First half standouts:First Base

July 19th, 2022

Paul Goldschmidt

.330 AVG 1.004 OPS

64 Runs 20 HR 70 RBI 5 SB

Goldschmidt was one of the most underrated players coming into this season so naturally he's having one of the best seasons of his career. He's on pace to smash his career highs in home runs and RBI this season. Goldy's ridiculous .330 average is backed up by a .263 xBA so it appears there has been luck involved so far. The thing about Goldy's talent is that he has been known to outperform his expected stats year after year. I'll expect his average to regress back to his career average of around .300 but continue to get on base at an elite clip while crushing the ball to all fields.

C.J. Cron

.298 AVG .902 OPS

55 Runs 21 HR 69 RBI 0 SB

Cron is having another resurgent season in Colorado. He has bounced around the league after being drafted by the Angels in the 1st round in 2011. After injuries limited his season to just 13 games with Detroit in 2020, Colorado has looked like a perfect fit in his first 2 years. Cron was selected to play in the all star game for the first time in his career this year and will look to push towards his career high in home runs (30) in the 2nd half of the year. The main concern with Rockies hitters are home and away splits. Cron has hit 16 of his 21 home runs at home this year with a .352 average and 53 RBI. With a max exit velocity in the 98th percentile, Cron swings often and hard (27% K rate). I think Cron will continue his career year at Coors Field while watching his batting average plummet back to normal.