Travis Wood - Wood was brilliant on Monday, allowing 6 hits and a run to Arizona over 7 innings, striking out 9 without walking a batter and hitting a 3-run homer to boot. Wood has shown a sharp increase in GB rate and swinging strike% through his first 4 starts, and it's clear his stock is on the rise. Lefties against the Brewers haven't had much success in recent years, so I might be a bit leery for the weekend start, but in general I'm pretty optimistic regarding his prospects.
Marcell Ozuna - Ozuna is a really interesting case for me. There is a lot of good fortune being masked by some solid counting stats in the early going....3 HRs matches his output from 2013 already, and the gaudy .329 AVG is helped immensely by a .370 BABIP (with a lowly 16% LD rate). The K numbers are down, but the contact rate/swinging strike% is worse from an already poor level, so I wouldn't expect that to continue. Ozuna does have big-boy power...guys that can hit over 20 HRs at age 19-21, even in the low minors, aren't that common. I thought the power potential was likely to be the only plus, but Ozuna has walked 4 times in the past 3 days, which is pretty impressive for a guy that walked 13 times in nearly half a season last year. There hasn't been a huge change in his chase% or swing% just yet, but I'm wondering if the approach is starting to mature a bit....Ozuna was pretty clearly not ready when he reached the majors last year after just 42 ABs above A-ball. There is definitely room for some optimism here, but it needs to be tempered by reality: Ozuna is not likely to be a solid AVG hitter, nor is he likely to help much on the bases. Ideally, the approach continues to improve, and he turns into a homeless man's version of his outfield mate, Giancarlo Stanton. He is still very much a work in progress, and although I appreciate the upside potential, I would likely be more of a seller than buyer in re-draft leagues.
Jenrry Mejia - Mejia was outstanding for much of Monday before tiring a bit in the 7th, and he ended up moving to 3-0 on the year with 6 2/3 shutout innings against the Cards. Mejia scattered four singles in the 2-0 win, walking three and fanning seven. Mejia's erratic control is often cited as a reasoning why he cannot be a top-shelf starter, but his electric stuff and friendly home park give him quite a bit of upside. It was good to see his velocity back in the normal 91-93 range Monday (something that was my biggest concern), and despite the performance of the Miami offense in the early going, I'd still feel fine with him for Saturday's start. I like the continued upside here more than I fear the downside.
Charlie Blackmon - Blackmon continues to rake, hitting a pair of homers Monday night to give him 4 on the year. He's never hit more than 14 in any season professionally, and he hasn't reached double digits since 2011. His contact rate has jumped to an obscene 92.7%, making an area of his game that was already a strength even stronger, but the power increase is the most surprising thing....his first homer Monday was a 431-foot bomb, which is a bit more than I thought he had in him. It must be the beard. I'm still a bit skeptical on the power side, but the average and steals were likely to be a strength anyway, and with Michael Cuddyer out for at least a few weeks the playing time is even easier to come by. The time to sell may very well come soon, but I'm not sure I'd act yet.
Wily Peralta - Peralta continued to ground ball teams to death in his first outing of a promising 2-start week, as the 24 year old moved to 3-0 by allowing 6 hits and 3 runs (2 earned) over 6 1/3 innings, walking 1 and fanning 6. His control has improved a bit to this point in 2014, and the GB rate has crawled over 60% as well. The upside here is a mid-rotation guy in 12-team leagues, the more likely destination is a solid back-end starter that you wouldn't slot out often, and I do feel comfortable with him for the weekend start against the Cubs.
