Ryan Braun (OF - MIL) - After tallying another multi-hit game last night, Braun is officially en fuego. As we mentioned in the last few weeks, Braun has been quite fortunate this season, and continues to be so as his BABIP was .381 coming into last night, despite a lower hard hit rate than last year. If you can find an owner willing to think Braun is returning to his MVP days, I would certainly accept an offer for him at that value. Braun will return solid #2/nearly #1 OF value this even, even when his BA falls by 30-50 points.
Jason Hammel (SP - CHC) - Hammel was effective through 5 innings last night, allowing 2 ER with 3 K's. Hammel's 0.75 ERA coming into last night was, to put it lightly, extremely fortunate. His SIERA of 3.94 is much more indicative of the kind of pitcher he is. While he was effective last night, an issue that plagued him all of last year (aside from underachieving) was going later into games. Hammel has value in the right matchups given his solid K rate, but he certainly isn't the second coming of Jake Arrieta if that's what you're expecting.
Brandon Belt (1B - SF) - Belt had a few hits (including a 3B) and 2 runs scored last night. This is the public service announcement again that Belt is the real deal - go after him now if you still can for cheap. He's seen massive K% and BB% improvements; if only he didn't play in AT&T.
Dexter Fowler (OF - CHC) - Fowler collected two hits and two stolen bases last night against the Pirates. Fowler and the rest of the Cubs took advantage of Francisco Cervelli, who struggles at stopping baserunners. Fowler is killing it atop the Cubs order, but there's some big time regression coming with his .431 BABIP. So while we'll see a drop to his average, there's still a ton to like here - his BB% is up 4.5% from his career average while decreasing his K% by 2%. So while some regression is coming, continue to rock with Fowler confidently, particularly atop the Cubbies lineup where they will score runs-a-plenty.
Bartolo Colon (SP - NYM) - In his 19th season, Bartolo Colon continues to amaze. He threw 8 innings with 0 ER last night collecting a win against the lowly Braves. Whether it was the Braves or not, Colon now has peripherals that support a low 3.00s ERA with a K rate near 8. Those are some solid numbers for any pitcher, nevermind a 43(!) year old. I struggle to recommend him going forward, but the numbers look good. Keep rolling with him if you have him.
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