Players of Week 15
by smugglingplums
by Ryan Butler
Hanley Ramirez (4 R/1 HR/4 RBI/1 SB/.412 BA) seven-for-17: Hanley decided to show up fashionably late for the 2011 season. But really, no harm, no foul, right? As L.L. Cool-J said, “it’s not how you start the date, it’s how you finish the date. Doesn’t matter the color of the cat as long as it catches rats.” Not sure how that last sentence fits in here, but OK. Ramirez was hitting a dreadful .200 on June 20. His OPS sat at .593. Those are numbers I would expect from Adam Everett, but certainly not from the best offensive shortstop in baseball. However, history has shown that you can’t keep a good Han down. He has raised his average to .255 and his OPS to .742. Both are far below his career averages of .308 and .891, but rest assured he’ll be (close to) there by season’s end.
Brett Gardner (5/0/0/3/.625) 10-for-16: Gardner’s season is starting to shape up much like most had anticipated. He’s hitting a very solid .290 with 29 SB in 39 attempts (74%). That’s lower than his career rate of 82%, but he has been successful in each of his last 15 tries. He’s a great source of steals and won’t hurt your batting average. He has an outside chance of scoring 100 runs this year.
