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Todd Helton (1B-COL) - Helton seemed to be caught by Father Time and injuries last year, as the borderline Hall-of-Famer hit just .256 while homering just once every 49.8 at-bats, by far a career low for the 37 year-old. This year? A different story. Helton bashed his sixth homer of the season Sunday (he had eight last year) while going 1-for-3 with a walk against Mat Latos and the Padres. Helton is now batting .325/.375/.556 and he's homered once per 19.5 at-bats. Reason #1 for his success has to be the current state of his back - simply, it's feeling good. Reason #2 is his new approach (or is it just a sample size issue?). Helton is being far more aggressive this year - 7.3% BB% vs. his normal 14% amount. He's also chasing more pitches outside of the zone and connecting. Going forward, it's looking like we'll see Helton top 20 homers this year with a .300 average, giving him positive value for fantasy owners that took a chance.
Zack Greinke (SP-MIL) - Take a guy with a 20:2 K:BB in 15 innings and I'm guessing you'd take the under on a 6.60 ERA. Well, after allowing five runs in five innings on Sunday in a win over the Pirates. Greinke's velocity is down early, but that's to be expected given that Sunday was just his third start of the season. It's really spring training for him right now, so focusing more on his K:BB than his ERA is the advice we'd have here. If you can buy low, be our guest, but it's doubtful.
Pedro Alvarez (3B-PIT) - There's no getting around it - Alvarez is struggling and even evoking the name of Alex Gordon, another third baseman and former top-five draft pick who was on the verge of flaming out before finally seeming to blossom this year. Alvarez has struggled to the point where many analysts and folks that follow the team are talking about how the Pirates should send him down to Triple-A for a stint. That's possible and it's something that isn't a death sentence for a future All-Star. Sunday, Alvarez tried to put those thoughts to rest with a 2-for-4 effort, but he's still rocking an ugly 65.6% CT% with just one homer in 119 at-bats. There's plenty of time to turn things around, but he's be best-served by going on a bit of a hot streak to put that Triple-A talk behind him.
Justin Turner (2B-NYM) - Turner had a big day Sunday with a two-run double and three-run homer in his four at-bats in Houston. The big game lifted Turner to .308/.357/.436 in 39 at-bats. The extra-base hits were just his second and third of the season, so don't think this is the norm or anything. Turner has now started the past four games and is benefitting from the Ike Davis injury, as David Murphy has slid over to first base to fill in for Davis. Davis is on the shelf with an ankle injury that is not healing as fast as hoped, so expect this situation to continue for the next couple weeks at least. Turner has a shot here to be the full-time second baseman if he can out-hit Murphy, and considering Murphy is batting just .248/.311/.394, so far so good. Turner has exhibited strong plate discipline in the minors and had a .906 OPS in Triple-A a year ago, so he's got a shot to win regular playing time, and Sunday certainly helps.
Jose Reyes (SS-NYM) - Reyes the fantasy stud is still in the past, but the Mets' shortstop and leadoff man is still looking at a huge payday in free agency after this season. Shortstops AND leadoff men are hard enough to find separately, much less in the same guy. Sunday, Reyes was 0-for-4 with a walk, but after that walk, he proceeded to swipe both second and third base. He's now batting a solid .310/.360/.471 in 174 at-bats. The good: A 0.88 EYE (0.49 in 2010) and the 40+ SB pace. The bad: just one home run - but perhaps some of those 13 doubles start going over the fence. Clearly though, despite the lack of pop, Reyes is rewarding fantasy owners with his legs.
