Josh Harrison - Harrison homered Sunday to give himself a modest five-game hitting streak to go along with a 294/330/486 line for the year. With all of the talk about Gregory Polanco (yes, he's a legitimate star) and Harrison's lack of pedigree, I'll offer up one question: when is the last time that Harrison received consistent playing time? Harrison has started the last 14 games for PIT at present, going 17-58 with 10 R, 7 RBI, 2 2B, and 3 HR. The last time Harrison started more than 2 games at the major league level was September of 2012, and the last time that he played for more than a week straight was in May of that year, during which time (coincidentally) he managed a 10-game hitting streak. The only place he got consistent run was in AAA, where he has hit 314/370/486 over 494 ABs in 2011 and 2013. Crucial development years at age 24 and 25, and Harrison spent most of the time sitting on the Pirate bench, playing every handful of days. This year the ISO is up, the LD rate is up, the swing rate is coming down and helping boost the BB rate, and he generally looks like a guy that can play a little. Throw in the fact that he could be eligible at numerous positions depending on your league rules, and I'm much more excited about Harrison than you'd think at first glance. He's likely to keep playing 3B against LHP and filling in in the OF and elsewhere when needed once Polanco arrives, but for the time being it looks like he's going to play most of the time, and there's some upside here in deeper formats for sure.
Marcell Ozuna - Ozuna is heating up again, as another homer on Sunday gives him 4 during this 10-game stretch that has seen him hit 12-36 with 8 R and 12 RBI to go along 4 walks and only 6 K's. His average FB distance is up significantly this season, lending some credence to the increase in the HR total, and the increase in the BB rate is nice to see as well. There are definite contact issues, but the 23 year old is beginning to look like the legitimate power threat that we expected to see. I think that will end up being his only strength in standard roto leagues, but it's become a fairly scarce one, so he should maintain value.
Jesse Hahn - The Padres haven't announced a starter for Tuesday just yet, but one of the candidates is very interesting. Jesse Hahn was a 2010 draft pick of the Rays, and one of the major reasons that he's a bit under the radar is that he has yet to throw 69 innings in a season, and has only thrown 154 innings professionally over almost 4 years. The numbers have been good if not great over that span, but the stuff behind the numbers shows even more promise. Hahn has a potential triple-digit 4-seamer, a very effective 2-seamer thrown in the mid-90's, an erratic curveball that flashes at least plus, and the usual "developing change". His control is average, but of note is the 1 HR allowed over 154 innings in the minors. There is some sneaky upside here if he gets the call against PIT at home Tuesday, although it's high-risk to be sure.
Jon Niese - I can probably cut and paste my comment from 5/12 here, as Niese continues to succeed (all 11 starts this year with 3 ER or fewer) despite continually disturbing peripherals that include the following: velocity decline, career-worsts in LD rate, swinging strike%, chase%, velocity, and K rate, and a crazy-low BABIP of .267 despite the career-high LD rate. I don't care how many starts like this he throws up, if the underlying stats don't change, I'm a seller, not a buyer.
Corey Dickerson - Dickerson homered for the second straight day Sunday, bringing his line up to 341/396/682 over 85 ABs on the year. The Rockies are trying to work his bat into the lineup more of late, with Michael Cuddyer shifting back to 3B with Nolan Arenado on the shelf. The 25 year old Dickerson is certainly a bit above his head at this pace, but he is a legitimate power and speed threat with a LD rate (31.7%) that may be able to sustain a better AVG than you'd expect with the moderate contact issues involved. With 6 games at home this week, I'd be looking at Dickerson in many formats, and he is barely owned in over 1% of ESPN leagues at present.
