While shortstop Trea Turner and the Los Angeles Dodgers seem to be running away with the National League West title, left-handed pitcher Carlos Rodón and the San Francisco Giants have fallen off and now sit well behind in the competition for a Wild Card spot.
Outside of their teams’ overall success, both Pack Pros have had great individual performances as of late, continuing a pattern that has been frequent all season.
Carlos Rodón, left-handed pitcher, San Francisco Giants
Since the previous edition of MLB Pack Pros, Rodón took the mound for two more starts, grabbing a win on Aug. 12 and picking up a no decision on the 17th.
His combined 18 strikeouts in both of those matchups, including 11 against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 17, have brought him to 179 total for the year. This mark is the third highest of all MLB pitchers, sitting just shy of the New York Yankees’ Gerrit Cole and Milwaukee Brewers’ Corbin Burnes.
Facing the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 12, Rodón allowed just two runs by way of two solo homers in six innings.
While he had a better performance in his next outing, giving up just one run on two hits in another six innings, it was the Giants’ bullpen and lack of offense which gave the game away in the eighth inning.
Rodón’s ERA in August is down to 2.08, a strong recovery after a couple of rocky starts in July.
Trea Turner, shortstop, Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers have continued to stay hot throughout the summer, largely in part to their incredible offense led by Freddie Freeman and Turner.
Freeman and Turner now lead the MLB in hits with 151 and 150, respectively, while Turner is also tied for sixth in RBIs with 83 and is eighth in the league with a .305 batting average.
Despite a few rough games in August, Turner’s batting average only dropped from .306 to .305 since our last update.
His best stretch in the past few weeks came during Los Angeles’ two-game series against the Minnesota Twins and the first matchup in Kansas City versus the Royals from Aug. 9-12.
In that span of games, Turner went 6-for-14 for a .428 average while racking up six RBIs.
Los Angeles is well on its way to winning the National League West, largely in part thanks to this Pack Pro.
Andrew Knizner, catcher, St. Louis Cardinals
Now that Yadier Molina has returned to the lineup, Knizner’s number of at bats has continued to diminish, but he has had a few opportunities still throughout the last month.
While he knocked in two RBIs on a single in a big matchup against the Colorado Rockies earlier this month, his best stretch was from Aug. 20-21 where he went 3-for-7 with two walks.
