Juan Pierre (OF-PHI) - Pierre was 2-for-4 with a double and RBI Sunday and is now batting a robust .351/.402/.383. He would probably have more than five stolen bases if not for the fact that the Phillies have to have Jimmy Rollins and his .275 OBP in the leadoff spot, but hey, what do we know? As per usual, Pierre is hitting for zero power with just a .032 ISO and two XBH among his 33 total base hits. That said, he's getting far more playing time than expected, and with John Mayberry batting just .244/.259/.333, expect that to continue. Pierre stole 68 bases in 2010 but dropped to 27 last year in a similar amount of playing time, so don't expect him to suddenly start running wild. A .300 average and 30 steals is possible though, and likely means you made out like a bandit on draft day considering he didn't even have a guaranteed contract headed into spring training.
Frank Francisco (RP-NYM) - This could be the end of Francisco as closer for the time being, as the Mets reliever entered Sunday's game with the Mets up 4-2 and here's how that went: triple, walk, single, ejected. Nice work. Manny Acosta then came in and eventually allowed a walk-off grand slam to Giancarlo Stanton to finish off the Mets' meltdown. Francisco had recently lowered his ERA to 5.54 by reeling off three consecutive saves, but in his last two games he's retired a total of two batters while being charged with five runs, leaving the ERA at 8.56 and his WHIP at 1.98. He does have a decent 15:7 K:BB in 13.2 innings, but the next time the Mets need a save, expect Jon Rauch (2.93 ERA) or Bobby Parnell (2.25 ERA, 16:3 K:BB in 16 innings) to get the call.
Jeff Suppan (SP-SD) - Yes, Suppan is still in the big leagues. Even better, he has a 2-0 record and 1.69 ERA. Really. We could understand this if all three of his starts were at home against say the Pirates and Cubs, but Sunday, Suppan went into Philadelphia and held the Phillies to two earned runs over six solid innings. Suppan threw just 78 pitches, and at his age, we probably can't expect more than six innings in a given start. If you're like me, you've remained skeptical and kept Suppan on either the waiver wire or your bench, so it's highly possible you've missed your window to take advantage of his unexpected success.
Ian Stewart (3B-CHC) - I'm stubborn, so I have Stewart in a couple leagues (along with Pedro Alvarez) in the hopes that he pulls an Alex Gordon and suddenly fulfills the potential that made him a high first-round draft pick several years ago. He's been tough on his fantasy owners for most of the year, but Sunday Stewart doubled and homered to raise his slash line to .195/.272/.354. Stewart's 0.44 EYE isn't bad, and his contact rate is an acceptable 77.7%, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see a few more hits start to fall here soon. It's easy to see Stewart with 20-25 homers at the end of the year given adequate playing time, but whether that comes with a .220 or .260 average remains to be seen.
Jonathan Lucroy (C-MIL) - I really like what Lucroy has done so far this year and just as much, I appreciate a manager who will think outside the box and bat a catcher second in the lineup despite him being well, a catcher. Lucroy was 0-for-4 on Sunday, but he's still batting a strong .326/.375/.484 and might be headed for his first All-Star nod. Lucroy had been in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak that included six multi-hit games. His 16:5 K:BB could be better, but it's hard to quibble with what Lucroy has done this year. Lucroy had a pretty solid minor league career before being promoted to Milwaukee for the first time in 2010, so this hasn't come completely out of nowhere.
