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Prospectus Hit List for August 28



by Matt Sussman

Hit List for August 26 Hit List for August 31
Teams are ordered based on Adjusted Hit List Factor, a computer generated number, and the author isn't responsible for the order of the teams.

It's like a ranking, but with more words.

RkTmWLW1W2W3HLF AHLFWin Div%Win WC%Playoff%1-Day7-Day
1

71

56

80.3

75.3

75.1

.594

.613

68.6%

29.8%

98.5%

-0.5%

8.8%

We are legitimately shocked when the Blue Jays lose, especially when they score just one run. Like, did they have one baseball and misplace it? Did half the team get stuck in traffic? So many questions.
2

71

57

75.2

76.7

77.1

.586

.605

91.2%

6.6%

97.8%

-0.5%

10.8%

A month left and the Astros already have their highest win total in five years. They could spend the rest of the year flying kites, come back, and claim to have made progress.
3

78

49

72.6

68.9

69.6

.569

.589

100.0%

0.0%

100.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Maybe Alcides Escobar's on-base percentage could be higher, as a leadoff hitter. That's it. That's their weakness.
4

82

45

79.6

73.5

73.1

.607

.587

82.4%

17.6%

100.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Trevor Rosenthal and Lee Smith are the only two Cardinals to post multiple 40-save seasons. So there you have it. Trevor Rosenthal isn't a Hall of Famer.
5

69

57

68.2

69.6

69.6

.549

.568

30.5%

61.5%

92.0%

-0.5%

-2.7%

Exactly the same movie as Groundhog Day, but Bill Murray wakes up to sports talk radio discussing Chris Capuano being designated for assignment.
6

70

56

69.8

77.6

75.9

.582

.562

80.7%

1.7%

82.5%

0.1%

-2.5%

Don Mattingly used Jim Johnson to save a 1-0 game, and yet drug use is illegal. Doesn't seem fair.
7

77

49

72.5

71.7

71.1

.580

.560

16.0%

83.4%

99.4%

0.0%

1.5%

Pedro Alvarez is the closest thing we have to Dave Kingman, but I feel bad for the Dave Kingman fans, who had the time didn't have Pedro Alvarez to compare him to.
8

60

66

61.2

70.8

71.7

.523

.543

0.0%

7.0%

7.0%

-0.8%

3.4%

Technically Jason Kipnis is the AL batting leader at .325. It's going to hurt royally in a few days when Miguel Cabrera "enters" the qualified leaderboard with a 40 point lead.
9

63

64

68.8

64.3

64.3

.513

.533

0.4%

7.3%

7.7%

-3.9%

-19.8%

He went 2-for-3 in injury replacement duty batting third for Adam Jones, so for yet another consecutive day there will be no Paul Janish joke.
10

68

59

71.2

70.4

70.1

.551

.531

18.9%

4.7%

23.6%

2.7%

-5.0%

Madison Bumgarner has 16 wins and five home runs; the last person to do this was Carlos Zambrano in 2006. The last person before that was Bob Gibson in 1972. Pick your favorite comp, but no lefthander has ever done this.
11

73

53

66.7

69.3

68.6

.551

.531

1.6%

91.0%

92.6%

-3.2%

6.5%

With Fernando Rodney and Joe Maddon reunited in Chicago, who knows what wacky situation Maddon will use him in! (Probably seventh inning, low leverage.)
12

71

56

70.0

69.8

68.6

.550

.530

93.1%

0.2%

93.3%

0.3%

13.1%

Move him to center field and suddenly Yoenis Cespedes is a center fielder hitting .300 with 25 home runs and that's how the Mets negotiated themselves right out of the Yoenis Cespedes free agency sweepstakes.
13

63

64

61.3

65.8

66.2

.504

.524

0.5%

14.4%

14.9%

2.6%

-2.0%

Thoughts to all in the path of Tropical Storm Erika; here's hoping the storm ruins the Tropicana Field catwalks and nothing else.
14

55

73

65.1

67.1

68.5

.499

.519

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

-0.1%

We're already looking ahead to next year for some teams, and the 2016 A's bullpen of Pat Venditte and Ike Davis looks pretty solid. That'll be all they need.
15

