The Associated Press reports St. Louis Cardinals OF Ryan Ludwick hit his 37th home run Sunday, Sept. 28.

What more can be said about Ludwick? The breakout sensation capped off his memorizing 2008 campaign hitting .299 with 37 homers, 113 RBIs, 40 doubles and an All-Star Game appearance. Needless to say, he won't be flying under the radar come next year's Draft Day.

Ryan Ludwick belted his 37th homer of the season on Sunday when he took Reds starter Adam Pettyjohn deep for a two-run blast. He also added an RBI double in the contest, giving him 40 two-batters on the year. Ludwick finishes the season with a .299 average, 112 RBI, and a 966 OPS qualifies as one of the two or three biggest surprises in baseball this season. Owners will be hesitant to bid to anywhere near full value when he came out of nowhere to post such a huge season, but Ludwick maintained an OPS of at least 880 in every month except June. Even if he's not going to hit .299 again, 30+ homers is easy to see and Ludwick will make for a recommended play if he comes at anything more than a marginal discount off his 2008 value.

Ryan Ludwick crushed his 37th home run of the season in the Cardinals 11-4 win over the Reds on Sunday. He finished the afternoon 2-for-3 with three RBI.There might not be a bigger surprise in all of baseball than Ryan Ludwick. He finishes the year batting .299 and tied for the team lead in home runs (37) and was second to Albert Pujols with 113 RBI.

There might not be a bigger surprise in all of baseball than Ryan Ludwick. In the Cardinals' 8-5 win over the Reds, Ludwick was 2-for-3 and drove in his 110th run.Ludwick might win the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award with the numbers he has put up. His average is at .297 after Saturday night and fantasy owners who jumped on his bandwagon early in the season they were rewarded.

There might not be a bigger surprise in all of baseball than Ryan Ludwick. In the Cardinals' 8-5 win over the Reds, Ludwick was 2-for-3 and drove in his 110th RBI.Ludwick might when the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award with the numbers he has put up. His average is at .297 after Saturday night and fantasy owners who jumped on his bandwagon early in the season they were rewarded.

The Associated Press reports St. Louis Cardinals OF Ryan Ludwick hit his 36th home run Thursday, Sept. 25.

News: Cardinals outfielder Ryan Ludwick hit his 36th home run on Thursday in a win over Arizona. Ludwick went 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI. He's hitting .295 on the year.

Analysis: Ludwick had a breakout year and is solid top 20 outfielder for all leagues on Draft Day 2009. You cannot expect him to repeat his numbers, but just the potential he comes anywhere close makes him intriguing

Ludwick's power stroke is in full swing again with the season drawing to a close, as the breakthrough outfielder has slugged three homers and seven RBIs in his last seven games. The damage leaves him with a .295 average and 108 RBIs -- lofty totals for a guy who began the year without a regular playing time.

News: Ryan Ludwick hit a three-run homer in the first Tuesday and Albert Pujols had two hits, two RBI and reached 100 walks for the first time in his career for the Cardinals, who won for the third time in 13 games.

Analysis: Ludwick had a breakout year and is solid top 20 outfielder for all leagues on Draft Day 2009. You cannot expect him to repeat his numbers, but just the potential he comes anywhere close makes him intriguing

The Associated Press reports St. Louis Cardinals OF Ryan Ludwick hit his 35th homer Tuesday, Sept. 23.

Ryan Ludwick belted his 35th homer, a three-run shot, in the Cards' 7-4 win over the D'Backs Tuesday.Ludwick has 106 RBI and a .294 batting average to go along with those 35 dingers. Not bad for a guy who wasn't even drafted in mixed leagues.

Ludwick appears to be heating up a bit, as he's laced two doubles and a homer with four runs scored while hitting safely in five of his last six contests. That said, the otherwise consistent outfielder has stumbled to a .248 clip in September, finally cooling off at the end of what's been a giant year. Keep an eye out to see if he can turn things around over the season's final days.

News: Cardinals OF Ryan Ludwick went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and two walks Friday at Chicago. His 34th home run was his first since Sept. 10 was just his second of the month.

Analysis: Ludwick's overall numbers (.294 average, 34 home runs, 103 RBI) make him look like a Fantasy MVP, which he has been for the majority of the season. But his numbers in September have not been very good (.214 average, one home run, three RBI coming into Friday). Hopefully, this home run is a sign of a much-needed power surge for the stretch run

Ryan Ludwick was 2-for-2 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored on Friday against the Cubs.That makes 100 runs for one of the most surprising players of 2008. He also improved to .750 lifetime against Cubs' ace Carlos Zambrano. His 2008 average creeped closer to .300 and stands at .294.

Ryan Ludwick went 2-for-2 with a a two-run homer and two walks Friday versus the Cubs. Ludwick entered with a .214 average, three RBI and a 19/3 K/BB ratio in 15 games so this month, so even if the homer did come off a guy who probably shouldn't be in the majors right now (Angel Guzman), this was still nice to see.

Cardinals.MLB.com's Matthew Leach reports St. Louis Cardinals OF Ryan Ludwick will receive the night off Thursday, Sept. 18.

Matthew Leach, of MLB.com, reports St. Louis Cardinals OF Ryan Ludwick is stuck in a 10-for-62 slide and has just one home run and three RBIs in his last 15 games, with 24 strikeouts and three walks. Manager Tony La Russa said he may give Ludwick a day off Thursday, Sept. 18.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Ludwick was garnering some talk as a candidate for the National League Most Valuable Player award. Now, he can't seem to buy a hit. The struggles have led manager Tony La Russa to ponder giving Ludwick a day off, perhaps as soon as Thursday against Edinson Volquez. "I think he's running on fumes," La Russa acknowledged on Tuesday.

The Associated Press reports St. Louis Cardinals OF Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run homer Wednesday, Sept. 10, to give him 101 RBIs on the season.

A timely long ball for Ludwick, who'd gone homerless in 10 straight games heading into Wednesday's affair. Expect a rapid turnaround from the 30-year-old stud, who entered the contest batting just .226 in September but is coming off a diesel August that saw him bat .320 with a .660 slugging percentage.

Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run homer, but the Cardinals lost to the Cubs on Wednesday night. Ludwick's blast came in the bottom of the ninth, but the Cardinals were unable to pull off back-to-back walk-off victories. The homer was his first since August 27, but Ludwick now has 33 dingers and 101 RBI on the season.

Ludwick has struggled lately, going just 5-for-30 (.167), although four of those hits have been doubles. He's struck out 12 times and drawn just two walks, so those two areas will have to be improved if he wishes to bust out of this funk.

Ludwick needed this performance, seeing as he had gone three straight games without a hit. He entered Monday with just a .265 batting average against lefties, but he was able to touch up Randy Johnson a little bit.