Hisashi Iwakuma
The big story of Wednesday night was Hisashi Iwakuma's no-hitter. Iwakuma gave up three walks and struck out seven, joining the record books with 116 pitches. Iwakuma has the pedigree that he should have been rostered despite a somewhat high ERA before Wednesday's no-hitter, but will almost certainly not be available anymore. This is three straight quality starts - two of which have been dominant - and he is sporting a 3.05 ERA since coming off the DL. Given his 3.29 xFIP for the entire season, it's fair to say that's the level of production we should expect from the 34-year old Mariner for the rest of the season. Iwakuma isn't going to put up crazy-high strikeout totals, but he has good control, and, as a result, always has a strong WHIP. Iwakuma may, however, be a bit of a dicey play for his next start given his 116 pitches needed to get the no-hitter. Iwakuma is, somewhat ironically, scheduled to face Cole Hamels and the Rangers in his next start. Hamels, of course, who had the 129-pitch no-hitter in late July, and has had two non-quality starts and a scratch in his time since.
Danny Valencia
Valencia continued his red-hot streak since coming to Oakland with his third home run in six games for the Bay Area club. Valencia's numbers are quite impressive for the season, slashing .308/.348/.557 for the year - it's been playing time that has dogged Valencia. Since coming to Oakland, however, Valencia has been in the lineup a bit more regularly, and with good reason - he's smashing the ball. In addition to his three home runs, Valencia has three doubles and a hit in every game. The knock on Valencia is that he supposedly can only hit lefties, but in 2015, is actually slugging higher, in more plate appearances, against righties than lefties. With Melvin (and Beane) at the helm, Valencia will certainly see his share of platoons, but given the way he's hitting the ball, he deserves to be in the lineup most days. If he does get that sort of playing time in Oakland, Valencia becomes a must-add in AL-only and deeper leagues, and deserves a look across the board. His ownership is trending up, so don't be late to the party and miss out.
Cody Allen
Allen was called upon for the five-out save on Wednesday, and looked great doing so. He struck out three and didn't allow a single baserunner, scoring one for all the baseball nerds out there. Not only was Allen used in the most high leverage relief spot (a win for the pointy heads), but his ERA (3.83) moved closer to his FIP (1.99), which has been predicting better results for a while without success. Allen hasn't always been the most reliable this season, but has three straight scoreless outings, and is hopefully "turning the corner." Allen has been victimized by a .373 opponent BABIP and 69.3 percent left on-base rate, absurdly high numbers even given the small sample size caveat that goes along with relievers. Part of that is due to the Indians' terrible defense, but those numbers are due for some positive regression all the same. Closers are about as difficult a position to project in fantasy baseball (if not all of fantasy sports) because of the miniscule sample size, but owners should at least feel confident in knowing that the metrics we do have for Allen portend better success in the future than he has had so far.
Miguel Sano
Sano had a monster game on Wednesday, going 3-for-3 and reaching base all four times. But that was just the start of it, as he left the yard twice, collecting six RBI along the way. Sano is one of the most fun young bats in baseball right now, and was overdue for a big-time game like this. He has been incredibly consistent in his rookie season, almost to an unnerving rate, 29 of his 33 games in the major leagues so far. Sano is now slashing .295/.409/.571 for the year, and I don't know which of those is the most impressive. His .295 average is definitely due in part to his .419 BABIP, but when your hard hit ball rate is 46.2 percent, you're going to have a sky-high BABIP. Sano's batting eye is possibly even more impressive though, as he has drawn 23 walks in 33 games, and is swinging at just 25.5 percent of pitches outside the zone, which would be a top-25 rate among qualified hitters. Of course, the sparkling slugging percentage is what owners were most expecting from Sano and his 80-grade power. The home runs on Wednesday were his sixth and seventh respectively, putting him on pace for right around 35 over a 162 game season.
Daily Fantasy Leagues
David Murphy
This is a bit of a shot in the dark, but if David Murphy is in the lineup Thursday against Jeremy Guthrie and the Royals, expect a big day for a great price. Murphy, despite very solid numbers, was out of the lineup all three games against the White Sox, and is due for some playing time. In his 267 plate appearances in 2015, he is slashing .288/.332/.420, numbers that put him at a wRC+ of 110. In his last start, Murphy went 3-for-6 with a home run and four RBI; just two days before that he was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Murphy hasn't been able to find his way into the Angels' lineup as regularly as he was finding his way into the Indians, but when he plays he can have tremendous value. You'll have to wait until the late games if you want him guaranteed in your lineup, but given his low price, it could be well-worth it.
FanDuels: $2.500
