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After Carlos Gonzalez’s 49th game of the season on June 5, he was batting .233/.310/.341 with just four home runs. That sounds bad without any context attached, but remember: Gonzalez played (and plays) his home games at Coors Field, the most hitter-friendly park in the majors. He has more than made up for this in the three months since, though, as he’s hit .303/.348/.704 with 31 homers in that stretch. What will likely be the peak of this whole run happened the last two games, in which Gonzalez went 6-for-10 with four homers and a double.
Gonzalez is just straight-up locked in. He hasn’t been lucky with batting average on balls in play -- in fact, given Coors pro-BABIP nature, he’s been unlucky in that regard. And sure, while there is a measure of luck to all these homers, with 11 of Gonzalez’s 35 blasts on the season classified under “Just Enough” by dinger database Hit Tracker, if he had “only” gone deep 20 times in the last three months, he’d still be looking great after a rough start.
This brings us to the unfortunate question Rockies fans don’t want to hear: Should Colorado trade Gonzalez this offseason, as they did Troy Tulowitzki? Gonzalez is only under contract through 2017, and is owed another $37 million. He could be part of the next competitive Rockies team, sure, but he could also help bring in the pieces that will help them competitive, pieces that will likely stick around longer. It’s a question the front office will have to grapple with over the coming months, but if Gonzalez keeps mashing, they won’t have any shortage of suitors if they decide to move him.
- Curt Schilling won't be on the air with ESPN for the rest of 2015. Finally, something good came out of him opening his mouth.
- Clayton Kershaw's recent performance hasn't signaled that he's back, because Clayton Kershaw never left.
- Vin Scully has been announcing the Dodgers for 67 years, and a whole lot has happened to team in that time.
- If the MLB trade deadline had been moved to August 31, the NL would have been very busy on Monday.
- Tigers' shortstop Jose Iglesias was hit on the hand by a pitch, knocking him out of that game and at least a few others.
- Remember when Brett Gardner was hitting like crazy in the first half? The second half has not gone nearly as well.
- With Hanley Ramirez banished from the Red Sox outfield forever, Boston has to figure out what the right alignment is for Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rusney Castillo.
- Jason Heyward will indeed become a free agent at the end of the season, as the Cardinals haven't made any progress towards an in-season extension. That doesn't mean he's leaving St. Louis, though.
- Speaking of the Cardinals, how poorly would they have to play down the stretch for the Pirates to overtake them in the NL Central?
- Bryce Harper came to the plate four times on Thursday, and swung the bat zero times. The result? Four walks, four runs, and even an RBI for his trouble. No wonder the dude has a .460 on-base percentage this year.
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