I guess there’s a reason baseball has 162 games. The cream of the crop will rise to the top. No, I never eat a pig, a pig is a cop. Sorry, didn’t mean to jump around there.
The title for this was going to be risers and fallers, but after I listed the names, I’m going with the title Restorers. Players up in here for a time did not return value. Recent times have restored their value to what we expected. There was a time when we rued the day we drafted Austin Riley in the second. These times are no more. All stats are accurate as of Monday at high noon.
Austin Riley: The man was decidedly mid for a good part of the season. At the All Star break, he was at .266 with 16 HR. Decent, but not what you signed up for, right? I have good news, in case this slid past you. 6 HR in the past 9 games, and all that in a wonderful package that isn’t Kyle Schwarber! Over a .300 AVG! He’s climbed up to 17th overall on the Razzball Player Rater
Riley has been everything you drafted him for and even exceeded value. Congrats if you could buy low, but gotta let these seasons play out, right?
Nolan Arenado: I didn’t see Arenado hitting .352 in his past 30 days coming, did you? I faded him in April when his metrics looked terrible and he was at .239 with just two HR. Personal lesson: Statcast tells you what HAS happened, and isn’t always predictive. In my zeal to conquer the corner infield landscape, I overreacted to one bad month.
Now, not drafting him anywhere, I can defend that, he is over 30. Just wanted to highlight this hot streak before the Cardinals hilariously have to deal at the deadline and nobody pays attention to them.
Jose Abreu has reinvented himself. He’s now a plate approach contact-oriented guy. The power has dried up, but the average has been there for the last couple of months. He sat .292 in a June, and followed that up so far since the break at .297. Now, the walks are drying up, and the power is not there. Abreu may be Luis Arraez lite, which is weird but he’s old and adapting. I’d run him out there if you need average help.
In the last 30 days Cody Bellinger is at .436/.470/.713. Most importantly he has gained first base eligibility. This is 2019 first half level Belly. I’m completely shocked. Of course, he’s a Boras guy on a one year deal, and of course, the Cubs are going to trade him, so enjoy the ride while it lasts. This restorer goes years back, but he has to be taken seriously at this point.
Farewell, and until next week.
