AM/PM is a convenience store chain that….Can you guess? Never closes! The stores are usually attached to an ARCO or BP gas station, so be careful what you eat. Stick with the candies and sweets. Never, and I mean never, get cute and indulge in the hot dogs, sandwiches, or burritos. My favorite experience at an AM/PM was to mix and match all the flavors of the fountain drinks and slushes. I’m getting brain freeze just thinking about it. Anyways, there’s a ton of bad inside of an AM/PM, but there’s also a ton of good, which keeps people returning. The same can be said for the most added player over the week, Adalberto Mondesi (61% owned – increase of 42%). He seemingly does something everyday on the field. Since getting called up in mid-June, AM has a .284/.311/.467 slash with 9 home runs and 25 stolen bases. Back in July, a commenter asked me to choose between AM and someone else. I chose someone else. I did not choose wisely. In my defense, the same concerns I had back then are the same concerns I have now. 18.5% swinging strike rate, 37.1% chase rate, 66.2% overall contact rate, and 3.3% walk rate. I thought his plate discipline and inability to take a walk would catch up to him, but obviously he is too fast for even that. The two things that I do like are the 41.4% hard contact rate and his position in the batting order (2nd). At this point, all I can do is <insert shrug emoji>. There’s a ton of bad with AM, but there’s a ton of good. I’m a stubborn ahole, so I’m going to list him as TRASH, but I can’t deny the production and understand why people would like to indulge.
Jeff McNeil (33.9% owned – increase of 17.7%) is my kind of player. Power/speed combo with a low strikeout rate and high contact rate. So far, in 200 plate appearances, McNeil has a .339/.389/.492 slash with 3 home runs and 5 stolen bases. The swinging strike rate is 8.1% and the overall contact rate is 85.6%. He also hits both LHP and RHP well. Like Mondesi above, McNeil also bats 2nd in the batting order. Not all is lovey dovey, though. He has never sniffed double digits steals in any level above Single-A. While he does have pop, he’s only hit more than 10 home runs in a season just once (14 in Double-A). The .339 batting average is fueled by a .364 BABIP, so some regression should be expected. With that said, he does utilize the whole field and has a decent line drive rate. Batting in front of a red hot Michael Conforto doesn’t hurt, either. TREASURE
Alex Gordon (21.2% owned – increase of 16.3%) is….Wait. What year is it? I feel so dirty writing about Gordon, as it’s been a while since his 20/10 days. With that said, I had to see what all the fuss was about. 12 stolen bases on the season?! Seriously, what year is it? Coming into this little venture, my mind was in auto-fade mode, but looking at some of the numbers, I’m intrigued. Since the start of the month, the .269 batting average is fueled by a .340 BABIP. The strikeout rate is 21.8% and walk rate is 9%. The .164 ISO should probably be down near .125. But then I look at the batted ball numbers. 43.1% hard contact rate! 39.2% line drive rate!! He bats third in the batting order. If I needed an outfielder, I’d be okay with slotting in Gordon there, even though I’d still feel dirty. TREASURE
