Jason Castro - Jason Castro is the new starting catcher for the Astros, which now gives them arguably six position players that might warrant ownership depending on league size and style. I say arguably not only because you could argue that none of the Astro hitters should be owned, but also because Castro clearly didn't look quite ready at AAA this year. The 23 year old was hitting 265/365/355 for the year, and for all the talk about how he'd conquered his early-season struggles he was only hitting 254/290/441 in June. I would expect that he's an upgrade on the Quintero/Cash dynamic duo, but as far as being an asset in fantasy baseball I would guess that his value is limited to a second catcher in NL-only and deeper mixed leagues at this point. Certainly he should be owned in keeper leagues strictly because of supply and demand at the catching position, but I wouldn't trust him in the lineup right off the bat.
James Loney - Loney is hitting 329/397/486 for the month of June, and with all the focus on what Loney can't do (hit for the power you expect from a 1B) we sometimes lose sight of what he can do. He's second on the Dodgers in runs scored, first in RBI's, and second in steals...something you generally won't get out of a 1B. Additionally, with the LD% that he's posting this year he should have a BABIP over .400, but he's only at .332. I could easily see Loney hitting .350 some year(s), and with production in AVG, R, RBI, and SB maybe we can cut him a bit of slack on the HR's. He's an underrated player because of this.
Barry Zito - After a control blip in May that caused all of us to expect a reversion to form from the one-time Oakland ace, Barry Zito has rolled off three quality starts in four during the month of June, two of which came against quality opponents. Zito has only walked 9 while fanning 23 in 27 2/3 innings this month, and he's on pace for his best fielding-independent ERA since 2002 due to an increased GB% and improved control. I'm not sure what the 32 year old has changed this season, but a decent portion of this improvement seems to be legitimate, although I would expect his ERA to drift up into the higher 3.00's no matter what else transpires.
Jenrry Mejia - The 20 year old was sent down to AA to be stretched back out to starter's stamina, but as there's no timetable for him to return to New York I would feel safe cutting him in single-season formats. The power/groundball arsenal that he offers is very intriguing, but he is still so raw that I can't envision him making an impact with the Mets all that soon. Still, anyone who can allow a 12% LD rate, even for just 30 innings, is someone that merits watching.
Chris Coghlan - Maybe Coghlan's one of those guys that just takes a while to get going, like Robinson Cano before this year. Last season Coghlan hit just .262 and slugged .363 in his first 168 AB's, but then hit .351 and slugged .509 in the second half. This year Coghlan's first XBH came on May 10th, but here in June he's hitting 406/488/696 with 10 doubles, 2 triples, and 2 homers. His BABIP is still low, but again I don't think there's ever going to be a ton of power here...maybe a 15 homer/25 steal upside (which isn't bad, of course). All in all, a useful little player.
