Sonny Gray, SP, OAK
Gray had another rough outing on Monday allowing 7 ER's in 3.2 IP and watched his ERA rise to a bloated 6.00. It's easy to say buy low on Gray considering his ERA has been 3.08 or lower each of the last three years, but I'm not that excited. His 7.85 K/9 is decent but his BB/9 has crept above 4.00 and so has his xFIP. Of course, his career xFIP is over 3.50 so he's actually been outperforming his peripherals until now. Maybe we should get used to expecting merely good numbers from Gray as opposed to excellent ones.
J.D. Martinez, OF, DET
Martinez hit his 4th homerun of the season on Monday as he tries to get going in what has been a quiet year for him thus far. His BA still sits at only .239 while his 4 HR's and 14 RBI through 30 games are still a far cry from last year's 38 and 102. The funny thing is that some of Martinez' peripherals have actually improved. His BB% is his highest since 2012, and his K% is still hovering below 20% after sitting north of 26% each of the past 3 years. His SwStr% is still high so there may yet very well be some upward regression to the strikeout rate, however it still seems fair to say he has made some improvements in that regard. I would expect his average to rise to at least the .260 range before too long. As far as the power is concerned, Martinez' FB% has seemingly returned to his career norm after a spike last season, not to mention that his Hard% is a bit down from a year ago, so it's hard to imagine a repeat of the power surge we saw in 2015. Another 20 HR's though from here on out would seem realistic.
Andrew Miller, RP, NYY
With Aroldis Chapman returning from his suspension, Miller is expected to move to a setup role, which of course heavily decreases his fantasy value. That being said, don't be too quick to assume Miller should head back to the waiver wire. He's a strikeout machine who should significantly help your ratios even without huge innings totals. Miller currently leads all of baseball (min. 10 IP) with an 0.96 xFIP, his 47.6% K% is 2nd only to teammate Dellin Betances, and his O-Swing% of 41.8% ranks fourth. If he can keep up his current pace, Miller is looking at a 4th straight season with a K/9 over 14.00. There aren't many non-closer relievers worthy of being considered in fantasy leagues, but Miller is one that is.
David Ortiz, DH, BOS
Ortiz went 3-5 on Monday with a pair of 2B's giving him 598 two-baggers for his career. Two more doubles would make Ortiz the 15th player all-time to reach the 600 double plateau and also give him the rare combination of 600 doubles and 500 HR's for his career. Players who have accomplished that feat include Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds. That's it. (Although, Albert Pujols should join that club in not too long as well.) Not to take anything away from the future hall-of-famer, but part of Big Papi's doubling success can be attributed to Fenway Park which has a history of producing a high volume of 2B's. In fact since 2002, 315 of Ortiz' 522 doubles (60.3%) have come at home in Fenway. Just another thing to keep in mind, especially in daily play when the Red Sox are in Boston.
Kole Calhoun, OF, LAA
Calhoun has a nice matchup against the right-handed Mike Leake on Tuesday, as he tends to hit for more power against righties. 98 of his career 129 XBH's have come against righties, including 41 of his 53 HR's, and Leake has already allowed 4 HR's to left-handed batters this year in 15 IP. Value Play Draft Kings $3,900.
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