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30	Januar 2019

When Major League Baseball broke

for the All-Star Game about a month ago Chris Sale Jersey , it seemed safe to take some things for granted about the National League.For one, the NL Central race was strictly between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. For another, the NL MVP race was mainly between Nolan Arenado, Freddie Freeman and Javier Baez.Then Matt Carpenter happened.Thanks to a wayward fastball that struck his right hand on August 15, the St. Louis Cardinals' 32-year-old infielder has been quiet of late. Yet his numbers since the All-Star break still boggle the mind. In 31 games, Carpenter has put up a 1.106 OPS and slammed an NL-high 14 home runs.Couple this with the strong work that Carpenter was doing prior to the break, and he now boasts a .957 OPS and 33 homers. The latter is already a career high, as well as the most in the NL this year. The former translates to a 159 OPS+ that also leads the Senior Circuit.Meanwhile, the temperature of the Cardinals has mirrored that of Carpenter's bat.Their 20-11 record since the break is the best of any National League team, and it's done wonders for their standing in the NL playoff chase. At the break, the Cardinals were 7.5 games out of first in the NL Central and four games outside the second wild-card spot. Now, they're four games out in the division and a half-game out in the wild card.This isn't all Carpenter's doing. In retrospect, the firing of manager Mike Matheny looks like the removal of a weight off the team's back. Also Steven Wright Jersey , St. Louis' bullpen has shaped up with an MLB-low2.07 ERA in August.It's nonetheless fair to surmise that the Cardinals wouldn't be doing this without Carpenter. And while this isn't an altogether unfamiliar position for the three-time All-Star, it's to his credit that the driver's seat is now all his.Carpenter emerged as one of the NL's better hitters between 2012 and 2016, racking up a 130 OPS+. But he sunk to a 120 OPS+, and he began 2018 on track to decline even further. He had a .579 OPS at the end of April, and it was as low as .739 as late as June 7.But in 64 games since then? Try a staggering .306/.431/.711 slash line with 26 homers.The popular explanation for Carpenter's ongoing surge has something to do with homemade salsa鈥攚hich, to be fair, does look mighty tasty. Otherwise, the man himself can't really articulate how he's suddenly turned into a master slugger."It's not the hitter I was. It's not the hitter I've ever been. I'm just developing into somebody I've never tried to be. I don't really have an explanation for that," he said, according to Rick Hummel of theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch.From the outside looking in, however, the sluggerification of Matt Carpenter appears to be a case of a really good hitter deciding to assert himself.Salsa notwithstanding, Carpenter is probably best known for his fondness for efficiency. To wit Tyler Thornburg Jersey , his 36.7 swing percentage since 2012 is the lowest of any hitter with at least 3,000 plate appearances. He also doesn't like wasting batted balls, preferring well-hit balls in the air.There's a fine line between patience and passivity, however, and Carpenter was on the wrong side of it earlier in 2018. His Swing% was down to 35.4, and that covered just a 54.7 Swing% against pitches in the strike zone.Carpenter hasn't exactly turned into Vladimir Guerrero since then, but those numbers are up to 38.9 and 60.2, respectively. His batted ball profile has also changed in ways that are conducive to maximum power:Carpenter has been better about getting the ball off the ground and hitting it hard. He's also been making more frequent use of his pull side, which is the best avenue for slugging.This isn't happening because he's been getting a curiously consistent diet of hanging breaking balls to feast on. Rather, it's happening because he's made mincemeat salsa of fastballs.Through June 7, Carpenter was swinging at just 31.9 percent of fastballs and hitting them at a 20.4-degree launch angle. Since June 8, he's up to a 39.2 swing percentage and a 21.7-degree launch angle against them.He's also gone from inside-outing fastballs to left-center field:Image courtesy of BaseballSavant.MLB.comTo driving them to right field:Image courtesy of BaseballSavant.MLB.comLo and behold, Carpenter has gone from slugging .435 against fastballs to slugging .772 against them. The latter is tops among all hitters since June 8.This doesn't mean Carpenter can't be stopped. Indeed http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-jackie-bradley-jr-jersey , he's in the process of being stopped. He had been riding a five-game hitless streak before a 1-for-4 showing Sunday against the Brewers. The longer this slump continues, the more vulnerable the Cardinals' postseason odds and Carpenter's own MVP chances will become.But for now, both look pretty good.According to FanGraphs, St. Louis' postseason odds hit a nadir at seven percent on July 31. They've since shot up to 47.5 percent.For his part, Carpenter is front and center in the National League MVP race. He's been the NL's best hitter overall, as well as one of the hottest of the second half. As a bonus, eight of his 14 second-half homers have been either tying or go-ahead shots.If the next month-and-a-half is anything like the last month for Carpenter and the Cardinals, they're going to return to the postseason and he's going to have both numbers and a narrative going for him in the NL MVP race.Not bad for a player and a team that seemed dead and buried not too long ago. Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant. PHOENIX � The Los Angeles Dodgers ruined Arizona�s season.The Diamondbacks could do a little something about it this week.The Dodgers knocked Arizona out of first place in the NL West with three consecutive comeback victories on the first weekend of September, winning all three on their final at-bat by the same score, 3-2.Article continues below ...The Diamondbacks are 5-17 since as they prepare to host the division-leading Dodgers in a three-game series that begins Monday at Chase Field.�I feel like that was an extremely tough series � to give everything you have � this team was invested and we were in first place, talking about good things happening at the end of this road,� Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.�It definitely staggered us. Have we recovered? I would like to say we did Roger Clemens Jersey , but our play has told us that we have not.�The Diamondbacks left that series in third place, and the Dodgers climbed back into first with a three-game sweep of Colorado last week. The Dodgers (87-69) will bring a 1 1/2-game lead over the Rockies into final week of the season and also are only one game behind Atlanta for possible home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.�There were a couple more gut punches in that Atlanta series that may have been some key blows,� said Lovullo referring a series in which the Diamondbacks lost three of four the weekend after playing the Dodgers.�It was a lot to absorb. The L.A. series is one that maybe a lot of people will see as a target.�Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw (8-5, 2.45) is scheduled to oppose Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray (6-2, 3.92) in the first game of the series. Kershaw has made 14 straight quality starts.While the Dodgers are contending for a playoff spot, there will be no lack of motivation on the Arizona side.�It is hard to say you are going to pay people back in sports, because they are gifted athletes, too,� Lovullo said. �But we should make it as hard on them as possible to do what they are trying to do. �That will be my message to the guys. I certainly don�t want to see any team celebrate on our turf. I watched it last year and it was painful, and I don�t want to watch it again. We�ll make sure we give everything we have the next several days.�The Dodgers swept the Diamondbacks in the NLDS last season, finishing if off in Arizona.The Dodgers have won 15 of 22 games and have won nine of their last 11.They have a franchise season record 225 homers, setting the mark on newcomer Manny Machado�s homer Saturday night.�We have great hitters here,� Machado told reporters Saturday. �We�re all confident. We know the team we have.�Machado http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-andrew-benintendi-jersey , who had another homer Sunday, had one of the Dodgers� four homers in the critical series against Arizona at the first of the month. Matt Kemp won the third game of the series with a three-run homer in the eighth inning Sept. 1, and his two-run walkoff double ended the Sept. 2 game.Kershaw will have one more start remaining after this unless the Dodgers have clinched a playoff berth by next weekend and opt to juggle the rotation to prepare for the playoffs. If Kershaw does make two starts, he could put himself high on the ERA leaderboard because he is only 11 2/3 innings short of qualifying. The Mets� Jacob deGrom has a 1.77 ERA and will win the title, but Kershaw could nose out Aaron Nola (2.45) and Max Scherzer (2.57) for second.Kershaw has won his last five decisions and has not lost since July 21, when Milwaukee scored three unearned runs in a 4-2 victory. He has a 2.22 ERA during his string of 14 quality start and has faced the Diamondbacks four times this season, going 1-1 with a 2.42 ERA.Ray has won his last three decisions over 12 starts and has not lost since July 12. He has given up three runs or less in each of his last nine starts and two runs or less in eight of them. He is coming off a 9-0 victory over the Cubs in which he gave up one hit and struck out eight in six innings.Ray has faced the Dodgers once this season, a 3-1 victory on Aug. 30 in the first game of that series in Los Angeles. He is 7-3 with a 2.63 ERA against them in 14 career starts, the most he has faced any opponent.