A few samples from today's notes:
Alex Wood (SP-LAD) - Wood may have saves his spot in the rotation Tuesday, holding the Mets to two runs over 6.1 solid innings while allowing just four hits and fanning nine in lowering his ERA to 4.58. Wood looks to be headed towards the most insane home/road splits in history. Away from Dodger Stadium, Wood has an 8.05 ERA in three starts, but at home, he's put up a 1.77 ERA in four starts. Overall, Wood's 1.40 WHIP is hardly inspiring, but he does miss bats at a solid 8.5 K/9 clip, and if he can just figure out how to pitch outside of LA, Wood could find himself as a 12-team mixed league option eventually. As for DFS leagues, the splits clearly point to using Wood at home, but if you can get him at a discount on Tuesday's $8,000 FanDuel salary, perhaps Wood makes for a solid contrarian play.
Javier Baez (3B-CHC) - Baez looks to have locked down an everyday 3B job, going 2-for-3 with a walk and double Tuesday to raise his slash to .321/.345/.509. The walk was just his second in 55 plate appearances a year after posting a 5% BB% in limited big league playing time. Based on his minor league track record, Baez is never going to be a high OBP guy, but he does have legitimate 30 home run power, and if he can keep his batting average in the .280 range, years of .280/.330/.550 are within reach. Eventually we could see him move back to second base where that short of stat line would have even more value. Baez has destroyed LHP in limited at-bats against them the last couple years, so that's something to keep in mind if you can roster him anywhere near his current $2,500 FanDuel salary.
Rubby De La Rosa (SP-ARI) - If you had the foresight (luck) to use De La Rosa in Coors Field Tuesday and you hit on a couple hitters, you did well. De La Rosa held the Rockies to one run on four hits over 7.1 solid innings, walking one and striking out six in lowering his ERA to 3.93. The home run ball has hurt De La Rosa at times, but overall, a 38:11 K:BB kin 36.2 innings is solid, an d he's held batters to a .211 BAA. He's allowed one run or less in three of his last four starts, and looks to have solidified a rotation spot. At one time following him through the Dodgers organization, I thought of De La Rosa in the same vein as I do Jose De Leon now, and De Leon is arguably a top-50 prospect in the game.
Addison Russell (SS-NYM) - I loved Russell headed into his sophomore season and that hasn't waned. Russell was 2-for-3 with a walk, double, triple, and three RBI Tuesday against the Padres. Russell is now batting .255/.374/.392. Most impressively Russell has cut his K% from 28.5% to 20.3% this year and improved his 8% BB% to 14.6%. He's homered just twice, so the power is still developing, but that sort of leap in plate discipline is super-important and I do see him developing 20-homer power in time. Eventually Russell is a guy I see slotting second in the order. The righty hit just .156 against southpaws last year and entered Tuesday just 1-for-17 against them this year. He should adjust against them in time, but keep that in mind for DFS formats.
Hernan Perez (3B-MIL) - Hello, is it Perez the Brewers have been looking for? Seemingly in search of a third baseman since Ryan Braun moved to the outfield, the Brewers have Colin Walsh (4-for-41 this year) atop the depth chart for the moment, but Perez could start to see more playing time. The 25 year-old hit just .243 with one home run in 263 PA's last year, but after going 2-for-3 with his first three walks of the season Tuesday, Perez is suddenly hitting a robust .308/.379/.653 with three home runs and three steals in 29 PA's in 2016. His career 78:8 K:BB doesn't give us much confidence, but he could at least be a short-term fill-in for desperate NL-only owners. Eventually I see top prospect Orlando Arcia playing shortstop, pushing Jonathan Villar to third base, but for now, ride Perez, even versus left-handers as a cheap DFS option.
This is just a small sample of our daily analysis, join our member area for over 80 player updates daily: http://www.fantistics.com/join/join.php3
Follow me on Twitter @rotoregan
