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Castellanos Leads New Club to Victory
Nicholas Castellanos hit a pair of two-run homers in a 7-1 win against the Brewers on Friday night. He did his damage early, smoking a Chase Anderson offering into the left-center bleachers with Ian Happ along for the ride before an out had even been recorded in the first inning. He came up in the second inning with Happ on base again and did the same thing, smacking another pitch from Anderson to the same section of bleachers but several rows further back. Castellanos immediately knew the ball was gone so he gripped his bat on both ends and emphatically slammed it into the ground in celebration before dashing around the bases.
The former Tigers outfielder has been rejuvenated since escaping Detroit and joining the Cubs at the trade deadline. He’s hit 11 dingers in 27 games for his new team, which matches the total he clubbed in four months with the Tigers. His combined total of 22 bombs this year is just four shy of his career high that he set in 2017. Since joining the Cubs he is slashing .357/.390/.732 with 20 RBI in 27 games. For comparison’s sake, he slashed .273/.328/.462 with 37 RBI in 100 games for the Tigers prior to the trade. [[ad:athena]]
Castellanos publicly expressed his frustration with the Tigers and their pitcher-friendly stadium before being dealt. He seems much happier in his new home, declaring “Oh man, its awesome. Not because of me, but because of where I’m at, who I’m playing with and where we are in the standings... That’s what’s rewarding about it.” The hot stretch comes at a great time, not just for the Cubs but for Castellanos’ bank account as well. The 27-year-old will be a free agent for the first time following the season. He’s made $20.5 million in his six-year career thus far but could collect a similar amount in each year of a new free agent contract. His stellar month of August will certainly boost his earning power in the off-season.
Castellanos has bitter feelings about Detroit’s Comerica Park because he feels the big dimensions hurt his offensive production throughout his career. Fact is, that’s not really accurate. Comerica Park has a neutral 100 park factor over the last five years according to Fangraphs. That means it is exactly league average in terms of run scoring. It also has a 100 park factor for home runs. So it is not really fair for Castellanos to blame his home ballpark for holding him back. What’s more, he has actually performed better at home than on the road throughout his career. He has a career .807 OPS at Comerica Park and a .772 OPS everywhere else combined in a total of 864 career games. The Cubs’ Wrigley Field also has a neutral 100 park factor over the last five years, so we can’t simply say Castellanos’ recent surge is due to his new ballpark. The Cubs do score nearly 50 percent more runs than the Tigers (664 to 478 this year), so the team switch will do wonders for his RBI and runs totals. The players surrounding a hitter in the lineup have a significant effect on his overall fantasy production. A better lineup leads to more at-bats, runs, RBI, home runs and steals for everyone on the team. Escaping the Tigers will make Castellanos a much more valuable fantasy baseball commodity even if it has nothing to do with the ballpark.
Frazier Goes Off
Todd Frazier drilled two three-run homers in an 11-5 triumph over the Phillies. Unlike Castellanos, Frazier saved his heroics for a dramatic finish. You can’t tell by the score but this game was actually a pitchers’ duel between Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola for most of the evening. It wasn’t until the bullpens came into play that the numbers started flipping on the scoreboard. Frazier connected for a three-run bomb off reliever Jared Hughes in the eighth inning as the Mets broke the game open with a five-spot in the frame. The veteran third baseman rubbed some salt in the Phillies’ wound by repeating the feat in the ninth, blasting another three-run missile against Edgar Garcia.
It has not been a good season for Frazier overall. He started the season on the injured list, then struggled for a couple of months upon his return. He had a strong month of June, which he frankly needed to keep his spot on the roster. Since then though he’s regressed again and has a poor .634 OPS in the month of August even after his two-homer night on Friday. This makes the second poor season in a row for the 33-year-old. He will be a free agent after the season and needs to finish the campaign strong if he hopes to land a starting job with a new team during the offseason. Frazier in his prime with the Reds was a 30-40 homer slugger who could steal 15-20 bases as well. Since then he has lost most of his power, all of his speed and struggles to hit for average. He is slashing .230/.303/.418 with 18 home runs, 57 RBI and one stolen base through 110 games played this year.
Betts Bookends the Angels with Two Bombs
Mookie Betts went 3-for-7 with two home runs as the Red Sox beat the Angels 7-6 in 15 innings. Betts led off the ballgame with a bomb against starter Jose Suarez. Nearly five hours later he finished what he started by ripping another solo home run against Trevor Cahill in the top of the 15th inning. That dong ended up being the game-winner in the marathon contest. The Red Sox have pulled within 5 1/2 games of the second wild card slot and have won six of their last seven games.
