Elvis Andrus- SS- TEX- Idea- Andrus has punished LH pitching so far this season, with a .353/.389/.500 slash line. He hasn't hit a homer against southpaws yet in 2016, but last year 5 of his 7 homers came against them. With Jon Niese on the mound with 9 homers allowed to RH hitters in 41.2 IP against RH hitters so far maybe this will be a game for Elvis to go yard. Value play- Draft Kings salary $3800
Cheslor Cuthbert- 3B- KC- Rise Value- Cuthbert will see increased playing time now that Mike Moustakas is done for the year. He had been tearing up the PCL before being called up earlier this month, hitting 7 homers in 24 games and batting .333. Cuthbert carried a Batting EYE of a solid 0.79, which is not out of whack with what he has done previously in the minors. He is only 23 so he may have the tough task of continuing development at the major league level. Cuthbert is not blessed with good speed so his primary fantasy contributions will be an average worthy of a look in deep leagues with the possibility of the occasional homer.
Brett Eibner- OF- KC- Rookie- With injuries striking the Royals, Eibner got his first callup and may see his first major league action shortly. After being very strikeout prone in his early minor league career he cut his K% down to 18.3% at AAA Omaha in 2015 and kept it below 20% (barely at 19.9%) in his 41 games there this year. At the same time his BB% surged from 8.8% last year to 14.9% this year. Eibner got double digits in homers (19) and steals (10) last year while hitting .303. He was close to replicating that type of performance this year with 10 homers, 3 steals, and a .309 average. Eibner has advanced and in is age 27 season could be a sleeper now that some opportunity has showed itself.
Alex Rodriguez- DH- NYA- Cold- ARod's return from the DL was not a great success, to understate it. He went 0-for-4 with 2 Ks. Most of the problem with ARod this season has been plain bad luck. His average of .184 exactly equals his BABIP. ARod has 5 homers in 84 PAs, so it probably isn't a case of a 40-year-old suddenly going in the tank. Regression to the mean will be his friend.
Brandon Guyer- OF- TB- Hot- Guyer only went 1-for-4 but the lone hit was a homer. He was projected to hit .273 with double digits in homers and steals. With an average of .315 and BABIP of .349 Guyer is overperforming on average but it looks likely to regress. His 6 homers so far has him ahead of the projected total of 11. Guyer will have to do some catching up to make his projected 13 steals since he only has 1 so far. Guyer has been exceptionally productive against LH pitching with a .375/.483/.625 slash line against them. That will continue to make him a solid opportunistic daily play.
Follow me on Twitter all season - @fantisticspaul
There are over 100 player news blurbs posted in the member area each morning. Members can read the rest of today's player news by clicking here. Not a member? Join today.
