The Reds’ Drew Stubbs has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball over the past two weeks. In his past 14 games Stubbs has gone 18-59 with 5 HR, 12 RBI, 19 R and 7 SB. How is anyone going to complain about that, right?

Well…

There is always one big albatross with Stubbs and that is his ability to make contact. Over this stretch he has struck out 19 times. On the season his strikeout rate sits at 27.2%. It simply makes it impossible for him to provide you any help in the average department.

The strikeout problem is certainly not a new thing, as he has been whiff happy ever since stepping onto a Major League diamond:

• 2009 – 25.0%
• 2010 – 28.8%
• 2011 – 30.1%

It helps to back up his pitiful .235 average this season and gives us little reason to think things are going to change.

In fact, even when Stubbs makes contact he has failed to hit the ball with authority all season. For the season he has a 14.9% line drive rate. Even in July, when he was actually producing, he had a 13.1% mark. In August the number has fallen all the way to 5.6%.

He had a nice little run, especially in the power and RBI departments at the end of July (4 HR and 11 RBI came in a six game span), but don’t let that cloud your judgment.

Can Stubbs provide some power? Absolutely…

Will he steal some bases? You bet…

In fact, Stubbs is an elusive 20/20 player. It’s something fantasy owners go looking for, but you need to be able to help across the board, or at least not hurt you anywhere. If you are going to sink owners in a category (in this case average), you need to be even better.

In fact, wit his .304 OBP, just how many runs can we really expect from him as well?  I know the runs have been coming in droves lately, but it is more of an aberration than the rule.

Don’t get me wrong, Stubbs is a nice player but he is far from a fantasy stud. Given his recent performance now is the perfect time to cash in. Kick the tires and see if you can use him to get a player who actually helps you across the board as opposed to one who could hurt you in at least one and possibly two.

What are your thoughts of Stubbs?  If you were an owner would you look to trade him?  Why or why not?

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