Jerry Sands (OF - LAD): The Dodgers recalled Sands on Tuesday, but he got his first start since being recalled on Thursday, going 0-3 with a run. Playing time should be a bit more plentiful with Sands going forward after the Dodgers announced Andre Ethier was done for the season on Thursday. Sands pace at AAA slowed once he was sent back down as he finished the year with a .278/.344/.586 line that has to be taken with a grain of salt given the hitting environment in Albuquerque, which has been described as Coors Field on steroids. Sands has moved quickly through the Dodgers system and when he was first promoted early in the year I suggested he probably wasn't ready for the big leagues. After posting a 20.6% K rate in AAA and slumping a bit down the stretch I'm not sure my opinion has changed much. He'll get the benefit of facing some more AAA type pitchers down the stretch as September promotions flood the league with lesser pitching, but I'm not sure Sands is ready to make an impact for fantasy owners. In NL Only leagues he deserves a speculative pickup because the playing time will be there, but mixed leaguers can take a wait-and-see approach.
Mike Minor (SP - ATL): I'm a big fan of Mike Minor's stuff, but sometimes the shaky command and high FB Rate can lead to Minor's production lagging his peripherals. That's been the case early on this year as he entered yesterday's outing with a 2.60 FIP and a 4.09 ERA. On Thursday we saw some of those issues manifest themselves right away. Minor got into a two-out jam in the 1st inning and one of those fly balls that he messes around with so much left the yard, taking a rough start and turning it into a horrific one. He rebound over the next 4 innings, allowing just 4 hits and 0 ER's, but the damage had been done. He finished the day allowing 4 ER's on 7 hits and a walk over just 5 innings. He only struck out 2 and his inability to generate more swings and misses is a bit concerning given Minor's strong K rate early on. He entered the game with a good, but not great, 8.1% swinging strike rate and generated just 3 swinging strikes on 95 pitches on Thursday. He'll get the Marlins his next time out, a favorable matchup against a depleted offense, in which owners can feel comfortable streaming. Just be prepared Minor's peripherals look a bit better than they should and while he has nice upside, he also maintains a WHIP over 1.50 in his 20 career starts.
Aramis Ramirez (3B - CHC): As we predicted early in the preseason and hung with throughout the slow start to the season, Aramis Ramirez has rebounded in a big way here in 2011. He's gotten his ISO back above .200 while cutting his K Rate down below 12% and the results have been a solid .306/.359/.509 line that has come with his usual 25+ HR, 100 RBI pace. Dig deeper in on the peripherals though and you see some signs of aging with Ramirez that suggest his ability to replicate this strong season will be risky. Ramirez's swing rate has increased to a career high 55% as has his chase rate (37%). We've talked about this a lot but these are classic signs of an aging player starting to cheat at the plate to make up for loss of batspeed. It doesn't mean Ramirez is about to fall off a cliff in 2012, but it exists as a possibilty. After the strong season if Ramirez rebounds back into the Top 5 rounds, he'll likely carry too much risk to keep us interested.
Ian Kennedy (SP - ARZ): Boy the NL Cy Young voters are going to have a difficult time this year. Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, and Clayton Kershaw have all made their cases for Cy Young consideration and of late Ian Kennedy has been making a late charge as well. Kennedy was brilliant again on Thursday night, striking out 11 Padres in 7 2/3 innings while allowing just 1 ER on 7 hits. From a peripherals perspective Kennedy doesn't have the same profile as the other elite aces, but the production has been right there. He's shown more willingness to attack the plate this year, resulting in a lower BB Rate and he's been able to keep hitters off balanced as he's continued to improve his chase rate and his outside zone contact rate. A few more infield fly balls have also helped keep the ERA and WHIP in check despite a 22% LD Rate allowed and 39% FB Rate. Kennedy's been due for some regression for a while but the schedule continues to produce favorable matchups. His last 9 starts have come against: SD (3), SF (2), LAD, WAS, NYM, and PHI. The Phillies are the only challenging offense in the group and not surprisingly the only non quality start Kennedy tossed in the bunch. The favorable matchups will keep rolling in for Kennedy as he gets a two start week next week @LAD, @SD that will likely make him one of the more valued commodities in the fantasy playoffs.
Paul Goldschmidt (1B - ARZ): There's a lot of buzz surrounding Goldschmidt and considering I was on the bandwagon on his initial call-up I feel a bit strange telling everyone to calm down. As I noted when Goldschmidt was called up, he has legit big league power that can play right away. But what I also noted was an issue with plate discipline that could wreak havoc at the major league level. So far we've seen both. Goldschmidt has posted a really nice .223 ISO but it's also come with a 32% K Rate. His chase rate (30%) is right around league average, but his big swing makes contact an issue (just 71.4%). We've talked about the unappealing contact rates of Adam Dunn this year and Goldschmidt is in that category. He homered on Thursday night off lefty Corey Luebke but also struck out twice more. As a lefty-masher who plays in a good home park and hits in the middle of the order he has value in daily formats where owners can play matchups, but I think the risk of an extended slump led by a high strikeout rate makes him someone that you want to keep a very close eye on while deploying. With a tough upcoming schedule through some big ballparks next week, I'd sit Goldschmidt in favor of some other options.
Follow us on Twitter all year: @Fantistics and @drewdinkmeyer
