Andrelton Simmons- ATL- Cold- Simmons went 1-for-4 yesterday, getting only his second hit in his last 6 games to drop his average to .259. On the plus side he drew a walk, his first one since May 7th. At the end of April, Simmons looked on track to put up numbers very comparable to last year's 17 homers and 59 RBI as he had 3 homers and 7 RBI. However, Simmon's .289 average at the end of the month was far above his .248 mark of 2013. With a .267 BABIP at the end of April it looked like he could improve in that department even more. Then came May and Simmons started striking out with much more frequency, collecting 14 Ks already this month after striking out only 3 times in April. That is a big factor in his monthly batting average dropping to .225 despite only a 5 point drop in BABIP. Simmon's HR/FB ratio plunged to 3.8% from 9.4% at the end of April. The good news is that he had a similar slump last year in August. Compared to July 2013 his strikeouts spiked and HR/FB tanked and he hit a lone homer. He recovered in September. Simmons can be looked at as a buy low opportunity.
Mark Melancon- PIT- Hot- Melancon is on a roll. Yes, he did allow his first hit in 5 appearances yesterday and it was his first homer allowed of the year. However it wasn't in a crucial situation and he converted his 5th straight save opportunity into his 10th save of the season. Melancon has also rediscovered his strikeout form. He fanned 2 yesterday, giving him 6 Ks in his last 4 appearances. Melancon is a legit closer.
Vic Black- NYN- Rookie- Black has an awesome curve ball that can freeze a hitter at the plate, no matter which side he is swinging from. That's the positive. The negative is that control issues he exhibited earlier in his career (and which looked like they might have been overcome in a late season call up to the majors last year) have returned. Black has walked 17 in 18.2 IP at AAA Las Vegas. Seven of those walks have come in his last 5 appearances covering 5.1 IP. Whether Black can rediscover the control he had last September will in large part determine how prominent a role he will have in the Mets' bullpen.
Zack Cozart- CIN- Stats- There isn't anything really mysterious about it. The difference between Cozart's performance last month and this can be boiled down to a change of luck. His BABIP at the end of April, when his average stood at .180, vas .205. Before yesterday's game, Cozart's BABIP for May was .355 and he had an average in the month of .310. Add them together and he has a BABIP of .270 for the season. His career mark is .284, so there is still some room for positive regression, but not as much as there was before this stretch started.
Tim Federowicz- LAN- Rise Value- Federowicz is back with the Dodgers since A.J. Ellis is on the DL due to overenthusiastic celebrating. Federowick was sent down earlier this year with a .109 average and rebounded at AAA Albuquerque with a .298 average. The difference? His BABIP with LA was .143 and at AAA it was .364. Besides the good luck he has experienced at AAA over the past few years (BABIPs of .356, .347, .532 and the aforementioned .364 from 2011-2014 respectively) the PCL has a tendency to favor hitters so his minor league numbers are inflated. Federowicz has a bat that is better than his early season numbers with the Dodgers but not good enough to be a prime candidate for adding to your team.
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