Jeff Locke, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates: Hot Pitcher
Locke continued his string of good starts yesterday, tossing seven scoreless in Pittsburgh's 3-0 victory over Los Angeles. The win was his 6th of the season and it seemed to come easy to the young right-hander. It also marked his 12th straight start of allowing no more than three earned runs. He hasn't lost a game since April 7th, his first start of 2013. The command may not be there some games, but Locke doesn't give up many hits (58 hits in 82.1 IP), so he makes up for it, resulting in a 1.14 WHIP on the season. Partner that with a 2.19 ERA and you've got yourself a fantasy steal, especially considering Locke was barely drafted in even the deepest of mixed leagues prior to the season. He's owned in just 63 percent of Yahoo! leagues, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to scoop him up with the way he's been hurling the ball.
Jose Fernandez, SP, Miami Marlins: Hot Pitcher
The Marlins' prized pitcher took the mound last night against St. Louis, and boy did he impress, throwing seven strong innings in Miami's 5-4 win, earning him his fourth win of his rookie campaign. The 20-year old looked poised all night, striking out 10 batters and allowing six hits (five singles, one double, and he has definitely exceeded management's expectations of him, albeit being in the first 15 starts of his career. For some reason, almost a majority of people don't enjoy more than a strikeout per inning and just over a 3.00 ERA because the Cuban defector is owned in just 53 percent of Yahoo! leagues. If Locke and Fernandez are both there, I would probably go with Locke, only because the Pirates actually win games. The Marlins? Not so much. But if you need K's and want a roster filler for the time being, why not go out and get this guy if he's available. He's got electric stuff and when his command is on point, he dominates. All of this and the man can't even enjoy a victory beer... legally at least.
Madison Bumgarner, SP, San Francisco Giants: Hot Pitcher
Even better than the previous, Bumgarner was lights out last night, blanking the Braves over seven innings of two-hit ball. He struck out 10 and walked one on the way to his sixth win of the year. At just 23-years old, he's still got some improvements to make, including staying consistent, which may be the hardest quality for a pitcher to adapt. Even so, this start can give fantasy owners a collective sigh of relief, because four of Bum's last five starts were NOT impressive (20 earned runs, 27 hits in 29 innings). Atlanta is prone to being shut out because of their uncanny ability to swing and miss at the ball, so I would still monitor his next few performances closely to see if any of his old habits come about. He is a supreme talent, but he hit a miniature rift this past month, and owners want to be reassured that he's still in for a heck of a season.
Jay Bruce, OF, Cincinnati Reds: Clutch Hitter
The big fella finished the game in dramatic fashion, blasting a game-winning solo shot off of Burke Badenhop to give the Reds a 4-3 win in 10 innings. The homer was Brucie's 11th of the season, which is a tad lower than what we expected out of him in 2013 (66 HR in last two seasons), but it is still a good number, and Bruce did get off to a pretty slow start. When you start the game out like he did, going 0-for-3 with a walk, the best way to salvage the day is to win a game for your club with a big fly. He is now batting .279 on the season, 21 points higher than his career average, so if that means he sacrifices a little pop to drive in more runs and raise the average, I like what I'm seeing. The Reds are a very potent offense who gets on base a ton (Both votto and Choo have OBP over .420), and considering every guy that hits in front of Bruce has a great OBP, it means more and more chances to drive in runs. Even if the home runs aren't where they were the previous two seasons, we could see a career year out of Bruce in 2013.
Eric Stults, SP, San Diego Padres: Waiver Wire
Stults' brilliance on the mound continued last night as he threw a complete game two-hitter in front of the home crowd to put the Pads at just a game under .500. He has now given up just five earned runs in his last four starts (31 IP). San Diego has always been kind to pitchers, so it isn't too surprising that Stults is enjoying great success as a starter since joining the Padres, but in a league where innings are counted, he is even more valuable because he has been going deep into games almost every start. I wouldn't expect the ERA to dip much below 3.28, which it's at right now, but regardless Stults holds good value in deeper mixed leagues, and even more value in leagues that have innings pitched as a category (he is ninth in the NL with 90.2 IP). He is owned in just 19 percent of Yahoo! leagues, so if his strengths match your team's weaknesses, add him now, he should be a valuable asset to you for the time being.
