Jorge Soler - OF, Cubs - Trending Upward - With Kyle Schwarber out for the rest of the season, the Cubs will turn to Jorge Soler to fill the void in left field. Soler makes for an interesting pickup, particularly in roto leagues that don't penalize for strikeouts. As a 23 year old, Soler struck out in 30% of his plate appearances with a dismal 15.4% swinging strike rate and 67.8% contact rate. He'll look to make more contact this year and tap into his huge raw power. He's shown above-average patience already as a Major Leaguer, and had double-digit walk rates at several levels in the minors. A 36.3% hard-hit rate is telling of how hard he stings the ball, and it will help him maintain an above-average BABIP and keep his batting average from making him unplayable. He will likely hit down in the lineup for the time being and may sit against tough lefties, but with his power upside he makes for at least a speculative add in all leagues.
Trevor Story - SS, Rockies - Hot Player - Ho hum. Another day, another pair of Trevor Story home runs. He actually became the first player in Major League history to homer in each of his first four MLB games. Through 19 plate appearances, Story is slashing a cool .368/.368/1.316 with 6 HR and 11 RBI. Clearly those numbers are unsustainable, and if you can capitalize on this early season production in a trade, you would be wise to do so. Coors will help buoy his value, but he's not this good. Sell hard.
J.J. Hoover - RP, Reds - Caution - Hoover came into the 8th inning of Friday's tilt against the Pirates to presumably record a 1+ inning save Friday night, but promptly gave up a grand slam to Starling Marte and took the blown save and the loss. It was mentioned by Reds' skipper Bryan Price in Spring Training that Hoover may suck up more than just the ninth inning when he's called upon, perhaps pitching multiple innings in his save chances to help out the young Reds rotation and mediocre bullpen. That's the sort of thing that makes a closer extremely valuable, a la Andrew Miller. Hoover, however, is no Andrew Miller, as his 8% K-BB% from a year ago bears out. While the additional innings could lead to a few extra K's, he's a closer to worry about. His 2015 FIP was 4.47, and the Reds won't hesitate to try other options in the ninth inning should he pitch closer to that 2015 FIP than his actual 2.84 ERA. The handcuff here is Jumbo Diaz, as the Reds would likely prefer to keep the left-handed Cingrani available for matchups.
Ross Stripling - SP, Dodgers - Rookie - Ross Stripling pitched seven and a third no-hit innings against the Giants, but was pulled after issuing a walk with his 100th pitch in the eighth inning. Chris Hatcher came in and immediately gave up a game-tying home run to strip Stripling of a win. Obviously Stripling is an add, but what should we expect from him moving forward? Who is Ross Stripling, after all? Well, he's a 26 year old righty that prior to Friday hadn't thrown an inning above AA. He underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2014 season, returning in 2015 and netting 71.1 innings across single and double-A. The fact that he only struck out four Giants in 7.1 innings corroborates his lackluster minor league strikeout rate which sat at 20.2% in AA last year. He's displayed average control, but the bottom line is this was most likely the best start he'll ever have. If you're in need of filler in 15 team leagues or deeper, give Stripling a look. Anything shallower however, and don't bother. He'll have to continue to be productive to fend off youngsters like Julio Urias and Jose De Leon, or even Mike Bolsinger when he's healthy, so his run may not last long.
Jason Hammel - SP, Cubs - Stats - Jason Hammel pitched six innings of one-run ball Friday night against the Diamondbacks, allowing six hits while punching out six and walking three. Hammel could be a good bounce-back candidate after a horrendous second half in 2015 that was quite possibly due to the effects of a knee injury he sustained in July. His first half of last year (prior to the knee injury) was terrific, and even while he struggled in the second half he still managed a strikeout per inning. His success is built off his increased slider usage, which has surged from 21% in 2013 to 35.9% in 2015. He never pitches very deep into games, but he should hover around a strikeout per inning again in 2016 and could get his fair share of wins on a Cubs team that has World Series aspirations.
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