Nick Franklin - Franklin hit his third homer of the year yesterday, and he's now hitting 299/382/522 in his first 20 games with Seattle. He has continued his impressive improvement in contact rate as he has moved to the majors, and at just 22 years of age I'm a bit more bullish on him than many folks it seems. He has some speed, enough to steal double-digit bases, and a bit of power that seems to be maturing quickly. If this contact rate improvement proves lasting, he could end up providing significant value at 2B the rest of the way. I believe him to be worth a spot in nearly all formats at present.
Howie Kendrick - Kendrick stayed hot yesterday, picking up a walk and a double in four trips to the plate to drop his June AVG to .473. Kendrick is hitting line drives at a 30% clip this year and is also posting a career high in HR/FB (although he only hits flyballs 21% of the time), two things that are enabling him to post excellent numbers despite career worsts or near-worsts in chase% and contact rate. Kendrick turns 30 this year, so it's an interesting time for him to suddenly become the batting title contender that was always expected of him, so I'm a bit skeptical that he can maintain this sort of production. Still, Kendrick has been much-maligned over the years for failing to reach his potential, so much so that I believe that he is perpetually a bit undervalued. A 15/10 player that can bat near .300 is very useful, particularly at a reasonably weak position.
Jason Castro - Castro is 7-15 with 3 2Bs and 2 HRs over the past four games as that power potential that I mentioned about six weeks ago seems to be manifesting itself. Castro has always provided great LD rates, which have stabilized his AVG in the adequate range despite high K rates, but the continuing increase in power has pushed him into the useful category of the catching position. Castro turns 26 today, and he could prove to be a top-tier #2 catcher for the next few seasons with this increased level of power despite a horrendous supporting cast in Houston.
Carlos Carrasco - Carrasco came back from suspension and looked great last night against the Royals, holding them to four hits and a walk over 7 1/3 innings before giving way to Bryan Shaw, who allowed his inherited runner to score and deny Carrasco the victory. Carrasco fanned four in the outing as he continued to show the best velocity of his MLB career, possibly due to the extended TJ rehab this past fall and winter. I continue to believe that there is some potential upside here, and wouldn't mind stashing him away in deeper leagues to see if he can build on last night's excellent outing.
Josh Johnson - Johnson has been solid since coming off the DL at the beginning of the month despite a difficult schedule, and he was definitely at his best last night against the Rockies, shutting them out over 7 1/3 innings on five hits and two walks while striking out ten. Johnson's K rate is back up near his 2010 peak thus far this year, and while the control issues are a bit troublesome, there's still plenty of potential here. I think he should be owned in all formats, and I'd still be comfortable starting him and treating him as a solid #4 at worst.
