Dallas Keuchel - Keuchel posted his second straight quality start Wednesday, going 6 innings and allowing 6 hits and 2 runs to KC, walking 1 and striking out 5. Keuchel has had a nice little velocity jump thus far (and concurrent swinging strike% jump), which makes his excellent GB profile that much more enticing. Put simply, most pitchers with a GB% of 55 and a swinging strike% over 10 perform rather well. Last year the list was populated by: A.J. Burnett. If you drop the GB requirement a bit further you can add Strasburg and King Felix. If that's not enough to get you thinking at least a little bit about Dallas Keuchel, I don't know what else to say. Of course, he's owned in 0.2% of ESPN leagues at present.
Michael Pineda - I've been big on Pineda since it looked like he was healthy late last year, but Nick raises some solid points about him. If you're looking for him to continue to pitch at ace-level, you're bound to be disappointed. This is simply not the same guy as before the injury. He's still good, but I expect more of a mid-rotation starter as the end result than what we've seen so far, especially after another 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K performance Wednesday night. His velocity was 89-90 for much of the game, dialing up to 91-92 only when he felt he needed it. He managed the Cubs very well, and the cold was likely a factor with everything but his fastball, but there are still a ton of flyballs here without the same level of swing-and-miss stuff....first two starts notwithstanding. I'm not really a seller here unless the offer values him as a #1 or #2, but managing your own expectations is important.
Lonnie Chisenhall - Chisenhall was 2-4 with a double and a steal in his return from the paternity list, and he's now hit in all 6 games he's played this year. That's even less of a sample size than we have for most players, but I like Chisenhall as a potential high-upside play at 3B. At age 25, there might be a bit more power to come this year, and Chisenhall hit 17 homers in just 121 games between AAA and the bigs last year. He doesn't really strike out enough for me to continue to expect the AVG to be an issue, although he typically elevates the ball a bit too often for it to be a real strength either. His upside is likely just that of a CI in standard-sized leagues, but that's enough upside to justify owning in many formats.
Nick Franklin - Nick Franklin is back in the bigs after Logan Morrison (in a complete shocker) hit the DL, and he jumped right in against Yu Darvish and tripled in four ABs during the 3-2 loss. I like the kid quite a bit....he showed impressive pop for a 22 year old middle infielder last year, and he has the look of someone that could be a 20/10 player at both 2B and SS, not to mention that he was hitting a torrid 395/469/744 during his first 11 games at AAA this year. The problem is finding the ABs, as even though McClendon has said that he will play SS to give Brad Miller a day off Thursday and then possibly get some time in the OF down the road in addition to filling in across the infield, I just don't see enough playing time without another injury. Any potential increase in playing time would change my mind instantly, but for the time being he's only a speculative add in deeper leagues despite the upside potential.
Danny Duffy - I continue to insist that Danny Duffy remain on your radar despite the solid start of all of the non-Chen members of the KC rotation. Duffy has fantastic stuff, and after two relief appearances he's gone 4 1/3 shutout innings with 1 walk and 7 K's, looking much more in control (8/9 1st-pitch strikes Wednesday) than he has in the past. Any control improvement from Duffy is going to turn him into a potential mid-rotation starter in a hurry. For now the Royals are content to leave him in the pen, but that won't last forever. He's a solid speculative add in deeper leagues already, and if he hits the rotation I would likely extend that to most formats.
