James Loney
I can't tell you how impressed I am with James Loney. He was 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk on Saturday against the Devil Rays, and even his two out were line drives, one of which could have easily went for a hit. Loney also went 3-for-5 on Friday and is now 10-for-2 with two doubles, a triple, and a homer since being recalled from Triple-A. Loney also had a .901 OPS last year in 102 at-bats so you think they'd have him in there every day, but Nomar Garciaparra is signed through 2008 and it's difficult to bench a fan favorite, despite Garciaparra's mediocre .659 OPS this year (one home run in 260 at-bats). Loney clearly has some NL-only value right now, but with Garciaparra around and the outfield crowded, it remains to be seen how often he'll play.
Corey Hart
I imagine a lot of first place fantasy teams have Corey Hart on their roster, as while Hart hasn't exactly come out of nowhere, no one could have forecasted what he's been able to do lately. Hart hit leadoff again for the Brewers on Saturday, going 3-for-3 with a walk and his 14th stolen base. Hart is now batting .321/.397/.533 with nine homers. He's clearly won a full-time job after being a part-timer earlier in the year in a crowded Brewers outfield. Continuing to hit leadoff will suppress his RBI opportunities but likely increase his opportunities to run, but with Rickie Weeks back from the DL, Weeks could soon slide back up to the top of the lineup. Hart has a 0.65 EYE and even though his .333 BABIP suggests a batting average correction, Hart is a legitimate impact player in a team full of impact guys. He's now hitting .350 this month and is working on a 10-game hitting streak.
Brad Hennessey
Hennessey entered Saturday's game in the ninth inning with the Giants up 5-4, only to surrender a home run to Alex Rodriguez to blow the save. This comes just a day after Hennessey allowed a run on two hits to those Yankees on Friday. Since being named the closer after Armando Benitez was traded to the Marlins, Saturday was just Hennessey's second save opportunity (he converted the other one). On the year Hennessey has just a 0.63 K/I, not exactly closer stuff, but then again, who else are the Giants going to turn to? Kevin Correia? Vinny Chulk? Probably not. If the Giants were to somehow get back in the NL West race, we could see them dealing for an experienced closer (Chad Cordero?), but in all likelihood, Hennessey has more than a 50/50 shot at keeping the job for most of the rest of the year.
Chipper Jones
It's tough NOT to watch Justin Verlander pitch these days he's so good, so I found myself watching the Braves/Tigers game on Saturday. Verlander was excellent of course, but Chipper Jones was MORE excellent, at least in the one at-bat in which he hit his 13th home run of the year. It was his only hit in four at-bats, but the homer was his first since May 19th. He missed about three weeks in May/June with sore hands, so the explanation for the power outage is obvious, but Jones is still 14-for-33 in June. At age 35, Jones is amazingly still on top of his game at the plate, but he also played in 109 and 110 games in 2005 and 2006 and is probably headed towards a similar total this year. As long as you have a decent fantasy backup, Jones will have value, but if you were watching Saturday, Jones grimaced noticeably on the swing right before the home run, so it's obvious the groin is still bothering him or is it his hands or is it something else?
Matt Chico
Most don't know a whole lot about Matt Chico, but it's getting to the point where he should be on your radar. Chico really should be in Triple-A working on his command and secondary offerings, but with the Nationals down there top three starters due to injury (though Jason Bergmann is due back next week), Chico has been rushed to the big leagues where he's shown signs of developing into a quality starter. Chico has actually pitched worse on the road and against left-handers, which is odd since he pitches in a pitcher's park and is left-handed himself. On Saturday though, Chico was brilliant, allowing just a run on four hits over six innings against the Travis Hafner-less Indians. It was the fifth time in Chico's last six outings that he'd allowed three runs or less. It's easy to see why Chico's ERA is over 5 (5.07) - a 45:37 K:BB and 13 homers allowed in 83 1/3 innings. Chico was a third-round pick of the Diamondbacks back in 2003 and while he'll have his struggles, he's a good-looking young arm.
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