The Major League Baseball continues to heat up as the Toronto Blue Jays headline the top winner in the American League. The same Blue Jays team that sat in the middle of the pack in the American League East a few weeks back. Now that same team is sitting just one game back of the New York Yankees after winning nine of their past ten games.
Much of the team’s success has come with the teams rotation but the key additions of David Price and Troy Tulowitzki has played a big role as well. Tulowitzki has picked up a pair of doubles as well as three home runs. Then you have Price who has picked up back to back wins while allowing just one run over 15 innings.
Along with these two stars that have been red hot the team has multiple players who have played themselves into the American League MVP picture. One of those guys is All-Star third baseman Josh Donaldson who is hitting .294 with 31 home runs, 30 doulbes and 83 runs batted in.
Then you have Jose Bautista who is putting together another big power season despite only hitting .240 on the year. Bautista does however have 20 home runs, two triples and 27 home runs. Along with Bautista and Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion has 21 home runs and 64 runs driven in.
Now not everyone or team can land on our American League Winners and Losers list for the first full week of August. One team the Minnesota Twins has won just two games over their past ten games while the Houston Astros are just 3-7 in that same stretch.
Here is our complete list of winners and losers in the American League for this past week.
Winners:
Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles: The Baltimore Orioles All-Star first baseman is red hot picking up eight hits in his last 21 at bats with two doubles, three home runs and seven runs driven in. Davis is now hitting .252 on the season with 30 home runs to go with 82 runs driven in. The former American League All-Star is playing in his last contract season with the Orioles and continues to increase his asking value this offseason.
Texas Rangers: While the Blue Jays might be the hottest team in all of baseball, the Rangers are right there with them after electing not to sell at the MLB trade deadline. Instead the team elected to buy trading for former Philadelphia Phillies starter Cole Hamels to help anchor the teams starting rotation. The Rangers are 4-2 over there last six games while moving right back into the playoff picture in the American League.
Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays: It is hard to not put Donaldson on this list as hot he has been over the past week. Donaldson is hitting .364 over his past seven games with one double, four home runs and six runs batted in. This type of production has not only helped the Blue Jays play themselves to the top of the Wild Card position but also has Donaldson in position to fight for his first MVP award.
David Price, Toronto Blue Jays: The former Detroit Tigers ace and now Blue Jays starter has been brilliant almost all season. That includes his last outing as he allowed just three hits over seven scoreless innings as the Blue Jays picked up a much needed 6-0 win over the Yankees. Price improved to 2-0 with the Blue Jays allowing just one earned run over 15 innings while striking out 18 batters.
Losers:
Minnesota Twins: While the Blue Jays have been red hot the Twins continue to struggle after a very impressive first half. The struggles continued last week as the team opened up losing four straight to the Blue Jays before losing two of three against the Cleveland Indians. The team’s current struggles have dropped them to 55-56 on the season and out of the wild card picture.
Houston Astros: The Astros continue to hold on to the top spot in the American League West but has failed to build on their current lead over the Los Angeles Angels heading into Tuesday. These struggles include winning just three of their last ten games including their last three games as well as six of the last seven games. This includes losing three straight games to the Rangers before losing three of four against the Oakland A’s.
Ervin Santana, Minnesota Twins: Part of the Twins struggles have come with there teams ability to put together some strong pitching performances. This includes Santana who has struggled in three of his eight outings this season. One of those starts came in his last outing back on August 8th, as Santana allowed ten hits over 2.1 innings and eight earned runs as the Twins fell to the Indians 17-4.
Mike Zunino, Seattle Mariners: Zunino continues to put together a disappointing season in 2015 including seeing his batting average to drop to just .170 while his on base percentage sits at just .227 for the season. The Mariners catcher has zero hits over his last 14 at bats including seven strike outs.
Mike Moustakas, Kansas City Royals: The Royals continue to be one of the best teams in all of baseball as well in the American League. That being said the team has been getting much of the production out of everyone but Moustakas. The Royals third baseman is just two for 21 over the last seven days. These struggles have helped his batting average to drop to .272 on the season. Over his last ten games, Moustakas has just one run batted in and zero home runs.