Adam Dunn has been the subject of a lot of trade rumors in the last couple of weeks, with both the White Sox and Angels mentioned as possible destinations for the slugger. I think that unless the Nationals can get a top-flight prospect, someone who is Major league ready, they need to keep him. He hit 3 homeruns yesterday against the Padres, raising his season total to 20. He is also hitting .280, which would be his career high if he can keep it up. Dunn has been as steady as they come in terms of homeruns, and I think he still gets to 40 and 100 runs batted in before the end of the season.
Buster Posey looks like he may really be hitting his stride, as he went 4 for 4 yesterday against the Brewers. He hit 2 homeruns, scored 3 runs and drove in 6 runs. I think that I'd still rather have Carlos Santana over Posey, but I think Posey is also going to be really, really good for your team. He is now hitting .331 with 5 HR and 19 RBI.
Tim Lincecum was the beneficary of all that run support, as he got the win. He struck out 10 and only walked 2 over 7 innings. I think there's still a little bit of concern in the back of my mind, but it wouldn't keep me from starting him in every matchup.
Josh Johnson had another great start, this time a shutout against the Dodgers. He struck out 8, and has now lowered his ERA to 1.70 to go with his 9th win. At this point, he's gone in front of Ubaldo Jimenez in my eyes for the Cy Young award. And I think he will end up in my top-5 for the rest of the season as well.
Max Scherzer had another nice start yesterday, striking out 6 and allowing 1 earned run over 7 innings against the Orioles. Granted that it was against the Orioles, but that's his 4th start in a row where he's allowed 1 earned run or less. Just saying.
Delmon Young hit his 10th homerun of the season, and is now hitting .306 with 57 runs batted in and 37 runs scored. I think he may end up with about 17 homeruns to go with right around 100 RBI. If he continues to keep his strikeouts down like he has (13.4% vs. 19% career), I think he may even end up hitting .300.
David Price is definitely making a case for him to start the All Star game for the AL after recording his 12th win of the season. He struck out 10, and it was his 9th start out of his last 10 where he allowed 2 or fewer earned runs. I think he is probably going to regress slightly, but it's been extremely impressive so far and I think he could finish the season as a top-10 pitcher.
Carlos Lee hit his 12th home run of the season, and he's rapidly presenting me with a difficult ranking. His overall numbers look pretty horrendous compared to his usual, but his month of June was pretty good (.283, 5 HR, 20 RBI), and he's hit reasonably well so far in the few games in July. I think we may finally be seeing what we were expecting from Lee.
The Cardinals' bullpen had another bad day yesterday, allowing 4 runs over the last two innings to give the victory to the Rockies. The big story out of the game was Matt Holliday, who looks like he's hitting to prove he belongs at the All-Star game. He went 4-4 with 2 homeruns and scored 4 runs. He's now hitting .305 on the season, and he could go on a run like he did at the end of last season.
Aramis Ramirez homered for the 3rd time in 2 games last night, and he is looking like he may finally be healthy. If he is stil available in your league, it is probably time to go pick him up and ride this hot streak.