Kevin Plawecki (C-NYM) - Plawecki's fantasy value gets yet another boost due to yet another injury to starter Travis d'Arnaud. Tuesday, d'Arnaud was placed on the DL with an elbow injury. No timetable has been set, but it could be a while. Plawecki is batting just .227/.279/.319 through 119 at-bats, and his ratios are similarly discouraging - 24% K% and 5.4% BB%. He's never shown great power, though in 101 minor league games last year, Plawecki did manage 11 home runs and in two full seasons (2013-2014), his .295/.372/.439 slash is fairly impressive. As a former #35 overall pick, Plawecki has some upside as a possible above average offensive catcher, and now he'll get a real chance to show what he's made of. He should certainly be owned in deeper formats.
Marcell Ozuna (OF-MIA) - Ozuna had yet to build off last year's effort, but his upside does remain high. Tuesday Ozuna went 3-for-5 with a double to raise his slash to .280/.333/.379. Ozuna did have a .772 OPS last year and his K and BB rates are both improved over 2014, but the big issue has been his nearly 52% GB%. Hit the ball on the ground and it's unlikely to clear the fence, right? Ozuna has cut his K% from 26.8% to 21% while improving his BB% from 6.7% to 7%, but he clearly needs to start getting the ball in the air a bit more. Don't be surprised given his talent if he hits 12 homers the rest of the way.
Billy Hamilton (OF-CIN) - I've been thinking that a Triple-A stint could be in Hamilton's future at some point soon, but for now at least, the Reds appear content with letting the speedster work out his issues batting at the bottom of the order, even ninth in some cases. Hamilton hit there Tuesday and went 2-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases, raising his slash to a still ugly .226/.270/.303. That's all secondary of course to his 33 stolen base, a number that could easily be at 100 or more the end of the year if he could somehow get on base in 34% of his PA's. That's not happening this year of course, as hhis 5.5% BB% needs to probably be more in the 9% range. Maybe next year, but for now, a $2,900 FanDuel salary is actually pretty reasonable given his ability to steal bases.
Nolan Arenado (3B-COL) - Arenado blasted a pair of homers and drove in four on Tuesday and certainly looks like a future MVP candidate. With 19 homers and a .287/.318/.590 slash, Arenado has an elite level .303 ISO, but his 40:11 K:BB leaves a bit to be desired. With 38 XBH, just over 50% of Arenado's hits have been doubles or better, boding well for his ability to crack 35-40 homers annually in his prime, if not this year. We'd love to see more walks and he's yet to steal a base, but Gold Glove defense and a ton of homers? Yes please. Arenado has hit 11 of his homers on the road, so feel free to start him there as well in FanDuel leagues, where his $4,400 salary is reasonable, particularly when he's on a hot streak.
Dee Gordon (2B-MIA) - Gordon was 1-for-5 with a double on Tuesday, leaving him with an interesting .354/.374/.424 slash in 297 at-bats. The three interesting stats for Gordon are his zero home runs, 24 steals, and his .21 EYE. His end of year walk number is probably going to start with a "2" this year, and his power is non-existent, but if he can hit .330/.350/.410, is anyone going to complain? Certainly the Marlins won't given the improvement in his BA. Gordon appears to be on track for a second consecutive 50+ SB season. At $3,400, Gordon has the same FanDuel salary as the likes of Jace Peterson, so go with Dee and hope he swipes a bag or two.
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