Nelson Cruz- TEX- Hot- Cruz went 2-for-3 yesterday to bring his July average to .341. However, it is being driven by a .441 BABIP. Cruz has yet to hit a homer this month so Fantistics' Drew Dinkmeyer's analysis from late last month of Cruz's fantasy value slipping still holds. This is possibly a last opportunity to sell high on him while he is hot.
Kendrys Morales- LAA- Cold- Since ending a 9-game hitting streak earlier this month, Morales has gone 5-for-29 in his last 8 games. He has only 1 homer in his last 19 games. Morales has a .281 average overall but it's being supported by a .335 BABIP. His K rate is at 21.9%, which will be his career high if it stays there. Not surprisingly given that, his .25 Batting EYE is well below his career mark of .38. It's looking more and more like 2009 was a career year.
Mark Teixeira- NYA- Hot- Teixeira hit another homer last night, his second in 4 games and 6th of the month. His .326 average in July is driven more by a 1.25 Batting EYE and astounding .535 ISO than luck, which has actually been against him (.276 BABIP.) If you were able to buy low because his early season cold streak lasted longer than usual you are very happy.
Luke Scott- TB- Hot- Scott is 7-for-12 in his last 3 games. He may finally be experiencing some regression to the mean. It didn't happen last year, as he finished with a .220 average driven by a .250 BABIP. This year he has the same .220 average and his BABIP is even lower at .237. However, so far this month, Scott has a .345 BABIP.
Jhonny Peralta- DET- Stats- Peralta identified some of his early season problems as attributable to bad luck and that is at least partially true. His BABIP for his career is .314 and it was.304 in April and .262 in May. It was .338 in June and is .324 so far in July, so his luck has turned around. However, Peralta's slow start and recovery can't be explained by luck alone. His Batting EYE in May of .83 was way above his .41 career number. That helped keep his average from dropping further when his BABIP was lowest. When Peralta's luck turned around in June he still had a .64 Batting EYE, which also helped drive his average to .299. This month, his Batting EYE has plunged to .30 and his average has also dropped to .283 despite the above average BABIP. In order to maintain his average, Peralta needs to get that Batting EYE at least to his career norm.
Follow me on Twitter all season - @fantisticspaul
There are over 100 player news blurbs posted in the member area each morning. Members can read the rest of today's player news by clicking here. Not a member? Join today.
