Jean Segura (SS-MIL): Jean Segura continued his 2014 struggles with another 0-for-4 night. There are a number of ways to capture Segura's ineptitude at the plate, but the fact that his wOBA has plummeted 74 points from last season says a lot. His power and speed have decreased significantly as well, and, Segura is starting to lose some AB's against lefties thanks to his .197 wOBA against them. The ingredients are still there for him to be a top-5 SS, but he is nowhere close to that at this point. With the leg injuries reappearing, those in re-draft leagues are advised to test the market to see if the name value will net you a solid return. Keeper/dynasty leaguers are advised to hold unless going for a title this season.
Jimmy Nelson (SP-MIL): The drumbeat to call up Jimmy Nelson continues to gather momentum. Perhaps the year's breakout pitching prospect, Nelson has added the missing ingredients to his game: control and command. With the top-of-the-rotation repertoire coming at opponents from 6'6", 245 lb frame, Nelson has been dominant at AAA, posting a 114:32 K:BB ratio in 111 innings while allowing only 3 home runs in the PCL! He already demonstrated poise in his taste of the Majors earlier in the year and with Marco Estrada's continued struggles, we should see him by the end of July. If you have the bench room, go get him.
Arismendy Alcantara (2B/SS-CHC): The Cubs called up and promptly inserted Arismendy Alcantara in the lineup on Wednesday, who then proceeded to go 0 for 4 with 2 K's. Much has been written about Alcantara, and many are looking to him as a hot pick up, but I advise restraint. While he has 10 homers and 21 steals with a .890 OPS at AAA, it is in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and his game comes with some swing and miss and a lack of patience (83 K's, 25 BB's in 89 games in 2014, 125 K's, 62 walks in 133 games in 2013). With Darwin Barney likely returning from paternity leave on Friday, Alcantara is likely headed back to the minors. He should be back later this season, and eventually should settle in to being a quality asset in ROTO leagues, but he'll need time to refine his game.
Jayson Werth (OF-WAS): Jayson Werth backed up Doug Fister's gem with a 2-for-2, 2-run, 2-RBI, 1-BB night. Werth hit his 9th homer of the season and moved his line to .279/.364/.421. His ISO still sits at .142, 50 points below his career mark. In looking at his batted ball profile, everything looks to be in line with career norms except his HR/FB rate, which sits at 8%. In looking at his Speed off of Bat rate, it stood at 105.4 last season and has plummeted to 102.9 in 2014. Put it all together, and I think the power outage is likely to continue. And with only 5 SB attempts, Werth is losing appeal in ROTO leagues, although he still holds significant value in points ones.
Santiago Casilla (RP-SF): Santiago Casilla pitched a perfect 9th inning to pick up his 4th save of the season. Casilla has been fortunate this season with a 1.05 ERA/3.35 xFIP and with that .195 BABIP. And while that 20% K-rate is below average for a closer, he is inducing an insane amount of groundballs (58%) and tons of weak contact. His velocity is up 1 MPH from the past two seasons, and his stuff looks crisper than ever too. We know Bruce Bochy has a soft spot for Sergio Romo, so this ride could end in the next few weeks, but I do see Casilla picking up at least a handful of saves before that becomes a concern. If you need saves, be aggressive and go get him; if you miss the chance, keep in mind that they'll be some new closers emerging once the MLB trade deadline deck is shuffled.
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