Freaks of the Week

 FOTW 8/25-8/31


Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies

Turner has been doing his best to make up for his lackluster first half this month. After signing a mega deal to play with the Phillies this past offseason, Turner looked like a nightmare signing hitting just .247 becoming a black hole in the top half of the Phillies lineup. As the Phillies moved to August, they needed more production out of the top half of their lineup resulting in Turner moving from the second spot in the batting order to the sixth. He took this demotion in the batting order in stride as instead of moping, he turned it on. In the month of August, Turner is looking like he was worth every penny the Phillies gave him. He has hit .324 this month while almost doubling his season HR total with 9. This past week is the culmination of his hot streak as he has been firing on all cylinders racking up 3 doubles, a triple, 4 homers, and a steal. If he keeps up this hot month, the Phillies could be a very dangerous team come October.

Kyle Harrison, San Francisco Giants

The Giants' top pitching prospect has arrived. Harrison has a solid fastball, slider combo that he is able to hide very well with a deceptive arm angle to keep opposing hitters off balance. In his first career start in his home ballpark, Harrison's sky high potential was on full display. In a Monday start Harrison iced out the Reds offense, he worked 6.1 innings allowing just 5 baserunners and made Reds hitters look foolish all night long with 11 Ks giving the youngster his first career win. Harrison's move into the starting lineup couldn't be more ideal with the team only using two other full time starters right now. The Giants have been slipping in the playoff race so they will need all the help they can get in order to have a fighting chance of playing in October.

Davis Schneider, Toronto Blue Jays

Who saw this coming? Absolutely no one. Schneider has been looking like the next Chase Utley since his promotion. He has flashed with both his contact and power. A career .253 minor league hitter, Schneider's .426 average over his first couple weeks of big league play is seemingly out of nowhere, but the true oddity is his power. Before 2023, Schneider had maxed out at 16 homers in a season, but after major changes to his swing he has become a different hitter hitting 21 in AAA this year. His power has somehow increased since his promotion with him lining balls all over the field and hitting 6 homers in his 14 career major league games. The Blue Jays are hoping this isn't just a mirage and that is the actual player that Schneider is but only time will tell.

Brandon Woodruff, Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers have been yearning for some pitcher to step up and work as a second fiddle to Corbin Burnes and Woodruff's return from the injured list has given them just that. It took a little while for Woody to get acquainted in the rotation, giving up 8 ERs over his first three starts, but over the past week he showed he is locked in. In starts against the Padres and Cubs he had it all working, pitching 12 innings while only giving up 3 ERs and baffling hitters with 19 Ks. Unfortunately for Woodruff he did not get run support against the Cubs so he could only come away with one win this week. This kind of dominance is exactly what the team needs to stay atop the division and fend off the surging Cubs.

Teoscar Hernandez, Seattle Mariners

Julio Rodriguez has deservedly gotten a lot of the credit for the ascension of this team given his recent hot streak, but it is Hernandez's return to form that has put this team over the top and made them into a contender. Acquired from the Blue Jays, Hernandez looked like the final piece this team needed to fill out their potent lineup, but the change in scenery did not treat him nicely as he struggled to consistently produce. As the calendar flipped to August, it seemed like Hernandez finally got acquainted with his new surroundings. Across the month, he has hit a blistering .365, while displaying his power and his clutch gene with 16 XBHs and 22 RBIs. We all know Hernandez is a solid player so it was only a matter of time until he turned his act around, but no one expected him to go on a prolonged hot streak like this, so as long as he stays this hot the Mariners will not lose many games.

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