Zach Britton- BAL- Rise Value- Britton continues to improve. Over his last 3 starts he has given up 5 earned runs in 17.1 IP on 16 hits and 5 walks while striking out 15 batters. In his start last night Britton has a 13/2 GB/FB ratio. His control is much improved of late, which makes him a desirable commodity.
Corey Patterson- TOR- Cold- Regression to the mean has hit Patterson hard. Over the past two weeks his BABIP has fallen from .341 to .316 as he has gone 7-for-50. Patterson's average has dropped from .293 to .267. He hasn't hit a homer since June 2nd. He does have 2 steals, but that isn't enough to really make him worth owning.
Adrian Gonzalez- BOS- Great Player- Over the past half decade we've wondered what Gonzalez could do with a home park that wasn't so hitter hostile. This year so far we have found out what he could do in a decent hitter' park with an obscene amount of luck thrown in. His BABIP of .402 at Fenway is definitely helping to boost his home average to .364. His road average of .336 is also helped by good luck as evidenced by a BABIP of .369 away from Boston. Even if regression to the mean hits Gonzalez just having his home performance equal to his road production should result in a monster year when all is said and done. He may not maintain his current .359 average but what he will have will be plenty good enough.
Travis Hafner- CLE- Hot- Hafner extended his current hitting streak to 9 games (dating back to before his stay on the DL) and slugged his second homer in the 5 games since he was activated. He has 7 RBIs since coming back from injury as well as a Batting EYE of 1.00. With durability questions and a BABIP of .402 now would be a good time to sell high if you own Hafner, especially since the Indians are starting a 9-game road trip in NL cities where he will not be in the regular lineup.
Michael Moustakas- KC- Rookie- Regression to the mean might be starting to kick in for Moustakas. He is 4-for-12 in his last 3 games. With a .240 BABIP there is room for some growth in his .250 average. The key to Moustakas' value the rest of the way will be how his power develops. He only has 1 extra base hit in his first 10 games since being called up, but it was a homer. The other factor will be his plate discipline. He started off well, walking in each of his first 4 games. Since then, though, Moustakas has only walked once while striking out 5 times. His minor league Batting EYE falls between those 2 extremes so there will be some evening out going on there as well as in his luck. Moustakas is a potential sleeper since he comes with a lot of hype but there still may be some learning curve for him to go through before he reaches his potential.
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