Dexter Fowler- OF- CHN- Idea- Fowler has yet to get a hit off a southpaw in 2015, but he added two more against righthanded pitching yesterday. The Cubs are facing A. J. Burnett, who had a slash line of .244/.368/.417 with a FIP of 4.94 against lefthanded hitters in 2014. Value play- DraftKings salary $4000
Mike Leake- P- CIN- Hot- Leake allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out 3 in 8 IP, but it ended as a complete game loss. Leake threw 66 of his 86 pitches for strikes, leading to great efficiency and no walks. Leake's control has been getting progressively better, with 56 of 107 pitches strikes in his opening start and 71 strikes in 105 pitches in his next outing. This is a good sign.
Christian Yelich- OF- MIA- Cold- Yelich went 0-for-5 with 3 Ks yesterday to drop his average to the Mendoza line and boost his K% to 26.5%. With a BABIP of .281 for someone that fast some positive regression would be expected to help. However, the strikeout numbers and some media reports indicate the Yelich is pressing and not trusting in regression to the mean. Heading into yesterday he had a whopping 80.0% GB%. There seem to be some problems with Yelich's swing that he needs to correct to get back to where he was in his first full major league season last year.
Kevin Plawecki- C- NYN- Rookie- Highly touted rookie catcher Plawecki is getting a chance at the big leagues thanks to the injury to Travis d'Arnaud. Plawecki was slated to get some more time at AAA in order to improve his defensive game. He had also gotten off to a slow start with the bat, hitting .229 in 8 games at AAA Las Vegas. This was after posting a .326 average at AA and .283 at AAA in 2014. Plawecki had a combined 0.63 Batting EYE in the minors last season and has shown an ability to get on base. He is worth a look in keeper leagues.
Mark Melancon- RP- PIT- Caution- Melancon came into a save situation for the first time this season starting the 9th inning. He converted the opportunity to earn his 2nd save of 2015, but there is still some concern. His fastball velocity is down to 88.8 mph this year, after being at 92 mph last year.
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