Aramis Ramirez- MIL- Stats- Ramirez turns 36 next month and this is the second time in 2 years that he has had left leg issues. His durability is definitely in question. Ramirez got off to a very good start due in large part to very favorable luck. Through April 20 he was batting .352 with a .383 BABIP. Since then Ramirez batted .115 with a BABIP of .070. Regression to the mean overcorrected so that his BABIP is now at .252, which equals his average. This gives room for a bounce back to happen once he gets off the DL, but Ramirez is looking more like the fragile player he was for most of his time with the Cubs.
Billy Hamilton- CIN- Hot- Hamilton has experienced some positive regression to the mean lately, even as he was out of the starting lineup for a while with a hand injury. In his last 8 games he has gone 7-for-14 with a BABIP of .462. This stretch has brought that mark up to .309 for the season. For a player with Hamilton's speed, a much higher BABIP would be expected. A very positive sign is that Hamilton was walked twice in those 8 games. He had only walked 3 times in his previous 24 games. He also hasn't struck out since April 23rd. If Hamilton continues to maintain plate discipline he can end up racking up an even higher rate of stolen bases and improve on his rate of 15 runs in 32 games.
Nolan Arenado- COL- Stats- Arenado's streak may be over, but a promising trend developed over the latter part of it. In his last 14 games, Arenado has walked 5 times. He only walked 3 times in his first 26 games of the season. His Batting EYE currently stands at .38, which is higher than the .32 he ended with in 2013. Arenado can improve on that, given his minor league history.
Charlie Morton- PIT- Stats- If you look just at Morton's ERA of 3.22 and WHIP of 1.27 you might wonder how his record can be 0-5. If you look a little deeper and see that 9 of his 27 runs allowed are unearned, then it becomes clearer. Morton's K/9 is only 5.54 and his BB/9 is at 3.04. His FIP of 4.12 and xFIP of 4.22 are more indicative of how he's pitched. There isn't an indication of sleeper waiting to be snapped up here.
Addison Reed- ARI- Cold- Reed gave up 2 homers to blow his second save of the year and get charged with his 3rd loss. Reed has now given up 6 homers in 19.2 IP. He is looking like a victim of John Axford syndrome and unless he gets a cure soon his days as the Arizona closer could be numbered.
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