Colby Rasmus (OF - Cardinals) - Rasmus has been held out of the lineup for 3 straight games with a sore calf, but the Cardinals expect him to be back on Friday for the start of the series against the Diamondbacks. He said he was ready to go on Wednesday, but with the off day on Thursday, it probably made most sense to give him the extra day. Rasmus has been streaky all season, especially with his power. He hit 6 HR in April followed by just 1 in May and 3 in June (that's including sitting out the last three days). Rasmus is well on his way to realizing his fantasy potential, posting a 0.83 FPI with an ISO of .274, OPS of .968, and 7-for-11 in SB attempts. The streakiness can cause weekly H2H headaches, especially with his strikeout rate of 1 K for every 3.4 PA. While he his striking out a ton, he has improved his batting eye from last season when he posted a BB/K of 0.38 and improving that this season with a 0.52 (which is quite a feat considering his K/PA has declined from 5.4 to the aforementioned 3.4). There's no reason this kid should be on any waiver wire. Get him back in your lineups for the weekend.
Brad Hawpe (OF - Rockies) - Hawpe is on a nice little run. After going hitless for four straight games to start the month of June, Hawpe has followed it with four straight multi-hit games to raise his average back to just under .300. While he's having a nice fantasy week, the real story for Hawpe is the power. Where has it gone? While his 4 HR for the season is good enough for a AB/HR of 35.3, he has only hit 1 HR since May 1st with 9 XBH. That has dropped his SLG to below .500 for the season while his last 4-year average SLG has been .518. His AB/HR for the season is a considerable drop from his last four years of 22.7, 17.8, 19.5, and 21.8. I think the power will come back and his recent hot streak could be a prelude to a power breakout, but I think Hawpe get his rate back into the low 20's. For him to reach that level, he would only have to post about 4-to-6 HR per month from here on out.
Scott Rolen (3B - Reds) - Rolen is simply on fire. He has hit safely in every game this month with a June average of .433, OBP of .485, 10 RBI, and 9-for-13 in XBH. Rolen has always had this potential, but who knew the 35 year old would be healthy enough to produce at this kind of level at this stage of his career? While he has definitely given fantasy owners a nice bump, I would be careful not to fall into the trap of relying on him for the long-haul. From 2004 through 2009, Rolen averaged 115 games per season with 415 AB and 476 PA. He is injury prone and it wouldn't be a suprise to see him sit out for some extended period of time this season. Don't want to be too pessimistic as you're enjoying this incredible ride, but proceed with caution and try to have a backup plan at 3B.
Ian Kennedy (SP - Diamondbacks) - Another solid performance from Ian Kennedy gives him 8 straight starts of giving up 3 ER or less. That gives him 8 quality starts in his last 10 outings and a 7.8 K/9 for the season. Kennedy is still going largely unnoticed in Arizona and remains unowned in many leagues. How can this be? Is he playing too late for anyone to take real notice? Sure he had 5 BB last night and his pitch counts have been a little high for him to work deep into some of his appearances, but a glance at his game log shows he certainly belongs in any mixed league. He'll be a two start pitcher next week against to interleague components (Red Sox and Tigers). It'll be a final test to see his long-term value for the rest of the 2010 season.
Clayton Kershaw (SP - Dodgers) - Kershaw has flirted with double-digit K's all season and finally reached it with 10 last night against the Cardinals (he has 3 games with 9 K's). He was pretty dominant last night, allowing just 4 hits and 2 BB in 7.0 IP while earning his 6th win of the season. I think we forget sometimes that Kershaw is just 22 years old. The guy has been amazing yet still has upside. He is posting a 3.13 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, and an incredible 10.4 K/9 with a 2x K/BB rate. Young names like Strasburg and Lincecum will continue to dominate discussions, but Kershaw will be in that conversation as his slightly slower path to big league maturity continues to progress.
Follow me on Twitter all season @jribando.
