Studs:
I know he was on the Studs and Duds list in Week 8, but it would be a crime to leave Cruz off the list this week. In four of the last six games, he has recorded multiple hits per contest. Opponents should just wave the white flag when they have a left-handed pitcher. Not only is Cruz 15-37 (.405) against southpaws, but teammate Adam Jones is 23-53 (.434) when a lefty is on the hill.
When a player hits two triples in Yankee Stadium, you get my attention. Twelve hits in seven days is another way to draw attention to yourself, too. Out of those 12 hits, seven were for extra bases. Since May 18th, Seager’s batting has climbed from .224 to .272.
Even with a rain-shortened outing against the Indians, Sale was able to put together a dominant week of baseball. In his two starts, the White Sox ace struck out 13 batters in 12 innings and only surrendered two hits. His next two starts are against the Angels (on the road) and Tigers (at home).
Other notables: Edwin Encarnacion (TOR), Josh Donaldson (OAK), Jose Bautista (TOR)
Duds:
The water is slowly reaching its level. After an out-of-this-world start to the 2014 season, Tulo went the past seven days only mustering one hit. He is now batting .234 (25-107) on the road as opposed to .521 at Coors Field (38-73). No worries, though. The Rockies now start a 10-game home stand against the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Braves.
The road has also not been kind to Prince Albert. The Angels first baseman is batting .229 (25-109) away from Los Angeles, or Anaheim. His Angels are about to conclude a 10-game road trip. After that, they return home for six games (White Sox and A’s).
I normally don’t like to include pitchers on the Duds side of things after one start, but Richards was bad. He could only retire two Oakland batters while allowing five earned runs and walking three hitters. Even though that terrible outing was on the road, Richards’ ERA is worse at home this season (5.33 ERA). In his next three starts, Richards is away to Houston, home against Oakland, and then back on the road against Atlanta.
Other notables: Chris Davis (BAL), Ian Kinsler (DET), Ian Desmond (WSH), Starling Marte (PIT), and Travis Wood (CHC)