Betts had a monster season last year and ended up taking home the American League MVP trophy. He was actually drafted before Mike Trout in a lot of fantasy leagues this spring but hasn’t been able to repeat as the best player in fantasy leagues in 2019. Yahoo currently has him rated as the 17th-best hitter based on his performance this year. He has still been mighty good but his batting average is down more than 60 points and he hasn’t been running nearly as much. The Red Sox right fielder batted .346/.438/.640 with 32 home runs, 80 RBI, 129 runs scored and 30 stolen bases in 136 games last year. This year he is slashing .284/.385/.505 with 23 bombs, 69 RBI, 121 runs scored and 13 steals in 133 games. That is still first-round production in fantasy terms and is more in line with his overall career numbers.
National League Quick Hits: Dinelson Lamet struck out 10 and allowed three runs (two earned) in a loss to the Giants... Madison Bumgarner gave up one run through seven innings and struck out nine in a win over the Padres... Mike Yastrzemski went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, a walk and three runs scored in the Giants’ win over the Padres... Manny Machado went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, a double and a pair of runs scored in the Padres’ loss to the Giants... Brandon Belt went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer, three RBI and three runs scored to lift the Giants to a win over the Padres... Josh Rojas launched a two-run homer and scored a pair of runs in the Diamondbacks’ win over the Dodgers. The homer was the first of his career... Eduardo Escobar went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer to lead the Diamondbacks to a 5-4 victory over the Dodgers. Escobar is hitting .270/.323/.531 with 83 runs scored, 31 homers, 108 RBI and five stolen bases in 585 plate appearances... Antonio Senzatela surrendered six runs over five innings in a loss to the Pirates. He has a 6.95 ERA in 20 starts this year... Ian Desmond went 3-for-4 with a solo homer and a pair of runs scored in the Rockies’ loss to the Pirates... Josh Bell went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI, a walk and a run scored in the Pirates’ win over the Rockies... Melky Cabrera went 2-for-5 with a three-run homer in the Pirates’ lopsided victory over the Rockies... Starling Marte went 3-for-4 with four runs scored to lift the Pirates to a 9-4 victory over the Rockies... Harold Ramirez finished 3-for-5 with a solo home run and three runs scored versus Washington... Starlin Castro went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI against the Nationals... Max Fried struck out 11 batters but gave up four runs (three earned) in six innings of work against the White Sox... Ozzie Albies went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and an RBI as the Braves topped the White Sox... Mark Melancon earned a save against the White sox. He was brought in to record the final out of the game... Tyler Flowers whacked a three-run homer against the White Sox... Zack Wheeler allowed just one run in six innings and struck out four in a no-decision against the Phillies... Aaron Nola struck out seven and yielded just one run through 6 1/3 innings against the Mets. He did not get a decision... Michael Conforto finished 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and two runs scored against the Phillies... Corey Dickerson went 3-for-4 with an RBI single, a walk, and a run scored in a loss to the Mets... Dodgers placed INF Max Muncy on the 10-day injured list with a right wrist fracture... Chase Anderson was touched up for five runs over just four innings in a loss to the Cubs.
American League Quick Hits: Nathan Eovaldi struck out eight batters and allowed one run in four innings against the Angels... Red Sox closer Brandon Workman gave up two runs and blew a save against the Angels... Marco Gonzales fell to 14-11 after allowing six runs — five earned — over 5 2/3 innings against the Rangers... Mallex Smith went 3-for-5 with an RBI single, a stolen base, and two runs scored against the Rangers... George Springer went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI in a win over the Blue Jays... Nelson Cruz went 3-for-4 and drove home a pair of runs in a win over the Tigers... C.J. Cron went 2-for-5 with a homer, double and three RBI in a win over the Tigers... Royals starter Eric Skoglund was torched for six runs over four innings in a loss to the Orioles... John Means gave up two runs through seven innings while fanning four in a win over the Royals... Pedro Severino went 4-for-6 with three RBI, a stolen base and a pair of runs scored in a win over the Royals... Jonathan Villar went 2-for-4 with three stolen bases, an RBI, a walk and three runs scored against the Royals... Hanser Alberto went 5-for-6 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored against the Royals... Jorge Soler went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and a double against the Orioles... Anthony Santander slugged a three-run homer to lead the Orioles to a 12-2 blowout win over the Royals... Edwin Jackson was knocked around in Friday’s loss to the Twins, surrendering eight runs (six earned) on seven hits in only 2 1/3 innings. He has a 9.35 ERA on the season... Brett Anderson gave up two runs in six innings in Friday’s 8-2 win over the Yankees... Jurickson Profar went 2-for-5 with three RBI against the Yankees... Jesus Aguilar hit a three-run homer against the Indians... Rays starter Austin Pruitt struck out six while firing 5 1/3 shutout innings against the Indians.
