I mean, come on.... his hitting stats are unreal this year, and his defence is off the charts. Was anyone else expecting these kinds of numbers from LaRoche? I know I wasn't, but I sure ain't complaining.
Look at his offensive stats, almost identical to Beltran (except for stolen bases)
AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS SO BB AVG OBP SLG OPS
RF Carlos Beltran STL 470 71 125 23 1 28 86 13 5 105 51 .266 .338 .498 .836
1B Adam LaRoche WSH 474 62 126 27 1 27 87 1 1 117 56 .266 .338 .498 .836
I think he's one of the key reasons we're 7.5 games ahead with less than a month to go.