Adam Jones - Jones has been hot since about the 20th of May, and after last night's 3-6 performance he is virtually assured of putting up his second straight month with a better than .800 OPS. He still swings at one out of every three balls out of the zone, and more than 10% of his hits are of the infield variety, so those items coupled with a preposterously high K rate and low BB rate are still major holes in his game. His talent is undeniable, but I'm not entirely certain that he's all that dissimilar from Corey Patterson. In my opinion he's still more hype than substance, but the gap is closing.
Denard Span - Keiunta hit his first homer of the year to jumpstart the Twins' 7-0 drubbing of the Sox last night, and in doing so he brought his July line up to 333/432/520. He has an obscene LD% of 27.6 so far this year, a contact% over 90, and a much lower K rate and higher walk rate than he ever showed in the minors. He doesn't have much power, and with his slight build I wouldn't expect much to show up down the road (he's only 24), but he does have some speed. If we're seeing real growth this year he could certainly be a worthwhile leadoff man, but I'm skeptical. A lot of guys struggle when they first play in pro ball, but 550 games of 287/357/358 with a K every six AB's is a lot of data to ignore. I'd be selling high on the young OF and take the chance that this is just a random hot streak at an opportune time for him.
Adrian Beltre - Beltre popped two homers last night against the Rangers, giving him 18 for the year. It always surprises me when I see that Beltre is still not quite 30, as he already has over 1500 games under his belt, and aside from 2004 he's been a very consistent player. That year was the perfect storm of a power spike, a better contact rate, and a fortuitous BABIP.....outside of that Beltre is a solid but unspectacular 3B. If he ever played in a favorable home park things might be different (road line of 296/364/500 this year, for example), but he might be out of his prime by then. If you can start him on the road only, he's definitely a worthwhile player to have....other than that he's merely adequate.
Adam Lind - Lind has hit in 20 of 22 games in July, and has put up a 388/405/638 line for the month. His situation brings to mind another Toronto OF that seemed to be more of a second half player back in the '90's, and that player also toiled between AAA and the majors for a few too many years under Cito Gaston's tutelage. Shawn Green ended up OK, but he probably wasted a few prime years because he was a slow starter, so hopefully Gaston has learned from his mistakes and Lind is up to stay. His 318/380/509 minor league line makes me think that the level of power he's showing thus far might be a bit exaggerated, but a .300 hitter with a SLG close to .500 is still all right to have around, and it's possible as a 25 year old that he is developing a bit more power. There will be some growing pains...this K rate is awfully low for him given his minor league history, but I view Lind as a solid OF for the next five or six years. He should be starting in most formats.
Daisuke Matsuzaka - A quick add-on to my July 8th comment regarding Matsuzaka, who did indeed allow a couple of homers last night to help that HR/FB ratio move up toward "normal". There's yet another factor that gives me pause regarding his excellent W/L record and ERA: his schedule. His last nine starts have consisted of a whole lot of Mariners (x2), Royals, Twins, Orioles, and Astros, with only the Rays, Angels, and Cardinals showing up as upper-tier teams. Two of those three slammed him around, and in August he'll have to face the White Sox twice and the Rangers once, so it gets a touch tougher (although he does get the O's again and the Jays twice). I still think he'll be adequate but not stellar the rest of the way, so selling high before the deadline isn't the worst strategy if you can procure enough value for him.
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