuentes had a similar horrible stretch, blowing four straight saves. He ended up getting demoted out of the closer role and then going on the DL with a strained lat muscle. We’ll have to see if history repeats itself.
Mark Reynolds- ARI- Hot- Reynolds went 3-for-3 with 2 doubles and a homer last night and even drew a walk. He finished June with a .295 batting average for the month, along with a .365 OBP and .620 SLG. Reynolds still had an abysmal strikeout rate of 39%, but there are some encouraging signs in his numbers. He walked 11 times with 92 ABs, which helped give him a solid OBP. Also, his BHIPx for the season dropped from .283 to .270 over the last three weeks of June, but he only lost a point of batting average. This means that he compensated for a decrease in good luck. Reynolds definitely has power and, while he is a free swinger, his plate discipline looks good enough to make him a productive member of the Arizona lineup. He is shaping up like an “Adam Dunn lite” who will be a drag on your batting average, but can help you in the other offensive columns.
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