Tale of Two Months for Duncan

Rank these 1B’s the rest of the way: Sexson, C. Duncan, Swisher                                                                                                                                                                                 

Thanks!

Brian from Wisconsin

Brian,

As long as you can stomach the incredibly low average, I’m going with Sexson as the best of this group.  He plays every day and still puts up solid home run numbers.  This year marks the first close to full season since 1999 that Sexson has hit below .263, so you’ve gotta think he’ll improve on that .208 mark.  His .275 August average is certainly encouraging.  Next I’ll take Swisher.  It’s hard to tell whether Nick is underachieving this year or was overachieving last year.  Aside from the huge discrepancy in homers, Swisher’s 2007 and 2006 average, strikeout and walk rates, and RBI totals are very similar.  What separates Swisher from Sexson is the supporting cast.  While Sexson benefits from a solid lineup around him, Swisher has virtually no help, especially with Eric Chavez hurt.  As for Duncan, he’s having the most productive overall season among these three.  So why do I rank him last?  Check out his August totals!  After batting .348 with 6 home runs and 21 RBI in July, Chris is sporting a .162 average, ZERO homers and 1 RBI since.  Add in the fact that Duncan sits vs lefties, and you’ve got yourself a headache, especially if you’re in a weekly league.

Zach Steinhorn, MLB.com