Phil Humber - Humber moved to 8-4 yesterday with seven shutout innings against the Cubs, and he's now thrown five straight quality starts (and 11 out of 12). I'm becoming more and more impressed with the 28 year old, although a dash of caution is still advised for two reasons: his still subpar K rate, and his schedule faced thus far. His last ten starts have been excellent, but there have only been two or three above average offenses mixed in there, as he's faced OAK and SEA twice apiece, WAS, CHN, and LAN to go along with ARI, BOS, and TOR. His next four starts should all be against divisional opponents (CLE, MIN, and DET twice), which still isn't likely to change things too much. Humber also has bumped up both his K rate and his GB rate as the season has progressed...enough so that I feel comfortable with him as a starter in AL-only formats and in at least a sizable portion of mixed leagues as well.
Eric Thames - Thames has hit in all 7 games since being recalled, picking up 6 XBH in 30 AB's over that time. It appeared that Thames would be expendable upon Travis Snider's return, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Jays are going to move Bautista back to 3B and install Snider in CF at Rajai Davis and Corey Patterson's expense to keep their best offense in play. Thames has somehow slipped through the cracks a bit as a potential impact bat...perhaps only 922 minor league AB's wasn't enough to get a handle on his potential. I beg to differ, as it's quite clear that Thames can offer both AVG and power, as evidenced by his 308/383/535 minor league line over three levels. Contact issues are about the only potential snafu here, but they haven't hampered his production at any level thus far. Thames is a very underrated bat right now...he's a worthwhile start in most formats even as the good half of a platoon player at present.
Lonnie Chisenhall - 22 year old Lonnie Chisenhall has hit in all of his first four starts for the Tribe, and although the hot corner is stronger in the AL than the NL (the top 6 eligibles at 3B are American Leaguers presently) Chisenhall is still a worthwhile start in just about every format outside of 10-12 team mixed leagues. Chisenhall managed 22 and 17 HR's the past 2 years at age 20 and 21, so his power is fairly evident. Nothing else jumps out at you about his game, but I wouldn't say there's any real weakness either...he's just solid across the board. He's easily good enough to be a top-15 3B already, with top-10 potential within a few years.
Ian Kinsler - Kinsler homered again last night (and swiped his 16th base of the year), giving him a triple and four homers in his last five games. Sure, the power and speed (he's on pace for 20/20 easily) have been great, and his typically excellent eye is even better this season (14.0% BB rate), but the real value is going to come when the BABIP regression takes place. Kinsler's BABIP is .234 right now, which is a good 65 points light, and both that and the 12% K rate are helping to mask the fact that he's managed a contact rate above 90% this year (his swing% is only 37). He's due for a prolonged stretch of good luck on balls in play, so much so that seeing him end up with a line of 270/390/470 wouldn't be surprising at all. He's still an extremely underrated player.
Josh Reddick - Reddick is making it difficult for the Sox to keep him out of the lineup, as after three straight starts he began yesterday's game on the bench, but managed to come in and pick up another hit and a run in the 10-4 win. RF is still open even after Carl Crawford's return for Boston, as J.D. Drew has done nothing to inspire confidence that he deserves to maintain his starting spot at age 35. Reddick is gradually becoming worth a pickup in more shallow formats with every start....the Red Sox are enough of a meritocracy for me to think that he'll get enough PT to help as long as he keeps hitting.
