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Hell, I'd love ONE more Ichiro, but 8 would be amazing.
Then again, who are we fooling? There can BE only one!
Sizzlers
=== Mike Sweeney ===
I/O: Ripping along at .373/.422/.542 (!) as we race along the last 30 days into the finish line. Hitting for AVG and PWR, with his usual strong EYE, late in the season.
CRUNCH: Though Mike's looking great, we wouldn't get carried away, exactly. He's going to be 37 next season. Even if he'd been great at during the age 33-35 seasons that he had to take off, next season would be about time for him to hit the wall, anyway.
His EYE isn't quite as sterling as we'd like it. If he had 8 walks and 6 strikeouts the last month, it'd be nice, but he has 5 walks against 9 strikeouts. It's just one little thing that measures how solid the performance is -- Mikey's EYE and BABIP don't come in, in his favor.
So nobody's looking for 90 RBI next year. But he can still hit. He's been the M's best hitter in the dog days here.
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=== Ichiro ===
I/O: Hotter than ever the last 30 days. Has a .383 OBP and a .494 SLG the last month.
Guess how many hits in his last 87 at-bats? 29. Somebody find the fraction for us?
CRUNCH: Except Ichiro's got 3 homers and 5 doubles in that month. His two walk-offs were (a) a gorgeous frozen rope into his power alley and (b) a gorgeouser walk-off home-run that ensured there would be no escape from the beating.
Interesting that Ichiro is not slapping the ball through the SS hole to finish out his AVG and H on the year. He's playing the game as though it were a pennant race. Perhaps you can explain this for me, because this is stats time, and every time before, Ichiro interpreted "stats time" to mean "singles time."
CRUNCH: Joe Morgan once said that Pete Rose was the most stats-obssessed teammate he ever had, and for that reason, was the best teammate he ever had.
A basketball player seeking points will mess up your team. But in baseball, a teammate seeking base hits will not.
I'll take another eight Ichiros, please.
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=== Russell Branyan ===
I/O: Got back on the field and is hitting his usual 250/357/500 in four games.
CRUNCH: Russell stated that he has received therapeutic techniques that have made a surprising difference in his ... ahem ... golfer's back.
Russell would know.
2009 was new to him. I'd be optimistic that in 2010, his durability could improve. That's not the same thing as chalking him up for 600 PA's, but I'd bet the over on his PA's next year.
Give him a day off once a week, can'tcha.
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=== Jose Lopez ===
I/O: Seven homers the last 30 days. 13 homers in the second half, a pace for 32 in a 155-game season.
CRUNCH: Bill James once wrote of Bret Boone, "Hit seven homers in September. He may hit seven a month from now on." Bill was early by a couple years, but... you get the point. Keep an eye on guys going bananas in September.
Is it possible to hit 30-40 homers to straightaway left? Well, Juan Gonzalez did.
Juan Gonzalez was a special case, y'say? Exactly.
I don't know about 35 homers a year for Jose, pulling them all over the LF wall 380 feet :- ) but he is definitely gaining swagger out there.
Cheers,
Dr D