Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Cano Crushing
Follow @RyanPBoyer and @Rotoworld_BB on Twitter.
Those who used a first-round pick on Robinson Cano in the spring will probably never forgive the second baseman for his poor first half, but he’s doing his best of late to make it up to them.
Cano had another multi-hit game on Monday against the Tigers – his seventh so far this month – and one of those hits was a home run. He was batting .317/.358/.571 in July before Monday’s two-hit effort and has gone deep five times in 16 contests this month. If you go back a few games into June, Cano has seven longballs over his previous 23 contests. This is after he homered twice in his first 67 games.
Cano has been one of the most consistent stars in baseball over the last 10 years, which is why his ugly first half was so jarring. He’s still hitting a bunch of groundballs this season (although not as many as he did last year) and has also seen his walk rate drop and strikeout rate go up. However, Cano is sporting a hard-contact rate this season that’s above his career norm and a huge improvement from last year’s mark.
The Mariners knew when they inked Cano to a 10-year, $240 million deal that they were probably going to have to suffer with some lean years towards the end of the contract. But, at 32 and in the second year of that deal, you’ve got to believe the second baseman has some good seasons left in the tank. There’s still time to salvage this one, and he’s starting to turn the corner.
Editor’s Note: Play one-day fantasy baseball for cash! FanDuel is hosting a $100,000 league for Tuesday’s MLB games. It’s just $5 to join and first place wins $10,000. Starts tonight at 7:05pm ET. Enter now!
Beltre Still Hurting
Adrian Beltre hasn’t looked like himself since being activated from the disabled list a month ago. On Monday, he admitted that his left thumb is still hurting and he’s not sure what to do.
Beltre sprained the thumb back in early June and was activated after three weeks on the DL even though he still wasn’t at 100 percent. The third baseman was hoping that last week’s extended break around the All-Star Game would help. It didn’t.
“Not one bit,” Beltre said.
When asked if he was doing the right thing in trying to play through the ailment, Beltre conceded that he wasn’t sure.
“Good question,” Beltre said. “I don’t have an answer. It’s a good question with many answers, but I don’t have one.”
Like Beltre, fantasy owners are also facing a dilemma. It’s hard to dump a guy who you know can be productive if he’s healthy. But, since returning from the DL, Beltre was batting only .250/.273/.345 with one homer over 21 games heading into Monday’s contest.
The third baseman is probably going to continue to ride it out and hope his thumb gets better. His fantasy owners might have no choice but to do the same.
Piscotty Gets the Call
You need to look no further than the one run they scored over 18 innings Sunday to know that the Cardinals’ offense has been scuffling. The club is hoping that an internal option will provide them with a boost.
Top prospect Stephen Piscotty will be promoted on Tuesday for the beginning of a two-game interleague series against the White Sox. The 24-year-old will likely see time in the outfield in Chicago, with the Cards giving Matt Holliday’s legs some rest in the designated hitter spot as he works his way back from a quad issue. After that, though, he could settle in at first base.
Piscotty looked blocked just two weeks ago, as he was a corner outfielder in an organization that had plenty of outfielders. The Cards started giving the Stanford alum time at first base on June 10, though, and he’s evidently taken well to the position (which isn’t a surprise since he played some first and third base in college). With just Mark Reynolds standing in his way at first, Piscotty should be given the opportunity to earn significant playing time.
Ranked at midseason by Baseball Prospectus as the No. 40 prospect in the game, Piscotty worked over the winter on tweaking his swing in hopes of unlocking some more power out of his 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame. It’s worked, as Piscotty has already topped last year’s home run total with 11 bombs this season, and he’s just four shy of last year’s total with his 28 doubles. He’s also already drawn more walks this season than he did in 2014. His .272 average isn’t great, but he’s batting .308 since the beginning of June.
Piscotty doesn’t run much and his power is still developing, so he might have to hit for average to have much of an impact in fantasy leagues. His high contact rate gives him that chance, but he’s probably more of an NL-only guy at this point even if he does take over at first base.
National League Quick Hits: Troy Tulowitzki extended his on-base streak to 41 games Monday, homering and singling in a win over the Rangers … Maikel Franco left Monday’s game with a sore right elbow … Freddie Freeman (wrist) could begin a rehab assignment as soon as Tuesday … Travis Ishikawa had a big night Monday, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and four RBI in a win over the Royals … Todd Frazier went 2-for-3 with his first homer since June 28 in a win over the Cubs … Justin Turner went 4-for-4 at the plate in Monday’s loss to the Braves … Nick Markakis finally hit his first home run of the season Monday in a 2-for-3 effort … Ian Desmond singled and homered in Monday’s win over the Mets … Nori Aoki (leg) could be activated from the disabled list as soon as Friday … Tim Lincecum has been diagnosed with a degenerative condition in both of his hips … Tony Cingrani will be activated from the DL to make his first start of the season on Wednesday … Joe Ross will be recalled to start on Tuesday versus the Mets … Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro said Monday that Chase Utley (ankle) will begin a rehab assignment in the “next week or so.” … Jordy Mercer is expected to miss six weeks after being diagnosed with a lower leg contusion and MCL sprain … Matt Garza will be activated from the disabled list and start for the Brewers on Tuesday against the Indians …
American League Quick Hits: Albert Pujols smacked three homers in Monday’s doubleheader sweep of the Red Sox, moving past Mike Schmidt for 15th on baseball’s all-time home run list with 549 longballs … USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the Tigers plan to sell at the trade deadline and will put David Price and Yoenis Cespedes on the block … Andrew Heaney held the Red Sox to two runs in seven innings Monday, which actually made his ERA rise to 1.57 … Yordano Ventura was hit around for six runs in four innings Monday, pushing his ERA up to 5.19 … Ian Kinsler homered twice in the’ Tigers comeback win over the Mariners … Kole Calhoun went deep again Monday, giving him three homers in two days … Hector Santiago racked up 10 strikeouts and allowed only one run in five innings against the Red Sox Monday … Eduardo Rodriguez was obliterated for seven runs in 1 2/3 innings versus the Angels on Monday … Victor Martinez has been taking ground balls at first base but isn’t considered an option at the position yet … David Ortiz went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in the second game of Monday’s doubleheader against the Angels … Nick Martinez surrendered seven runs in four innings in his return to the Rangers’ rotation Monday …
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
