Grady Sizemore (OF-PHIL)
Grady Sizemore went 2-3 with an RBI in today's game as he started in LF in place of Dominoc Brown who was ill. Grady was a budding superstar for the Cleveland Indians during the 2005-2008 seasons. He averaged 27 HR and 29 stolen bases during that time--think Andrew McCutchen-- and the sky was the limit for him. Then a rash of serious injuries set in and he was on a downward spiral. He emerged briefly in 2011 but clearly was a shell of his former self batting .224 with no stolen bases in 295 plate appearances. So what is happening in Philly this year? Sizemore is slowly regaining some traction at the plate. Over his last 64 AB's he is hitting .328 with 9 runs scored, 5 doubles, 1 HR, and a stolen base. Baby steps for sure but with the poor play of Dominoc Brown he is starting to get more playing time. He started his 3rd game in a row today. I'm not suggesting that you go out and pick him up, but with someone with his obvious pedigree, you should watch the situation closely.
Bryce Harper (OF-Wash)
This has been a very difficult year for Bryce Harper as injuries have sidelined him for 2 months of playing time. Since his return from a thumb injury on 6/30 he has not been able to get it started. In almost 100 PA's he has hit only .232 with 2 HR and 4 RBI's. He was not exactly slamming the ball at the start of the year so his current line is .261/.344/.382. He appears to be pressing at the plate and it shows in a very elevated 25.7% K rate compared to 18.9% last year. I believe that the power and production will come but the low BA is based on an elevated .351 BABIP and low contact rate which is a bad combination. He is doing well on pitches in the zone but his contact rate on offerings outside the strike zone is down an alarming 12%. With one third of the season remaining he certainly has the talent to salvage something of the season but he will have to start to hit better soon.
Matt Carpenter (3B-St Louis)
Matt Carpenter is having one of those very strange years where everything seems to be in reverse. In 2013, he had a simply great record hitting at home when he posted a .360 average. His road BA was a much more modest .276. This season he is batting .322 on the road and only .246 at home. I don't know how you can explain this change. Unfortunately for Carpenter owners the other reversal has been in his overall production especially in XBH. The drop off has been very dramatic from 73 in 2013 to a projected 46 in 2014. With virtually no speed, and modest power, Carpenter's value is tied to BA, Runs, and XBH and a 25-35% drop off in the counting stats has fantasy owners that invested in him off of his 2013 showing scratching their heads in dismay.
Jonathan Papelbon (CL- PHIL)
Jonathan Papelbon picked up his 26th save today. The predicted demise of Mr. Papelbon was a little premature. Sure he doesn't throw 95 mph anymore and he is not generating anything close to the swinging strike rate of 16.8% that he produced in 2011 during his halcyon days with the Red Sox. But the man still gets saves. This year he has 25 and will easily surpass the 29 he had last year. All this with a Philly team that is not very competitive right now. His fastball velocity is now a tad over 91 mph but he is sporting a very fine 13.2% swinging strike rate. With lower velocity he is still managing to keep the ball in the park...not an easy thing to do playing in the Philly bandbox. He is throwing his slider more often this year and it has been a very effective pitch for him. Now his 2.65 ERA and 1.8% HR/FB numbers will not be sustained, but don't forget that this man knows how to pitch.
Wily Peralta (SP-MIL)
Wily Peralta started out the first month of the season with a 4-2 record and a 2.17 ERA that had many expecting that this could be the year that the young 25 year old fireballer broke through. While he maintained his winning ways in May, June and July with an 8-5 record, his ERA almost doubled to 4.23. This stretch had many owners heading for the hills and looking for a replacement. But to further complicate matters, in his last 4 games he is 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA after today's win. Peralta continues to prove to be a talented but inconsistent pitcher. He has a great 95+ mph fastball coupled with a reasonable slider yet he misses bats at a very league average 8.2%. His change has been ineffective so it is clear that he needs to develop a quality 3rd pitch to take that next step in his development. A 16 win pitcher with a 3.5 ERA is good enough to be a #3 starter on your team but the talent is there for so much more.
@stevietheshu
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