Rajai Davis
Davis went 1-for-4 with a walk, and more importantly, a steal, in Cleveland's 5-4 win over Kansas City. Davis has been quite a valuable player in 2016, with five home runs and 12 steals, totals only he and Jose Altuve have achieved so far this season. Despite that fact, Davis is owned in just a hair over a quarter of ESPN leagues, so he's clearly not passing the sniff test of the general public. So should prospective owners change their minds? Maybe. The 35-year-old seems to be aging like a fine wine, with three of his four highest hard hit ball rates coming in the last four years, and his two highest HR/FB rates have come the past two years. As far as the steals are concerned, 2015 is starting to look more like an outlier than a predictor of a fall off. Here are Davis' steal totals from 2009 to 2015 arranged in random order: 36, 34, 46, 50, 18, 41, 45. One of these is not like the other, right? Of course, you have to pay a little closer attention to that 18 total that was from 2015 since it's the most recent total, but I have faith in Davis easily clearing 20 steals, and likely pushing 30 again this season. Even if the power is likely to only result in two or three more homers, the speed makes Davis well worth a roster spot.
Adam Jones
Jones went deep twice on Wednesday, bringing his season total to seven, and giving him six hits in the last three games. Jones had been in his second prolonged slump of the season prior to his three-game multi-hit streak, so the big night is a sight for sore eyes for his owners. Jones now has a productive 51 RuBIns, but that is more the result of having an everyday lineup spot in a top-tier offense than anything Jones is doing. The 30-year-old outfielder is hitting just .242 with a .296 on-base percentage in 2016, and has a few mixed signals as to whether a bounceback is on the horizon or not. On the plus side, his hard hit ball rate (34.5 percent) is well above his career rate (31.9 percent) and although his 6.9 percent walk rate may not look great, it's well above his career rate (4.4 percent). His HR/FB rate - before last night - was well below his career rate, but the two long certainly moved that closer to the norm. On the other hand, he has lost about four percent off his line drive rate and it has fed directly into his ground ball rate. He's also over the 30-year-old bump, and his production against fastballs has dropped each of the past five seasons. Quite possibly a sign of a bat that can't quite keep up anymore. Jones is by no means droppable in all but the shallowest of leagues, but he's also not likely to return to previous levels of fantasy excellence. He's fantasy purgatory for now.
Jarrod Dyson
The speedy Royal outfielder went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, but surprisingly didn't even attempt to steal a base. Fret not, though, he only had a chance with a base free in front of him, and that time he only had one pitch before Drew Butera brought him around with a home run. It's hard to expect him to go on every possible pitch. Dyson has been getting some more regular playing time of late, as he has been in the lineup the last four games, and has been producing well enough to maintain that spot. During those four games, Dyson has four hits, three runs, two steals, and a partridge in a pear tree... Sorry, and an RBI. Dyson is a guy who speed-thirsty owners should look at in leagues regardless of if he's hitting because he's going to bump into 25 steals a season, but if he's getting on base with some regularity, even not-so-speed-thirsty owners should give him a look. Dyson usually sits against lefties, but the Royals aren't slated to face a lefty in either of their next two series.
Max Kepler
Kepler collected a pair of his on Thursday night, going 2-for-4 out of the seven spot in the Twins lineup. Kepler is going to be given some run for the Twins in the upcoming weeks, as Miguel Sano spends some time on the DL. Kepler was in the lineup each of the last two days, and although he won't be likely to be an everyday player just yet, the Twins will certainly be willing to give one of their top prospects a chance in what has been a disappointing season. Kepler had a brief chance earlier this season, and did all right while not wowing enough to get the prolonged stay. This may be his chance to make his mark, though, and while he shouldn't be on any rosters outside of the deepest of AL-Only leagues. He should be on the radar of regular AL-Only leagues, as well as keeper leagues. He was the number 39 prospect in baseball, per MLB.com, before the season.
Daily Fantasy Leagues
Evan Gattis
Gattis and the Astros host the A's Friday, and although several bats are recommended Gattis is the best bang for your buck. Since having the warning shot fired past his head of a brief send-down to Triple-A, Gattis has returned a changed man. He has five home runs in 15 games, and that's exactly what you want from the guy. Gattis is hitting .250 in that return which is more than enough to keep his spot in the lineup and on the team. The Astros face an aggressively mediocre Jesse Hahn on Friday, and Hahn doesn't have the type of stuff to give Gattis fits. The game will also be in the bandbox also known as Minute Maid Park, so it wouldn't be too surprising to see Gattis find the seats.
DraftKings: $3,900
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