Will the real J.D. Martinez stand up?
J.D. Martinez was 2-4 with his 9th HR and a walk in the win against the Rangers. J.D. Martinez has an OPS over 1.100 in June to go along with 6 HR and 18 RBI. Martinez remodeled his swing in the offseason and it has paid dividends so far in 2014. However, his batted ball profile does not suggest that this success is sustainable over the long term. He has a .367 BABIP, which is way above career averages, he has below average contact rates (73.8%), and he swings at almost 40% of the pitches that are out of the zone. His HR/FB rate is at a crazy 24.2%, which is double anything he has put up at the major league level. It is possible that a swing change has made him into a new and improved hitter, but I would side with numbers on this one.
Coco Crisp Enjoying Another Fine Season...
Coco Crisp was 3-5 with his 6th homerun in the win against the Mets. Crisp also added 2 runs and 2 RBI. Crisp is slashing .290/6/27 with 13 SB. The Athletics have been giving Crisp more frequent days off to help him stay healthy and productive. Crisp has rewarded the Athletics with a very fine season to date. The 22 HR he hit a year ago were a career high and many doubted that he could repeat that in 2014. His HR/FB ratio spiked to 12.4%, but has come back down to 6.9% in 2014, which is more in line with his career averages. Crisp may not go 20/20 again in 2014, but he will make up for that with a higher average and should finish around 15/20.
Ian Kinsler proving his haters wrong...
Ian Kinsler was 2-3 with 2 BB and 2 R in the win against his former team. Kinsler has been red hot as of late. Over his last 7 games, Kinsler has hit .346 with 2 HR/6 RBI/5 R/1 SB. Kinsler is in the midst of a very fine 2014 season, which he has been out to prove himself after being traded for Prince Fielder in the offseason. His slash line is .299/9/38 to go along with 8 SB. His batted ball profile is right along with his career marks, so this success should continue.
David Price's Last Home Start?
David Price was marvelous once again. He threw 8.1 innings and struck out 11 against the Pirates. The lone blemish was a ninth inning homerun to reigning NL MVP Andrew McCutchen. The fans at Tropicana gave Price a standing ovation as he walked off the field in what could be Price's last home start. Price has been absolutely dominant in June. He has a 2.59 ERA over 31.1 innings, while maintaining a 43/4 strikeout-walk ratio. His value will not go down if he gets traded, because he already pitches in one of the toughest divisions in all baseball. However, if he does get moved to a National League club his value will rise even higher.
Evan Longoria's Struggles...
Evan Longoria was 1-4 with 2 runs and an RBI against in the Rays 5-1 win over the Pirates. Longoria is slashing .264/10/37. His disappointing 2014 season coincides with the Rays disappointing season. Longoria's batted ball profile is right along with his career average, except for a large increase in the number of groundballs hit. He has a 1.29 GB/FB rate, which is up from his career average of .87 GB/FB. We have seen this trend with a number of the games better hitters (Prince Fielder, Billy Butler, Ben Zobrist) and the results are not encouraging. Hopefully Longoria can reverse this trend quickly.
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