Streaking in the Park: Carlos Quentin, Tommy Hanson and More
By Brian Phair
RF Carlos Quentin, CWS
This week’s spotlight player, Carlos Quentin, has always been a bit of a mystery. His career average is a mediocre .251, but he has the ability to power-up when he stays healthy for an extended period of time. This season, Quentin has a poor .233 batting average and has been relatively forgotten around the league as a formidable hitter, but is now back on everyone’s radar after the incredible hitting show he put on this past week.
This past week, Quentin has appeared in 7 games for the Chicago White Sox and has hit a whopping .421 with a ridiculous 5 home runs and 24 rbis. Quentin had the highest slugging percentage of any position player in baseball this week (1.263) and walked 4 times. The White Sox are in need of Quentin to get hot, because they currently sit in 3rd place in the AL Central, 2 games behind the Detroit Tigers and 1.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins.
Quentin’s impressive week did not go unnoticed, as he was awarded the MLB Player of the Week honor on Monday. The White Sox are hoping the slugger can return to his 2008 form, in which he hit .288 with 36 home runs and 100 rbis in just 130 games. Given his track record, I wouldn’t expect an average above .250 or .260, but I’m sure the White Sox would be happy with another 30+ home run and 100+ rbi performance from their right fielder.
3B David Wright, NYM
The New York Mets have certainly benefitted from the resurgence of their 7-year veteran, David Wright. He put up solid numbers in 2009, but his power was well below his normal numbers and as a result, his slugging percentage was diminished. This season however, Wright has returned to form and is hitting .303 with 14 home runs in 75 games, including an impressive last 7 games in which he hit .500 with 2 home runs and 8 rbis. I fully expect Wright to continue his .300+ average and wouldn’t be surprised to see him hit 25+ home runs for the 5th time in his career in 2010.
2B Rickie Weeks, MIL
Is there any streakier player in the MLB than Rickie Weeks? It seems as if he is either on a cold list or a hot list week in and week out. The good news for the Milwaukee Brewer is that this was a hot week. Weeks hit .481 in 7 games this week, while belting his 11th, 12th and 13th home runs of the season. At this pace, Rickie will crush his previous home run high of 16 for a season and could very well hit 20+, assuming he doesn’t have a prolonged slump and remains healthy. Weeks lifted his season average to .274 overall, which is over .020 points above his career numbers and is doing everything he can at the plate to bring back the Brewers who are 8.5 games back in the NL Central.
Team
Texas Rangers
As the season wears on, the Texas Rangers are not fading into oblivion like many expected, but rather are putting together a legitimate contender. The Rangers are tied for the best batting average in the AL and are tied for 2nd in the AL in era this year. Their young pitching staff has been outstanding thus far in 2010 and if they can continue to dominate the AL West, they will likely walk into the post-season. The past 10 games, the Rangers are 9-1 and have accumulated the best home record in baseball at 28-12 (tied with the New York Mets). The real test for the Rangers down the stretch and potentially into the playoffs will be their road record, which is less than stellar at 18-17.
Weekly Player Spotlight
SP Tommy Hanson, ATL
In the short time Tommy Hanson has been in the majors, he has had a strong impact on the Booby Cox led Atlanta Braves. In his first 37 starts in the bigs, Hanson is 18-9 with a 3.56 era. Not too shabby for the 23-year old from Tulsa, OK. This season, Hanson has pitched well for the Braves, but had a rough 2-start week in which he saw his era climb and his record take a turn for the worse.
In his 2 starts this week, Hanson was 0-2 with a 17.18 era in just 7.1 innings. His impressive 7-3 record suddenly became 7-5 and he added a ridiculous 14 earned runs to his season total. A strong suit for Hanson this year has been is K numbers (striking out 1 batter per inning pitched), but this week he only accumulated 4 in his 2 starts, while walking 3 batters. Hanson allowed his 7th home run of the season and hit his 8th batter, which is already 3 more than he hit in 37.2 more innings last season.
As difficult as it is to watch, these types of slumps are crucially important for a young pitcher like Hanson to elevate his game to the next level. In order to be an ace, a pitcher must be able to overcome rough starts and rough innings. Hanson will be fine and as he matures as a major leaguer, has a great chance at being the ace of the Braves staff for the foreseeable future. If there is one thing the Braves have been good at for years, it is developing starting pitchers.
CF Andrew McCutchen, PIT
Similar to Rickie Weeks, it seems as though Andrew McCutchen flops between the hot and cold list more than a fish out of water. McCutchen has had a solid year overall, but has had stretches of abysmal hitting. This past week was not a great one for McCutchen as he hit .125 with 2 rbis and 9 strikeouts for the Pittsburgh Pirates. McCutchen did steal his 19th base of the season and walked 4 times, but 3 hits in 24 at-bats is not going to get the job done, even if 2 were for extra bases (a double and a triple).
OF Chris Young, ARI
Over the course of Chris Young’s 4+ year career, the one thing that has held true is his inability to hit for a solid average. His career mark is .239 and this year he has been overachieving by hitting .261, which is .013 points higher than his highest season mark. One other thing that is true, is his raw power ability. This past week, Young hit for a horrendous batting average of .083 and in typical fashion, hit 1 of his 2 hits this week out of the park. Young added a terrible 10 strikeouts to his season total now of 71 and had an on-base percentage in the basement at .154.
Team
Washington Nationals
I hate to keep picking on the team from the nation’s capital, but they leave me no choice. The Washington Nationals just keep free-falling deeper into the basement of the NL East. They sit with a 33-44 record after having lost 8 of their last 10 and have lost 17 of their last 25 games. The incredible part is their above-.500 home record of 20-18 and their inability to win on the road with a 13-28 record. This past week, their starting pitching has actually been decent, allowing just 12 earned runs in 6 starts, but their offense only hit .238 which is good for the 22nd best average in baseball.
Disclaimer: All stats used are prior to games on Tuesday, June 29th.
Brian Phair – BoSox Injection – Streaking in the Park
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