Albert Pujols, 1B, LAA Pujols has snapped out of a 4-for-41 funk by going 8-for-21 with two home runs, seven RBI, four walks and one strikeout over his last six games. Any hope for a turnaround for Pujols is directly related to an improvement on his .249 BABIP, but that has been less related to luck than a complete decline in power from the first baseman. On flyballs this season, Pujols has hit just .195 with a 15.4 percent extra-base hit rate. For his career, he's a .268 hitter with a 23.5 percent extra-base hit rate on flyballs.
Justin Masterson, RHP, CLE Masterson has had some dominant outings this season, including a major league high three shutouts, but he also has given up five or more earned runs in six different starts. In his other 14 starts this season, he has a 1.82 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP and a 0.27 HR/9 over 99 innings, but getting shelled in six starts leaves him with a 3.72 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Four of Masterson's six worst starts have come on the road, but so did one of his shutouts so it's not like fantasy owners can choose to pitch him only at Progressive Field.
Wei-Yin Chen, LHP, BAL After nearly two months on the shelf due to a strained oblique, Chen rejoined the rotation Wednesday against Texas and threw seven innings of three-hit ball while walking theee, striking out four and allowing one earned run. Chen has a 2.82 ERA and a 3.53 FIP this season, but his xFIP is 4.78. The lefty has allowed flyballs at a rate of 45 percent but he has only allowed 0.50 HR/9 due to a 4.5 percent HR/FB. Chen had an 11.7 percent HR/FB last season with a 42 percent flyball rate. Another concern is that his K/9 is down from 7.19 to 5.13 from last season due to a near three-percentage-point decline in swing-and-miss rate.
Adam Lind, 1B, TOR Lind has been a nice turnaround story this season, but he's beginning to fall into old habits. After posting a 23/21 K/BB in 146 plate appearances in April and May, Lind has put up a 35/4 K/BB in 134 plate appearances since June 1. Lind had BABIPs over .390 in both May and June and hit at least .346 in each of those months, but he has started out 3-for-28 in July.
Prince Fielder, 1B, DET Fielder went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI Wednesday against the White Sox and has hit 16 home runs and driven in 69 runs this year. However, his K rate of 17.7 percent is his highest since 2010 and up from 12.2 percent last season, so he's batting just .267. Fielder also has a career-low HR/FB. His chase rate is that same as last season and his contact rate on balls out of the zone is similar, but his contact rate on pitches in the zone is a career-low 84.3 percent, down from 89.3 percent last season. Basically, he is missing his pitch more often than ever before, which has negatively impacted his HR/FB and K percentage.
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