Zack Wheeler (SP-NYM) - Wheeler has had his ups and downs, but he was on the up side Thursday against the Phillies, improving to 2-5 (thanks Mets hitters) after tossing 6.1 innings of one run ball. Mist impressive was Wheeler's 9:0 K:BB in the outing. His ERA now sits at 4.31, and in his last two starts, wheeler has allowed three runs in 13 innings with an impressive 16:1 K:BB. Wheeler has struggled with his control at times this season, but I'm expecting his 3.9 BB/9 to continue to drop. Remember, this is his first full big league season. Wheeler's batted ball rates show that he is seeing fewer line drives while improving his GB% from 43.2% to 53.1%. All signs point to a strong next four months.
Jenrry Mejia (RP-NYM) - Mejia appears locked in as the Mets' closer. Thursday, the ex-starter struck out the side against the Phillies to record his fifth save in five opportunities covering just the past nine days. Mejia's ERA still sits at 3.97, but since moving to a relief role full-time on May 12, Mejia has allowed just one run in 10.1 innings with a 12:3 K:BB. The knock on Mejia as a starter was that while his fastball was fast, his secondary stuff still needed a lot of work, but in the bullpen, you don't need more than a couple pitches. He may be a top-10 closer the rest of the way.
Matt Kemp (OF-LAD) - With the injury to Carl Crawford's ankle, Kemp again has a path to everyday playing time. Kemp has been working out in left field, as manager Don Mattingly has stated that Kemp doesn't appear to have the same "burst" as he did prior to the ankle surgery. Whether that is permanent or not remains to be seen, but for now, Andre Ethier will handle center field duties. Kemp is batting .248/.310.427 with five home runs in 157 at-bats to go with five stolen bases. Over the course of a full 162-game season, that projects in the 20/20 area which is decent, but still far from the Kemp we saw in 2011. From April 30 to May 13, Kemp played pretty much every day and batted .345, but the irregular playing time the last two weeks has taken a toll on his numbers. Perhaps now that he'll be in there pretty much every day will help.
Travis d'Arnaud (C-NYM) - d'Arnaud was activated from the disabled list Thursday after missing about two weeks with a concussion. He returns to a .196/.274/.314 slash line, and he's just 4-for-27 since May 2. d'Arnaud has put up impressive Triple-A numbers in recent seasons (.333/.380/.595 and .304/.487/.554 in 2012 and 2013 respectively), but he's yet to experience any sort of success in his 211 big league at-bats despite a walk rate exceeding 10%. His 2014 BABIP sits at just .218, so there's room for improvement there, but d'Arnaud doesn't run well at all, so he's not exactly legging out a lot of hits. I'd roll the dice in two-catcher leagues, but that's about it.
Jason Grilli (RP-PIT) - Closers come and closers go, and despite a 2.25 ERA and 0.92 WHIP,
Mark Melancon is out, and Grilli is back in as the Pirates' closer. Grilli meanwhile has a 3.60 ERA and 11:5 K:BB in 10 innings, and since returning from an oblique injury earlier in the week, Grilli has tossed a pair of scoreless innings while fanning four. If he can stay healthy, Grilli should be able to hold off Melancon for the balance of the season, though I'd certainly hold onto the latter in deeper fantasy formats. Grilli posted back-to-back 13+ K/9 seasons in 2012-2013 and should be among the league's elite closers due to his strikeout potential. Grilli picked up the save on Thursday.
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