Hot and Cold

Every player, whether he is a fresh-faced rookie or a steely-eyed veteran, goes through both periods of unbridled excellence, and abject misery. It's part of the game. The fact is, that if you are a great hitter, you still failed 7 out of 10 times. So there are lots of opportunities for a player to falter, and pick themselves back up. But what makes individuals and teams special is the ability to perform this task when it is most crucial. And there are few times less crucial then in September.

With just a few short weeks left for teams to make playoff pushes, now is the time to show stamina and composure. It is often hard for entire teams to exude this all at once, but there are special cases when this happens. For instance, the Colorado Rockies of 2007 won 21 of their last 22 games going down the stretch run to make the playoffs and eventually go to the World Series that year. The 2010 Rockies are trying to duplicate just that. So far this month, they are 11-4, with 10 of those wins being in a row. They are just 2.5 games back in the National League West as well as for the Wild Card spot. While this is due in large part to the performance of the team as a whole, one player doing much of the damage is SS Troy Tulowitzski. In his last ten games, Tulo has collected 15 hits, 9 homeruns, a staggering 21 RBI and scored 12 runs, while batting .375. Seven of those RBI, and two of those homeruns came against the then first-place San Diego Padres on Wednesday. To sum up, few people in all of baseball are hitting hotter than Troy Tulowitzski right now. And if things continue this way, Tulo may just be leading his team to another incredible September finish, and a possible playoff berth. But there are 14 games left for the Rocks to play, and anything can happen.

Another player smashing the ball right now is David Murphy of the Texas Rangers. This gentleman is doing his best Josh Hamilton impersonation, as one commentator pointed out a few nights ago. Since Josh Hamilton's injury a couple of weeks ago, Murphy has stepped up, and has a 13-game hitting streak to show for it. He's hitting .357 in his past 10 games and is providing the kind of awesome bench play that separates good teams from great ones. With guys like David Murphy coming off the bench, the Texas Rangers have enjoyed a solid month of September, having won their last 7.

Batters aren't the only ones having fun though. Pitcher Wade Davis has won his last 7 decisions for the surging Tampa Bay Rays. Davis has had a couple of hiccups in that stretch, still walking more batters than he should and letting up 7 homeruns since his July 8th start. However, since the All-Star break, and a short stint on the Disabled List, Davis has been solid for the Rays, and helped them take over first from the struggling New York Yankees.

But before we discuss the Yankees' woes, let's highlight one last player who is on an incredibly hot streak, albeit not for a contending team. Carlos Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs has won his last five starts and six out of his last seven starts. Since being promoted back to the starting rotation on August 9th, Big Z has not allowed an opposing team to earn more than 2 runs off of him, which has helped drop his ERA by 1.71. While the Cubs are far out of contention this year, this resurgence is a welcome sign for the hot-headed Zambrano who earned administrative ire earlier in this season by blowing his top in an argument with 1B Derek Lee. If Zambrano can ever learn to control that anger permanently, he could return to All-Star form. However, Zambrano recently reiterated a prior claim that once his current contract is completed in 2012, he will retire from baseball. We'll see though. After all, Roy Oswalt once said he wanted to finish his career in Houston. The potential for rings and money make players do funny things sometimes.

Now on to some teams and players that are more on the cold side of things. The aforementioned Yankees have lost 8 out of their last 10. Reasons why include an incredibly inconsistent and ineffective A.J. Burnett, the averages of Posada(.154, Granderson(.188), Jeter(.209), and Texeira(.179) in the last ten games, and injuries to left-fielder Brett Gardner and right-fielder Nick Swisher. Despite all this though, the Yankees are still an incredibly deep, well put together team that still is tied for the second-best record in baseball with the Minnesota Twins, and is guaranteed a spot in the playoffs this year. But a cold September is not what the doctor ordered for October success. Hot teams prevail come playoff time, so if the Yankees continue to struggle for the remainder of the season, a repeat championship might not be in the picture.

Other teams failing to make the grade right now are two playoff contenders. The Chicago White Sox just wrapped up a crucial three-game set versus the previous-mentioned Minnesota Twins in which they had to win at least two out of three, if not sweep the Twins in order to make up precious grown in the American League Central. Instead, the South Siders were swept, and a playoff bid is all but gone. In the other league, the Atlanta Braves are doing everything they can to give the East Division to the Philadephia Phillies for a fourth year in a row. The Bravos are 6-9 in September and travel to New York this weekend where the not-so-stinky-right-now Mets await them. If the Braves should lose two out of three to the Metropolitans, and then travel to Philly and fail to take that series, then their playoff hopes will be all but dashed. The Phillies are also another team I could have hightlighted in the "hot" section, as they have one of the best records in baseball since the All-Star break. However, I honestly forgot to include them, and I'm not about to go back and edit them in, because I don't like them very much. So screw it. They are a hot team, 'nuff said.

So the playoff picture is rounding into shape. The A.L. West is a two team race that will have both teams playing in October. All that is left to be decided there is who will take the division and possibly home-field advantage. The N.L. East is slowing coming into focus, unless Atlanta can turn things around quickly. The only real question, and the best playoff race going is the National League West. Just 2.5 games separate three teams. The Giants play both the Padres and the Rockies once more before the end of the season, so a lot is riding on this weekend and the following couple series. Are you as excited as I am? Probably not, but you freakin' should be!
P.S. This blog was written on Friday, so some statistics are two days out-of-date. My apologies.