Offensive stud: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (OF, Blue Jays). With another hit and a run last night, Toronto’s hot hitting Gurriel stays the stud for one more day.
In the past week, the outfielder has hit .391/.481/.826 with 3 home runs, 12 RBI and 8 runs scored. In the week ending September 10, he hit .346/.419/.692. This is an extended run of excellence for the slugger, who is one of six Blue Jays with at least 80 RBI and who is third on the club in doubles with 26, behind Marcus Semien (37) and Teoscar Hernandez (27).
Gurriel was signed by the Blue Jays in November 2016 and by 2018, was in the majors. Little minor league conditioning was necessary—he hit .281 with 11 home runs and 35 RBI in 65 games his rookie season and has only gotten better each year. 2021 has been his first full campaign, as he has never played more than 84 games in a big league season before this.
Honorable mention: Teoscar Hernandez (OF, Blue Jays; .500/.552/.846, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 11 R).
Offensive dud: Aristides Aquino (OF, Reds). Aquino has been the dud before, and here he is again, this time with a 0-for-7, 4 strikeout, one error showing since August 11.
This whole season has been a struggle for the outfielder, who hasn’t hit over .200 since August 21 and who has batted .111 with 24 strikeouts in his past 63 at-bats. In his past 42 ABs, he has hit .095 with 17 Ks. Though he doesn’t hit well anywhere, being away from Great American Ball Park, the Reds home turf, really hurts him. In 86 at-bats on the road, he has slashed .140/.232/.291; at home, his line is 233/.364/.534 in 73 ABs.
Aquino excited Reds fans with 19 home runs and 47 RBI in 56 games as rookie in 2019. The excitement has faded: Since 2020, he has batted .180 with 11 home runs and 38 RBI in 97 games.
Dishonorable mention: Andrew Young (2B, Diamondbacks; 2-for-13, 5 K, 2 E).
Pitching stud: Luis Castillo (SP, Reds). It hasn’t been an optimal year for Castillo, who leads the National League with 15 losses and carries a 4.08 ERA through 31 starts.
However, it is never too late to right the ship, and that’s what he has done his past two appearances: In 13 1/3 innings, he allowed just 3 walks and 4 runs, while striking out 15 batters. His 2.70 ERA brought his season mark down a little further—it was 4.53 as recently as August 9.
The 28-year-old was an All-Star in 2019 and has been bubbling under superstardom his whole career. In his rookie season, 2017, he finished 8th in Rookie of the Year voting after posting a 3.12 ERA, 144 ERA+ and 9.9 K/9 IP ratio in 89 1/3 innings. In 2019, he was 15-8, 3.40 with 226 strikeouts in 190 2/3 frames and last year, he had a 3.12 mark, 154 ERA+ and 89 Ks in 70 innings. To fully blossom, he needs a shift to a consistently winning team. The Reds are not it.
Honorable mention: Zack Wheeler (SP, Phillies; 2-0 W-L, 11 2/3 IP, 3 BB, 14 K, 1.54 ERA).
Pitching dud: Tyler Wells (RP, Orioles). Nothing’s changed for Wells. He’s still the dud. His past week (0-2 W-L, 6 ER, 2 BSV, 1 2/3 IP) still stunk. He hasn’t pitched since the 15th. I wonder why.
Dishonorable mention: Kyle Finnegan (RP, Nationals; 4 IP, 7 H, 2 HR, 6 ER, 0-2 W-L, 2 BSV).
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