65

62

63.0

60.7

61.4

.492

.512

4.0%

23.5%

27.5%

3.4%

-18.0%

Matt Shoemaker threw seven scoreless innings and finished Mr. Robertson's special patent leather loafers a fortnight early.
16

64

62

66.0

67.9

66.0

.524

.504

6.9%

1.3%

8.2%

0.5%

-13.0%

This may be putting the cart before the horse, but if they somehow miss the playoffs, they may need to strongly consider signing another Max Scherzer in the offseason.
17

60

67

58.4

62.6

63.3

.481

.501

0.0%

1.6%

1.6%

-1.3%

-7.3%

If Justin Verlander has indeed shrunk to the level of a reliever, then he threw nine good innings of relief Wednesday.
18

65

61

60.0

57.6

58.4

.478

.498

4.8%

29.8%

34.6%

6.8%

15.6%

Two Rangers in history have been age 22 or younger, appeared in 50 games and had a sub-3.00 ERA. They are Neftali Feliz and Keone Kela. Relievers burn brightly.
19

58

69

59.4

60.6

60.0

.469

.488

0.0%

0.2%

0.2%

-0.1%

0.0%

First base, left field, DH ... it doesn't matter. Ultimately the Red Sox would like to convert him into another team's problem. "
20

62

65

66.3

64.9

64.3

.507

.487

0.2%

0.0%

0.3%

-0.2%

-0.4%

The Diamondbacks adopted a pet hamster as a mascot. Between this and the invention of the Oreo Churro, we're continually adding further evidence to the theory that the Diamondbacks are just a bored college student.
21

65

62

62.5

54.5

55.0

.467

.487

0.0%

15.9%

15.9%

-5.8%

11.4%

Ain't no way Byron Buxton becomes a bust. But four strikeouts on 17 pitches seen, eight of which were swings and misses, is one of those days you wish they never invented prospect lists.
22

60

66

56.7

55.9

57.1

.456

.476

0.0%

1.9%

1.9%

0.9%

0.6%

The White Sox wore throwback uniforms last night which included white socks, which I am assuming was done to commemorate Pedantic Night at the ballpark.
23

59

69

53.9

59.0

60.3

.453

.473

0.0%

0.5%

0.5%

-0.3%

-0.9%

Now that Fernando Rodney is out of the picture, it's time to see if they guy they got for him, Cash Considerations, has the zip on his fastball that they've been talking about.
24

62

65

58.6

56.1

56.2

.458

.439

0.1%

0.0%

0.1%

-0.3%

-0.2%

Ten months ago the Padres had hope, jobs and Cashner. They still have Cashner, and I guess technically jobs.
25

52

74

56.0

59.0

59.2

.449

.429

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

The oldest professional team in baseball has gone the entire month with an all-rookie starting rotation for the first time since, well, probably their first season.
26

51

77

57.0

58.1

57.3

.436

.417

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Jeff Mathis is slashing .119/.187/.134 and has made more money in his career than your entire city block will make in their lifetime.
27

53

74

55.4

53.1

53.6

.423

.404

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

If we cared at all about career save totals, we'd marvel at Francisco Rodriguez being the active save leader, and one decent season away from 400 in his career, possibly one more great season from tying Billy Wagner. The kids these days, they don't care about career save totals, calling them "whack" and "pedestrian."
28

54

73

51.4

50.9

50.6

.407

.388

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

-0.0%

In his last 18 starts, Shelby Miller has a 3.24 ERA and is 0-10. His run support during that time just says "IOU."
29

51

74

52.1

50.4

49.1

.405

.386

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

The Rockies won their first series in Atlanta since 2005, when Luis Gonzalez was their second baseman. I am assuming it was not *that* Luis Gonzalez, but with mid-2000s Rockies teams you can never be too sure.
30

50

78

47.0

46.1

45.9

.369

.351

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Aaron Altherr is pronounced "Altair," so basically he is Ruben Amaro's little joke of saying "yeah we got a computer."