As you might expect from a team finishing the first half with 25 wins in their last 30 games, the Sox have been propelled by a number of hot streaks. Some we’ve been waiting on, and others have come out of nowhere, and when you add them all up, it means that somebody’s going to get jobbed in the next couple weeks if nothing changes.
Below are the sluggin’ Sox who have made Mark Teahen’s return more complicated than originally anticipated when the Sox were scuffling six weeks ago.
Carlos Quentin
Hot streak: .368/.469/.926, 11 homers in 68 AB since June 16.
For real? He’s not going to burn this hot, but he’s raised his season line to .244/.344/.523. That seems like a perfectly predictable season line, and we know he has the talent to exceed it when all is right.
Why? He’s absolutely murdering the ball.
But wait: Injuries. It’s all pretty simple. Sliding Quentin to the DH role for half the time — or more — seems to be ideal at this point, but thanks to Teahen, that might not even result in the optimal defensive lineup.
Andruw Jones
Hot streak: .333/.444/.619 over the last week, with five walks.
For real? Nope.
Why not? Jones had hit just one homer over the previous two months before going deep twice in the last week — and those happened to be on the fattest off-speed pitches imaginable. Jered Weaver grooved a changeup, and Anthony Lerew hung a navel-high curve. Jones had enough time to crow-hop and aim for the Fundamentals Deck.
But wait: There’s an outside chance that Jones was pressing in order to reach the 400-homer mark, and I did see him actually bounce a single through the right side – intentionally — over the past week. That was a marked departure over his usual swing-until-my-girdle-breaks approach, and perhaps he had an epiphany of sorts. Doubtful, but hey.
