Jonathan Schoop - Schoop was 1-3 with a 2B and a HBP on Wednesday, and he's hit in 7 of his last 8 to bring his line up to 299/336/551 for the year. His power numbers are extremely impressive, as he has 15 homers in his last 254 ABs, putting him well over a 30 homer pace....as a 2B. Sure, he has contact issues, but he pretty clearly needs to be owned in just about all formats right now....the list of guys at age 23 that have put up his power numbers is a very short one.
Jose Ramirez - With Jason Kipnis on the shelf for 2-3 weeks, Ramirez is back in Cleveland to show whether or not he can locate his 2014 form. He put together a 293/354/408 line with 15 steals down at AAA, and he's managed a 2-9 line with 6 (!) walks and a homer in his first three games back with the Tribe, so it all looks promising for the time being. He's apparently going to be hitting leadoff, and with his speed and patient approach he could definitely offer some benefits in the speed category at a relatively weak position. He's worth a look again in the MIF for the short-term in formats of average depth or greater.
Luis Severino - Severino had an interesting debut for the Yanks Wednesday, struggling a bit with his command without walking anyone, and allowing only two hits (a double and a homer) but ending up as the losing pitcher in a 2-1 game. He was definitely dominant at times, throwing 94-96 with the fastball and mixing in some erratic but occasionally excellent changeups and sliders. He ended up fanning 7 over 5 innings of work, generating 10 swinging strikes on 94 pitches. It was an impressive enough debut to make him a worthwhile add in all formats when taking his prospect pedigree into account, but the spotty control (59 strikes on 94 pitches) and flyball tendencies may make the ride a bit bumpier than the ERA and K numbers would lead you to believe.
Edwin Encarnacion - E5 homered in 4 ABs in Wednesday, and he's now reached base in 13 straight games. Most importantly perhaps, his contact rate (which is his worst this year since his rookie season) has improved dramatically over the 6 weeks or so. He's been playing with a bum left shoulder for most of this year, so it's really no surprise that the power numbers are off, and he's 32 so there's no guarantee that he'll ever return to the age 29-31 peak ISOs around .270. Still, the recent contact numbers have me a bit more confident that the AVG will become less of an issue the rest of the way, barring further aggravation of the shoulder.....the power numbers, however, may just be settling in the .200 ISO range for the intermediate-term.
Aaron Hicks - Hicks had a single, a double, and two runs scored hitting leadoff for the Twins Wednesday, giving him a line of 277/336/403 over 191 ABs for the year. Hicks has managed to get a bit more aggressive this season (swing% up almost 8) without sacrificing any contact rate, which is definitely helping him be a bit more productive. He looks like a guy that could be a 15/25 player without killing your AVG right now, which is a player that needs to be owned in most formats. The LD rate of nearly 25% offers yet another reason to be excited....I don't think he's ever going to offer the power numbers that people once forecast for him, but he isn't a banjo hitter either, and he definitely has enough speed to get your attention.
