Whew. Less than eight weeks left in the baseball season, which is hard to believe, no? And, yes, football drafts are indeed among us. But for those of us still in a roto baseball hunt, well, six intense weeks likely lay ahead.
Which brings us to Sizzle/Fizzle, the compendium of just who in MLB is hot and who is not. Let’s see whose burnin’ and chillin’ this cycle.
Sizzle
Mallex Smith (OF, Rays): Talk about smokin’ hot, Smith hit .625 (10-for-16) last week, scoring four runs and stealing five bags in the process.
Nathan Eovaldi (P, Red Sox): 2-0, with 15 shutout frames since being traded to Boston, with nine strikeouts.
Derek Holland (P, Giants): Quietly, Holland has assembled quite a season with 120 strikeouts over 117 innings, and though he has no wins his last four starts, the lefty has posted a 2.65 ERA and 0.882 WHIP with 17 whiffs over 17 frames.
Tanner Roark (P, Nationals): His record might just be 6-12, but over his last three starts, Roark is 3-0, 0.82, with an 0.682 WHIP and 20 strikeouts over 20 innings.
Matthew Boyd (P, Tigers): Boyd, like Holland, has improved to the point where his 1.15 WHIP looks strong over 117.1 innings with 107 strikeouts. Over his last three starts, Boyd is 2-1, 1.42, with an 0.895 WHIP and 20 whiffs over 19 innings.
Fizzle
Dustin Fowler (OF, Athletics): Promise squashed by a .260 OBP and strong recent performances by Ramon Laureano and Nick Martini.
Robbie Ray (P, Diamondbacks): For a second-tier draft day darling with a pair of 200-strikeout seasons under his belt, Ray has been plain old awful this year. He does have strikeouts (95 over 71.1 innings) but a 4.92 ERA and 1.44 WHIP.
Ervin Santana (P, Twins): On the heels of a couple of strong years, Santana began the season on the DL so his struggles are likely relative to missing months of play. That said, Big Erv has allowed 20 hits over his first 16 innings, notching a 6.14 ERA and 1.636 WHIP.
Jose Bautista (3B, Mets): Seriously, did anyone think JoeyBats had any of his old lightening in the bat? He was 0-for-18 last week, and 6-for-45 (.133) the last two weeks.
Greg Bird (1B, Yankees): Bird was 2-for-20 last week, and the Yankees grabbed St. Louis prospect Luke Voit, meaning Greg needs to contribute to get at-bats.
Tune into the Tout Wars Hour on the FNTSY network, hosted by me, with Justin Mason and featuring Lord Z every Sunday, 2-4 PM ET/11 AM-1 PM PT, and you can follow me @lawrmichaels.
