Eduardo Escobar - Escobar continued his hot hitting Wednesday, picking up a single and a walk while scoring a run for the 11th straight game. He's really blossomed playing every day, hitting 295/375/577 over the month of August and scoring runs at a pace that would put him over 100 for a full season. Not only that, but the plate discipline has been vastly improved in the second half, and for the second straight season his power numbers have taken a big jump as he's raised his ISO another 47 points to .179 while posting an avg HR distance of over 401 feet. Add in the fact that Escobar is potentially eligible at 2B, SS, 3B, and OF, and suddenly the 26 year old looks like a very useful player in just about all formats. Definitely an under-the-radar player right now.
Brett Lawrie - Lawrie has certainly added some pop this year despite the move to a pitcher's park, something that isn't completely evident in the raw totals but shows up clearly in the distance data. Lawrie is up to almost 409 feet for an average HR distance this season, and his average FB distance is up nearly 9%, which is a monstrous move. The decreased contact rate is a concern, as is (still) the home park, as his road splits of 293/321/462 are increases of 047/025/085 over his home numbers. Lawrie has been red-hot since a 3-game "rest" a few weeks ago, hitting in 9 of 11 with 4 doubles and 4 homers. He's still a very solid player, ranked #12 at 3B currently, and there may be a bit of growth yet at just 25 years of age. I'm still a bit bullish here for next season.
Kole Calhoun - Calhoun had three hits on Wednesday for the second straight day, bringing his line back up to 268/326/441 on the year. His avg HR distance of nearly 405 feet is well above average, lending credence to the improved HR total this season. It doesn't look like he's going to be the double-digit base stealer that we thought was possible, but despite a much lower contact rate this year he does hit enough line drives (career - 23.4%) to expect better than a BABIP around .300....I wouldn't be surprised to see his average creep up closer to the .280-.290 range more frequently the next few seasons. On the whole, Calhoun is a very solid OF3 in standard-sized leagues, and at age 28 should be expected to continue in that vein for quite some time.
Jose Berrios - The Twins announced that they won't be promoting Jose Berrios this season, which is disappointing on many fronts, but perhaps the best thing for the 21 year old's arm long-term. Berrios is one of the top-5 pitching prospects in the game right now, posting a K:BB ratio of 6:1 at AAA and possessing four pitches that grade out above average. I love this kid, and I think he has a very real chance of opening 2016 with the Twins in a very favorable ballpark situation. He could be a real sleeper come March.
Abraham Almonte - Almonte is the new starting CF in Cleveland since the Bourn deal nearly a month ago, and he's posted a pretty tasty 274/326/536 line over his first 84 ABs with the club, tallying 3 homers and 3 steals. Power isn't really Almonte's strength, although you could potentially see him hitting 10-12 homers in a season if he hit a few more flyballs. He does have above-average speed though, which would project to 10-15 steals over a full season at the big league level I would guess. His LD rate is up a bit again this year, to the point where it can help cover up some of the contact-related issues in his game....he looks like an intriguing play as a possible 5th OF in deeper leagues for the last month of the season and potentially 2016 as well.
