Dog Days of August – Part One

Cole Hamels was a Cy Young candidate with the Phillies, a strikeout machine, he was one of the best, that’s why the Phillies won the World Series, now, when the Phillies traded Cole Hamels to the Rangers and he kind of went down. He wasn’t keeping hits to himself but he was letting the opponent hit the ball for base hits. But, when he was with the Phillies in his last three seasons and a half, he struck out 637 and with the Rangers, he struck out only 497 in his first three and a half seasons. But, there’s a catch, there’s always a catch, he allowed 69 homers in his last three and a half seasons, but, in his first three and a half seasons, he allowed 67 homers in his first three and a half seasons, so, I don’t know if he got better or worse. But I must say, Cole Hamels isn’t good at home, though he is a beast on the road, the newly acquired Cub will put a lot of distance between him and the Brewers in the NL Central Hunt.

Zack Cozart was a player that was not the greatest in Cincinnati, but he was a player you could rely on. His speed was not shown in his stolen bases but rather in his speed beating out infield hits or legging out a triple instead of a double. The 2017 All-Star was a great fielding stud, his fielding percentage (FLD%) is .978 in his first five complete seasons, which is very good for shortstops, which is even better than 3-time Gold Glove Winner, Brandon Crawford, who tops in at .977 in his three Gold Glove seasons and the two before it. Then he got traded for the Angels, a chance the initial plan for the season before any injuries or trades happened, was Zack Cozart at third, Andrelton Simmons at short, Ian Kinsler at second and Albert Pujols patrolling first. Luis Valbuena and Jefry Marte to switch around the infield. They could be playoff contenders. But then injuries struck, Zack Cozart went down for shoulder surgery; they had to call up David Fletcher. Then a few days ago they made one of the worst moves in all of franchise history, they traded away Ian Kinsler to the Red Sox, who the heck are they gonna play at second? They could play Luis Valbuena, but that’s a long shot, he’s a third baseman. There’s always Kaleb Cowart, a shortstop made second basemen, who played for the Angels last night, he was okay, hopefully, he could prove to be better and a supporting column of the lineup.

Jean Segura is one of the most underrated players in the business. His speed is mind-blowing, but, again, he has stolen bases, but he has speed in other things like hustle doubles or triples or beating out infield singles, he also has stolen at least 20 bases each of the past 5 seasons. He could hit for average and he has an average over .300 for the second season in a row. His walks have never been up because like me, I like to swing and I’m eager to hit. I think he would have been the runner-up for the AL batting title if not for a trip to the shelf the last few seasons. The 2018 All-Star put the decisive blow in the All-Star Game to power the AL to another win. He is definitely not known for his power is gracefully showing it over the past few years. He’s on pace for about 14 or 15 homers this year, but he is definitely a guy who could be in a starting role at shortstop and he is versatile at different positions around the diamond. He could lead a club to the postseason with help from players that could hit homers and they have Ryon Healy.

Johnny Cueto was a definite Cy Young candidate, he even had the honor to start the 2016 All-Star Game. He had a sizzling fastball, they were a great duo with Aroldis Chapman and he has one of the best changeups in the game along with his curve. He was the star of Cincinnati, I mean he was worshipped and then the Royals rented him for the 2015 World Series, and then he won a ring there. Then he was even more worshipped, he had a great year for the Giants near the bay. Theeeennn..........to put it lightly— it crashed and burned, injuries killed his pitching, he allowed more hits than SOs. He allowed 9.8 hits per 9IP. Right now, he’s on the DL, recovering from Tommy John Surgery, but we’re sure to see him and his shimmy soon. 

Kevin “Superman” Pillar is one of the best players defensively I have seen in my 11 years. He is a leadoff machine, you could trust him to get a hit and then steal second to easily start the game. Pillar has made the second or first best catch of the year to rob Nick Castellanos of a homer. He is really fast and granted that Curtis Granderson and Teoscar Hernandez aren’t that fast, Pillar is an asset in the outfield. He has a burst of power when you need him, buuut, the Blue Jays are loaded with power. He is a middle-in hitter and butchers pitches low and in. You should pitch him up and in and down and in, pitch him middle-in too. Pillar doesn’t have the greatest arm but that certainly shouldn’t put him at 90th, Pillar is a pillar of the Blue Jays. ­­­­­­

In my next installment, I’ll go out on a limb with predictions.