Colorado Rockies Outfield Platoon - With Michael Cuddyer on the disabled list the Rockies are using a platoon of Corey Dickerson, Brandon Barnes, and Drew Stubbs to divide up the at bats in his absence. All three are playing well, hitting over .300 each with Dickerson and Stubbs each having two homers while Barnes has stolen three bases. With the Rockies offense rolling how it is, are any of these three outfielders worth owning? Dickerson and Barnes appear to be the top two options for playing time with Dickerson being the lone left handed hitter, but Stubbs hit and stole his second homer and base of the season off righty Jeremy Guthrie. The Rockies are slated to face just one lefty this week, so Barnes won't look to get much use but Dickerson and Stubbs could each be interesting options for NL only league, with Dickerson being slightly higher based on his left handedness.
Yasmandi Grandal, San Diego Padres - Yasmani Grandal homered Tuesday for the second straight game, giving him three homers this week. He also ran his hit streak to five games and he has a hit in eighth of his last ten contests. Grandal's average sits at a pedestrian .257 but his .243 ISO ranks him among the top five of catchers with at least 80 ABs. His park will work against him, but at the catcher spot it doesn't take too much to be a solid option. In 2014 he has cut his GB% by 10% and upped his FB% by almost 12%, which can explain the jump in power numbers suddenly. He is already halfway to his career high total of eight homers, and with regular playing time approaching the 15 homer plateau is not out of the question.
Henderson Alvarez, Miami Marlins - Henderson Alvarez spun a complete game shutout Tuesday, his second in four starts, striking out seven and earning his second win of the season. He has now allowed just two runs over 15 innings this season against the Mets, and his ERA now sits at 2.62. The Marlins righthander doesn't strike batters out at a very high rate, just over 5.5 per nine this season, but rather He relies on forcing groundballs (54.3% this year, 55.3% career) to remain effective and he gets a matchup next week in San Diego with the Padres who have the highest groundball rate this season at 51.3%. This plays right into Alvarez's hand and he should be an excellent pick up candidate for that game.
Gavin Floyd, Atlanta Braves - The Atlanta Braves this year are proving that they can get a quality start out of just about anyone. Gavin Floyd adds to list of pitchers to throw well for the Braves as he threw seven innings and allowed just one earned run in his first start in over a year. He struck out six and scattered eight baserunners, but did not factor in the decision as David Carpenter picked up the win in relief. Floyd induced 12 ground balls against 4 fly outs, and threw 59 of his 87 pitches for strikes. It'll be interesting to see when Floyd's next start will be, as they now have six (or seven counting David Hale) major league level starters on the active roster. Floyd obviously pitched well enough to earn another start at some point, but it is unsure when it might be.
Chris Heisey, Cincinnati Reds - Jay Bruce underwent knee surgery Monday to repair a torn meniscus in his knee and with miss about a month of the season. Chris Heisey has received the first two starts in right since Bruce went down and should receive the bulk of the playing time while Bruce is out. Heisey could be a sneaky source of power over the next few weeks as he hit nine homers in limited playing time last season. He owns a career .174 ISO and plays in a very hitter friendly park so that bodes well for the righty. His 26.1% LD rate is a career high and his 6.7% HR/FB rate is well below his career average of 12%, so a jump in power with playing time wouldn't be surprising.
Josh Sperry - @jsperry1991
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