Baseball Instinct – Do You Have It?

Cincinnatti Reds 1B Joey Votto hit homeruns #30 and #31 today against San Francisco.  Joey killed it in a 12-inning game today, going 4 for 7 with 4 RBI. Our Instinct:  Along with setting a personal single season homerun mark, Votto will mostly like top 100 RBI for the first time in his career too.  Hitting .323, Votto could be close to challenging Pujols as the top option at 1B in major league baseball.

Welcome to a new feature at Baseball Instinct!  Enjoying our news coverage and feature articles?  On every BI news item we post, we have a section called Our Instinct, where we offer fantasy advice or crunch numbers for you or even make predictions.  Well this an opportunity for you to get customized coverage from our BI staff.  Want expert analysis on any player of your choosing?  We do that!  Need a favorite farm player broken down for you?  Projections?  Fantasy advice?  The Baseball Instinct staff is at your service. Just send in your questions to mailbag@baseballinstinct.com here.  And keep checking back.  Your questions and the Our Instinct answers will be on the front page. Sincerely, Baseball Instinct staff

Milwaukee Brewers 3B Casey McGehee drilled his 20th homerun of the season Friday night against San Diego.  Plus, he went 2 for 4 with 4 RBI. Our Instinct:  Anyone who thought Casey's 2009 performance was a fluke, probably were only paying attention during his dismal showings in June in July where he only batted .223 and .266 with a total of only 5 HR and 17 RBI those two months.  Well, Casey is back now and lighting up August big time, hitting a terrific .368 and raising his season BA 15 points to a respectable .287.  By the season's end, we could see McGehee at around 25-30 long balls and 100 RBI.  Not bad.

Seattle Mariners SP Felix Hernandez keeps his hot streak going by shutting out the New York Yankees for 8 innings, giving up 4 hits and striking out 11 hitters. Our Instinct:  Hernandez has been terrorizing opposing hitters lately with a 1.67 ERA in his last ten starts.  Illustrating the lack of Mariner offensive support, in those ten games, he's had a 3-5 win/loss record.  Ouch.

Detroit Tigers SP Armando Galarraga, months after his near-perfect game against the Indians, came up with another gem against the tribe on Friday night.  Armando shut them down with 7 innings of scoreless ball, giving up only 3 hits and striking out 8 hitters. Our Instinct:  Since the June day where Jim Joyce's blown call ended Galarraga's bid for a perfect game,  the Tiger pitcher has struggled mightily with an ERA over 5.00.  Don't read too much into this stellar outing, looks like Armando just has Cleveland's number.

Tampa Bay Rays 3B Evan Longoria help upend the Texas Rangers today, going 3 for 4 with a homerun, two doubles, and 4 RBI. Our Instinct:  Longoria is heating up.  In the last 3 games, Evan went 7 for 12 with 8 RBI.  His power numbers this year won't compare to last season, but his all around game is improving.  He has already set a new personal stolen base mark (15) and his OBP (.375) and BA (.293), if maintained, will be new marks for him in his young stellar career.

San Diego Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez went 2 for 2 today in the 5-1 win against the Chicago Cubs.  He also scored 3 runs, hit a homer, and walked 3 times. Our Instinct:  Gonzalez is quietly have a very nice season.  Today's homerun (23) brings him into a 4-way tie for 9th place in NL HR standings and the resulting RBI (76) ties him for ninth in that category.  If San Diego can keep their lead in the NL West, Gonzo will be a reason it happened.

Welcome back to Baseball Instinct’s series: Chin Music. We’re taking a quick snap shot of key player’s in each organization’s major league club as well as their minor league system. This isn’t a “point out the obvious” elite players. We are taking a look at player’s in situations that could help your fantasy team or be a good addition to your fantasy farm. This time we are going to take a look at the New York Yankees.  Each Chin Music article will focus on three players up in the big leagues and three prospects down in the minors.  So let's begin!

Atlanta Braves 1B Troy Glaus came through with a homer and 4 RBI, going 2 for 5, and striking out twice. Our Instinct:  Glaus has to be the streakiest player in baseball.  If not for a May where he hit .330 with a .408 OBP, with 6 homers and 28 RBI, Glaus may have been looking for a job and Braves prospect Freddie Freeman would be trying his luck in the big leagues. If you can put up with his inconsistencies, Glaus can help your team if gotten cheaply.

Atlanta Braves SS Alex gonzalez collected two hits in three at bats Sunday while driving in 4 runs.  The big hit was a triple that scored Omar Infante and Rick Ankiel. Our Instinct:  Gonzalez has been a pleasant surprise for fantasy owners this year.  The 33-year-old shortstop has hit 30 doubles and 20 homeruns this season.  Now hitting in the 3-hole in Atlanta will only add to his career season.  You don't find this kinda pop at the SS position every day.