Jose Ramirez (2B/3B/SS/OF, Cle): Ramirez is going to be the primary beneficiary of playing time with Lonnie Chisenhall on bereavement leave and Michael Brantley back on the DL. He went 2-5 with a double, a walk and two runs scored against the Reds Monday, and he's now rocking a cool .323/.376/.452 slash. He doesn't have a lot of power, but he does have some stolen base upside; he stole 38 bases in 2013, 29 in 2014 and 25 last season across multiple levels. He's an aggressive, high contact hitter that doesn't walk or strike out much. He's really a better fit at the top of a lineup than the lower third where he's been hitting most of the season, but with bats like Rajai Davis, Kipnis and Lindor in the lineup as well, he's going to get the short end of the stick more often than not and dwell in the lower third of the lineup. Despite that however, he should be owned even in standard mixed leagues for the next couple of weeks while he's getting full-time at-bats. Oh, and he's also only 23 and can play almost every position on the field, so he's a very intriguing option for dynasty leagues as well as redraft leagues.
Miguel Sano (OF, Min): Sano went 2-5 against the Tigers on Monday, striking out three times but hitting his sixth home run of the season and driving in two. It's been 2015 all over again for Sano in terms of his plate discipline (12.7% BB%, 34.4% K%), but his light tower power has taken a downturn from a year ago. Sano posted a .262 ISO last year, a number which is down to .176 through a month and a half of 2016. His contact rate still sits at a paltry 66%, although that is actually an improvement from the 60.9% mark he ended with last season. He's not at any risk of demotion at this point, but he's been a bit of a disappointment relative to expectations coming into the season. Given his 40.7% hard contact rate and 94.5 MPH average exit velocity (tied for 10th best in MLB) you have to expect his home runs are going to come soon, so keep the faith in Sano. It may even be a good time to buy low given his .235 average.
Steve Pearce (1B/2B/OF, TB): Pearce went 2-5 with a walk, a home run, two runs and three RBI batting cleanup against the Jays Monday night. The homer was his sixth of the year, and he's got an even 10 walks to 10 strikeouts in 92 plate appearances this season. He's playing all over the field as well, and makes for a great pickup while Logan Forsythe is on the DL. He's especially nifty against left-handed pitching, so he can be a great play in DFS as well.
JA Happ (SP, Tor): Happ was decimated by the Rays on Monday, yielding eight runs in two innings of work on seven hits with one walk and two strikeouts. The Rays are a lot better against lefties than righties this year, so the fact that they got to Happ isn't quite as much of a surprise if you really dug into the matchup. Overall, Happ is still having a great season. The loss was his first of the year as he is now 5-1, and his ERA still sits at a serviceable 3.40. His strikeouts are way down this year, to 5.72/9 from last years' 7.90 mark, but his swinging strike rate is still in line with last years' 8.1% mark, so there's still hope that the K's will start to tick up towards at least league average territory. He doesn't have huge upside because the K's won't ever be elite, but he should continue to post league average ratios and has the potential to rack up a lot of wins pitching for the Jays. You paid a back-end starter price for him in drafts this season, and that's about what you'll get. He'll have a more favorable matchup later this week when he travels to Minnesota to take on the Twins.
Ryan Rua (OF, Tex): Rua has been the primary beneficiary of playing time with the struggles and subsequent demotion of Delino DeShields. The Rangers take on left hander Eric Surkamp and the Athletics on Tuesday. So far this season, Surkamp has 16 earned runs, 14 walks, and 12 strikeouts in 22 innings. To put that into context...that's not good. Rua may not sit right in the meat of the Rangers order, but he's killed lefties to the tune of a .349 career wOBA, and Surkamp has likewise struggled against lefties, yielding a career .408 wOBA to them. Rua is lined up for a nice day at the plate Tuesday, and he'll be a paltry $3,000 on Draft Kings.
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