Freaks of the Week

 FOTW 8/18-8/24

By: Spent Brockman


Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

Court is back in session. After returning from the injured list on July 28th, Judge struggled to get back into the swing of things, failing to make solid contact on a consistent basis. Well do not worry New York, all that rust is gone. Judge went on an absolute power binge over the past week. The hulking righty blasted 6 homers across the week putting every pitcher on alert when they are lined up to face the Yankees. It is crazy to think it has not happened before, but Judge had his first three homer game. He loves home cooking with this hot streak coinciding with a trip back home to Yankee stadium. While it is looking like a long shot for the Yankees to make it back into play contention, if one player can single handedly will their team back into the playoff race it is Judge.

Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals

I cannot believe I am saying this but I think Cole Ragans might be for real. Since claiming a spot in the rotation, Ragans has been a great pitcher. The Royals lefty has not allowed more than 3 earned runs in any of his starts while showing a devastating strikeout repertoire. Across his 34.2 innings as a starter, Ragans has befuddled opponents racking up 47 punchouts. Ragans continued his dominance across a two start week. In his first start against the Cubs, he struck out 9 across 6 innings of three run ball which was good enough to earn the win. Ragans second start of the week was an utter masterpiece, he absolutely dominated the As only allowing 2 hits and no runs across six while striking out 11. While it is unfortunate that Ragans' talent is being wasted on a losing Royals team, if you get a chance to watch him pitch it is well worth your time.

Marcell Ozuna, Atlanta Braves

Another week, another Braves hitter goes off. Ozuna is the latest Brave to put the team's offense on his back and go on an absolute binge. Across their 6 six games this week, Ozuna had 12 knocks while flashing his big time power. The Dominican laced 4 homers to go along with 2 doubles and was constantly involved in the run scoring putting up 7 runs and RBIs. While Ozuna is not a pure hitter, when he gets on a streak like this he is dangerous.

Charlie Morton, Atlanta Braves

Yep another Brave on this list, it is a truly special season for this team. Morton has suffered a bit of bad luck with his 13-10 record but he still has been throwing the ball well. The 39 year old, yep he is still hucking it as he pushes 40, sports a 3.37 ERA while still showing he can strike opponents out with 1.11 K9. For how good Morton has been this season, he had yet to come close to showing the form he displayed his last time out. In a home game against the Mets, Morton embarrassed New York. The righty went 7 innings and struck out 11. He was constantly pounding the corners of the zone and keeping hitters off balance. If this is the Morton that shows up in the postseason, it is over just give the trophy to Atlanta and do not waste everybody's time.

Kerry Carpenter, Detroit Tigers

Yes Detroit, you guys might actually have some players. Out of all the possible Tigers to pop, I have to admit I did not think it would be Kerry Carpenter. The Tigers have a couple of highly lauded prospects, but they have yet to produce on a consistent basis. Leave it Carpenter the exact opposite of those other prospects to be the first one to fully establish himself as a solid big leaguer. A 19th round draft pick in the 2019 draft, he had a better chance of winning the lottery than reaching this point, but he never gave up. Now that Carpenter has been given a real look in the big leagues, he is making the most out of every game. His biggest tool since reaching the bigs has been his power. Across 84 games this year, he has hit 33 XBHs. He only keeps getting better with 9 homers across the month with 4 of those coming in this week alone. Although Carpenter cannot carry a team on his own, he is worth keeping around until this team is ready to compete. 

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