Evan Longoria - Fantasy News & Updates
Evan Longoria - Fantasy News & Updates
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When Longoria came storming out of the gate in April, it looked as though he would follow in Dustin Pedroia's footsteps as AL MVP one year after taking home Rookie of the Year. But those dreams were dashed during June and July, when he hit just .233 and .189, respectively. Still, if Longoria can cut down on the 140 strikeouts he totaled this year, he's capable of challenging Alex Rodriguez as fantasy's top third baseman.
Longoria turned a corner to fantasy superstardom in '09 as he capitalized on his fantastic rookie year. Longoria finished with a nine-point improvement in his batting average (from .272 to .281) and made notable progress in his home runs (27 to 33) and RBIs (85 to 113). Toss in his 100 runs and 9 stolen bases, and fantasy owners are presented with a player worthy of a first round pick in 2010.
Those two ribbies boost Longoria's season total to 114, fourth-most in the American League. His multi-RBI performance also snaps a relative cold streak for Longoria, who had just two ribbies in his previous 10 games and had just one multi-RBI game in his last 24 starts. Longoria has had a terrific all-around season, but it's hard to fault his owners for hoping that he finishes it on one of his signature RBI tears.
Longoria has been a monster in September, putting up a .371 batting average with eight doubles, six homers and 17 RBIs. It's led him to a respectable .283 batting average and his first 100-RBI campaign. He also beat his stolen bases mark from last year with the base swipe on Saturday, and it seems likely he'll reach double figures before the season closes.
The homer not only extended Longoria's hit streak to 12 games, it also marked his sixth long ball over that span. A resurgent month of September has the stud third baseman heading in the right direction with career highs in batting average (.281), homers, RBIs (103) and doubles (41).
Lind and Longoria also tied for the AL lead with three homers for the week. Lind, the Blue Jays' 26-year-old primary DH, collected eight of his RBIs in his second career multi-homer game, on Aug. 31 against the Rangers. That output was one shy of Toronto's almost 32-year-old record, set by Roy Howell on Sept. 10, 1977, against the Yankees.
A breakout season finds Lind batting .304 entering tonight's game against Minnesota, with 28 homers and 94 RBIs.
Longoria has now hit in 10 straight games, and homered in each of his last three. He has a .415 average (17-for-41) during that hitting streak, with five homers and 13 RBIs. Even by Longoria's lofty standards, that's some good mashing. It's not good news for the Rays, but Carlos Pena's early departure after being hit on the hand on Monday could wind up being beneficial for Longoria's fantasy owners, too, as Pena's possible absence could lead to Longoria moving up in the batting order.
Another day, another bomb for Longoria, who has been searing during a nine-game hitting streak, going 16-for-38 (.421 AVG) with four homers, 12 RBIs and 11 runs. It’s been a welcome power surge for the young hot cornerman, who hasn’t been this hot since May. With the long ball, he reached the 100-RBI plateau for the first time as a big leaguer.
Longoria tied his homer total from his rookie year with his third long ball in seven games. Not much has changed as far as homer production, as his fly ball percentage has remained similar to last year's rate -- around the 42 percent mark -- and his HR/FB rate has lowered slightly from 19.4 to 17.2.
In an effort to boost a batting average that sunk to .267 on Aug. 28, manager Joe Maddon has lowered Longoria in the lineup, placing him at the six spot in five of his last seven games, including on Friday. The third baseman has responded by hitting a red-hot .400 (8-for-20) with two homers and four doubles.
The lineup promotion makes sense. Pena's power stroke has kicked into gear since the start of August, during which time he's racked up 13 homers and four doubles. "I'm just trying to find the right mix among those three guys," Maddon said. "Carlos, I'm going to stick with him in the four-hole and then just move Pat and Longo back and forth accordingly."
With multiple hits in each of the last three contests, Longoria is doing his best to reverse a relatively subpar second-half performance. Of course, even if the bulk of his production came in the first half, the bottom line is that he's already established a career high with 93 RBIs and finds himself one homer shy of the 27 he put forth last season as well.
It's been a disappointing second half for Longoria, but Monday's showing offers hope heading into September. The three-hit effort was his first since June, bolstering his batting average to .270 alongside 25 homers, 36 doubles, 91 RBIs and 78 runs scored.
A sorely-needed jack from Longoria, who ended an 18-game power outage. He entered Sunday mired in a 3-for-29 slump over the last seven games that had dropped his average to a season-low .267. While the highly-touted hot cornerman has certainly experienced his fair share of sophomore struggles, he remains on pace for a 30-homer, 100-RBI campaign.
Among Longoria's four hits in his last two games are three two-baggers. That might be a sign the third baseman is on the verge of going deep for the first time since Aug. 8. He's just three long balls away from tying his mark from his rookie campaign.
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