Justin Morneau (1B-COL) All it took was a move to Colorado to revitalize Justin Morneau's moribund career. He has suffered through a variety of injuries which cost him an entire season of games between 2012 and 2011. The next two years were better, but not nearly up to the standards that one had come to expect from Morneau when he hit 118 HR and drove in 470 runs in a four year stretch between 2006-2009. Coming into 2014, it was believed that his once promising career was truly over. Guess we were wrong. After today's 2-4 performance, Morneau is batting .345 with 6 HR and 24 RBI's. His .264 ISO has not been seen for 4 years. His 20.7% HR/FB average is a career high. His .341 BABIP is elevated for a player whose career number is .294 but it seems as though, at least in the early going, the thin air of Colorado has transformed Morneau into the 2009 version again. Enjoy it while it lasts, but it is one of the best stories in baseball this year.
Stephen Strasburg (SP-WASH) Stephen Strasburg pitched a very effective game tonight giving up no earned runs, striking out 5 and giving up 6 hits in a no decision outing. He now has a struck out 58 batters in just 40 innings but is pitching to a more pedestrian 3.60 ERA and 1.38 WHIP. Don't be fooled. Strasburg's xFIP stands at a brilliant 2.24 and he has a 14.1% swinging strike rate. If someone in your league owns Strasburg, and is disappointed in his performance this year, I would recommend that you pull out all the stops to make a deal. Point out that his Velo is down from 95.1 to 94.1. It probably won't happen for you but if it does you will thank me.
Wily Peralta (SP-MIL) I spoke about Wily Peralta earlier in the season suggesting that he was a pitcher to watch. I picked him up then and my opinion has certainly not changed. He faced a usually dangerous Cincinnati team in their home park today and acquitted himself quite well pitching 8 innings, giving up 0 runs on 3 hits and striking out 7. Definitely in the top 10 as far as hard throwers in baseball, Peralta usually sits at 96 mph with his 4 seam and two seam fastballs. The key for a thrower like Peralta is his complementary pitches and control. He is limiting his walks to just over 2 per nine innings and both his slider and change have been working to a degree this year, especially his overhand slider which has a 16% Whiff rate. Peralta, who reminded the CINN announcing team of a young Johnny Cueto, is inducing GB's at almost a 55% rate. At 24, with a 4-1 record and an ERA of 2.04, prospects remain very good for Peralta who has the ability to develop into a top of the rotation pitcher in the next few years or even sooner.
Matt Carpenter (3B-STL) Matt Carpenter was one for three today with 2 runs scored and an RBI. Last year was a breakout for Carpenter as he batted .318, scored 126 runs, and delivered 73 XBH in the high octane St. Louis offense. This year the Cards are just not the same hitting team. They are 23rd in runs scored, 22nd in slugging % and 19th in batting. Carpenter has 23 runs scored on the season which puts him on pace again for well of 100 runs, but he is batting a dull .264 and there is not much other production to speak of this year. Since he does not project as a power hitter or a stolen base threat his value at the middle infield position needs to be overachieving in BA, runs, and extra base hits. He has only 4XBH this year which is a monumental drop-off. His 35% LD% and so few XBH's speaks to some very bad luck, and his .337 BABIP could see some upward movement, but it looks like most of last year's numbers will be out of reach for Carpenter this year.
Jarrod Saltalamachia (C-Miami) We all expected Giancarlo Stanton to hit but Jarrod Saltalamachia is one of the more pleasant surprises in the rejuvenated Miami lineup. The team is 6th in runs scored, 5th in BA, and 7th in OBP. Who would have thought this was possible to start the season. Salty is more than doing his part with a BA over .300 and clubbing his 6th HR in this game. With a career .324 BABIP, last year's .380 was definitely inflated and his great BA numbers are buoyed by a similar BABIP this year. His surge this year is built on better plate discipline. He is walking at nearly twice his career rate and his 40% 0-Swing rate shows that he is not chasing the balls he used to. If these two trends should continue we may not see the very deep dive in his BA. His ISO of .259 is at a career high but not that far off of the .232 he produced in Boston in 2012. The net of all of this is that he might approach the 25 HR threshold and he is producing like a starting C in mixed leagues.
@steveietheshu
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