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Fantasy Baseball News & Updates
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It was a breakthrough age-27 season for Ethier, who established himself as a Top 20 outfielder and a fixture in the heart of the Dodgers lineup. He's in the prime of his career, so bank on another couple of seasons of early-round production.
This sort of game hasn't been terribly rare for Ethier during his breakout 2009 campaign, but any hits are welcome considering that Ethier entered this game on a 1-for-34 slide. He's too good to slump that badly for that long, and Dodgers fans and fantasy owners alike have to hope that this multi-hit effort -- his first in 13 games -- presages a big end-of-season kick.
Ethier has been very quiet of late, going 1-for-23 over his last seven games. A silver lining is that he’s worked five walks, plated three runs and scored two during the slump, which has bumped his average down from .283.
Ethier's breakout season just keeps on chugging along. His 96 RBIs are good for eighth in the NL, his 29 homers are nine more than he has hit in any previous season and his average is comfortably in the .280s after dipping into the .250s back in July. He's not flashy, but Ethier has developed into one of the steadier sluggers in fantasy.
Save for a three-hit outing on Sept. 2, Ethier had been ice-cold over nine games entering Saturday. His .176 batting average had sunk his season mark to .283, but that received a boost with the multi-hit effort on Saturday.
This effort snaps Ethier out of the .087 (2-for-23) funk that had engulfed him during his previous six contests. A hitter of Ethier's ability doesn't seem to ever get caught into too deep of a cold spell, so take comfort in knowing Ethier's batting average won't fall too far below his current .285 mark.
Ethier has been flat-out raking his last 14 contests, batting .462 with a sky-high .865 slugging percentage, which is supported by seven doubles and four homers. Expect him to continue destroying pitches during the Dodgers' weekend series at Great American Ball Park, where he holds a .350 batting mark in 40 career at-bats.
The move from second to third in the order has only enhanced Ethier's offensive production -- especially since it ran in sync with Manny Ramirez dropping to the cleanup spot, one peg below Ethier. During the past 12 games in which Ethier has hit in front of Manny, he's churned out a .419 (18-for-43) batting average with 11 RBIs.
Ethier has gone 11-for-20 (.550 AVG) during his five-game hitting streak. Equally impressive has been the slugging work he's done during his current tear -- of those 11 hits, three were doubles, two were homers and one was a triple. Ethier has already set career bests in homers (25) and RBIs (85), and continues to emerge as a legit fantasy star.
A huge day for Ethier, who sent one out for the second time in nine games. He’s been totally locked in since the All-Star break, batting .368 with six jacks, 24 RBIs and 23 runs in 30 affairs. The 27-year-old outfielder continues to be a valued contributor in all formats, hitting .281 with 80 RBIs and a rock-solid .519 slugging percentage.
Ethier had struggled a bit recently before busting out Tuesday, going 4-for-24 (.167 AVG) with four RBIs over the last six games. He made the most of his hits during the lull, though, as three of them went for extra bases. Despite the brief slump, the fourth-year outfielder has been steadily hacking since the All-Star break, batting .347 with 17 extra-base hits, 19 RBIs and 22 runs in 26 affairs.
Yet another example of Ethier stepping up when it matters most. Few hitters have been more clutch this year than the Dodgers right fielder, who leads the Majors with five walk-off hits. Ethier has also thrived since being bumped up to second in the lineup, batting .350 with seven homers and a .767 slugging percentage in that spot.
Ethier has been hitting like a man on a mission his last three games, going 7-for-14 (.500) with two homers, five RBIs and four runs scored. He continues to stay in sync with his No. 2 spot in the batting order, the lineup position he's occupied during his three-game tear.
Ethier has been slamming the ball on a frequent basis when placed in front of Manny Ramirez in the bating order. In seven games as the Dodgers No. 2 hitter since Ramirez's return from a suspension July 3, Ethier has hit .333 (11-for-33) with four homers and seven RBIs. Ethier has bounced around all over the lineup, but he does some of his finest work when he bats just before Ramirez.
Ethier led the Major Leagues in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage during the last seven days, batting .545 (12-for-22) with two home runs, six RBIs and 23 total bases in six games. On top of that, the 27-year-old contributed a 1.045 slugging percentage and a .630 on-base percentage and ranked second in the NL with eight runs scored and five doubles.
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