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Carlos Gonzalez continued his assault on big league pitching on Sunday, launching a pair of solo home runs – Nos. 24 and 25 – in a 6-4 win against the reeling Nationals. More impressively, they both came against 2013 American League Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer. Since the beginning of July (5th, to be exact), CarGo is putting up Nintendo numbers with 15 home runs in 27 games.
Nobody is safe.
Over the last 30 days, he's been worth a whopping 1.7 WAR, according to FanGraphs, trailing only Cincinnati's Joey Votto (2.2 WAR), Seattle's Nelson Cruz (1.9) and Detroit's Ian Kinsler (1.9).
The Rockies 29-year-old outfielder is now up to a .281/.338/.543 slash line with 25 homers, 58 runs and 62 RBI. He is five long balls short of reaching 30 home runs for the first time since 2010, when he launched a career-high 34 bombs and drove in 117. Remember how fun that CarGo was? The 2015 version of CarGo doesn't run, but he's every bit as exciting in the batter's box with the possibility of taking your favorite pitcher deep with one sweet swing.
Gonzalez played in a total of 180 games between 2013 and 2014, which turned some fantasy owners away on draft day. And with good reason. Who likes to get burned again and again in the first or second rounds of a draft with a title on the line? But, for those lucky few, he's proving to be a smart grab wherever he slipped in drafts.
Some thought Gonzalez was on his way out of Colorado after the Rockies traded Troy Tulowitzki to the Blue Jays, but general manager Jeff Bridich held on to the once-upon-a-fading star at the deadline with the intention of shopping him over the winter time. You have to think Gonzalez's second-half burst is only going to increase the offers this offseason – just as long as he can stay healthy – and the Rockies would be wise to cash in on their hot-hitting, but aging and injury-prone outfielder.
Gonzalez was a late fourth-round pick and the No. 19 outfielder drafted on average, according to NESN.com's NFBC ADP, going as the 50th player off the board and after Justin Upton (No. 15), Matt Kemp (16), Corey Dickerson (17) and Billy Hamilton (19). According to the ESPN Player Rater, he's the No. 19 outfielder (before Sunday's two homers off Scherzer). Nice job, Fantasy Pros!
His draft stock next year is going to be interesting to monitor. He'll be 30 in 2016 and likely calling Coors Field his ex-home. Does CarGo's second-half resurgence have you believing again? Where would you take the outfielder if you could have a do-over? How many home runs do you think he'll reach, and can he stay healthy through September?
Stats from FanGraphs.com