Howie Kendrick - Kendrick added to his scorching July with another couple of hits (including a homer), bringing his line for the month to 373/387/678. Basically, Kendrick now has a remarkably similar line to his 2007, with a bit of expected power growth and a much better LD% that might almost support the extremely high BABIP's. He is already 25 despite just 805 big league AB's, so there probably isn't an awful lot more growth in him, but he's already a very solid bat that, with a bit more power (which is expected to come) will be an elite-level 2B. The low walk rates and relatively high K rates will limit his ceiling somewhat, but not enough to prevent him from being among the best at his position.
Jon Lester - Lester shut down the Mariners last night over 7 1/3 innings, allowing only seven singles and a double while fanning six. His walk rate, the major negative in his statistical profile, has improved dramatically since May, and he has made a sizable jump in velocity as well this season, increasing my projection for him from a back-end starter to more of a #2 or #3 guy. He still has a nagging tendency to get beat up by crummy offenses on occasion (such as the Twins and Astros within his past four starts), but I guess that's why he isn't a #1. I've been very impressed with the strides he has made this season, and the K rate of 6.0 (in my mind, anyway) is likely to increase over the rest of this year if his last three outings are any indication (20 K's in 23 2/3 IP).
Matt Joyce - Part-time player Matt Joyce just keeps killing the ball, bashing a couple of singles, a triple, and his 10th homer of the season last night against the Royals. Joyce is hitting over 50% flyballs right now, and over 20% of those are leaving the yard....a figure that isn't likely to be sustained. Still, he's only going to be 24 a few weeks, so some real power growth could easily be going on here. The problem is finding him time around Thames and Sheffield, which limits his value still to AL-only and deeper mixed leagues.
Bossman Upton - Upton continues to mature as a hitter this season, offering much less in the way of power but much more in the way of plate discipline. He's swinging at less than 15% of the pitches thrown to him outside of the strike zone, showing pitch recognition that is among the best in the league. As far as production goes, his OBP is closing in on .400, and he stole his 29th and 30th bags of the season last night. Unfortunately, this has all come at a cost: hitting only 30% flyballs isn't going to bring much power, so his ISO has dropped considerably this year. I'm not sure that he'll do a whole lot to change that the rest of this season, but he's so gifted a hitter that I wouldn't be surprised to see him put both sides of the equation together next year to become a true offensive force. He's shown some power, some patience, and some speed in his three years in the bigs, and if he puts it all together he's an MVP candidate for certain. I wouldn't bet against it, possibly as soon as 2009.
Jed Lowrie - Lowrie had a couple of singles and a walk last night against the M's, hopefully solidifying his place in the starting lineup for the Sox. I like this kid a bit more than most...he has a bit more pop than most people think (.169 minor league ISO), and his BB:K ratios were quite good in the lower minors. I don't think he'll adjust to big league pitching as quickly as Dustin Pedroia has, but I think ultimately he'll have a bit more pop than Pedroia but hit for a lower average with less speed. All in all, he has a chance to be an average to slightly above big league shortstop, which is nothing to scoff at. For this year, he probably isn't going to have much value outside of the deepest of leagues.
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