Tyler Naquin (OF) CLE - Naquin hit his fourth homer in the past 8 games on Sunday, and he's now hitting 314/373/598 through 169 AB. The hard contact rate of 41% and avg HR distance of 404 feet lead me to believe that the power spike has some legs for the 25 year old, although the .422 BABIP casts some doubt on the likelihood of the AVG staying in the elite level. All in all, he appears likely to maintain enough value to be a viable starting OF in most formats even with some AVG regression.
Dylan Bundy (SP) BAL - Growing pains. Bundy's first major league start was mostly negative, with 5 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, and 3 homers allowed in just 3 1/3 innings. He did generate 11 swinging strikes in just 70 pitches, fanning 4 batters, and that illustrates the upside here. It seems like we've been following him forever, but he's still just 23, and I do expect him to offer some value before the year is out. He's slated to face the Indians, Rockies, and Rangers (all at home) in his next three outings, the latter two of which have been bottom-half offenses since July 1. With his velocity steadily increasing (96.6 last time out) throughout this season, I do like the upside here in most formats.
Michael Fulmer (SP) DET - Fulmer managed a 10th straight start allowing two runs or fewer Sunday, going 8 innings against KC and allowing 6 hits and 2 runs, walking 1 and fanning 5. The control issues have really subsided over the last month or so, and this hot streak's genesis began, in my opinion, when Fulmer started using his changeup much more frequently. It was a pitch that people didn't think much of coming into the season, but Fulmer (according to Eno Sarris at Fangraphs) made an arm slot adjustment at about the same time that he started throwing more changeups, and the results speak for themselves. The xFIP ERA and SIERA (both around 4.00) are still slightly skeptical, but there are still those first few starts mixed into that data.....I think our opinion of Fulmer has to fall somewhere in between his raw data for 2016 and those two stats. I expected a mid-rotation ceiling from Fulmer when he came up and I'm not sure he can get much higher than that longer-term, but I'm obviously much less certain of that at this point. I wouldn't be selling high, FYI, despite the SIERA.
Yulieski Gurriel (3B), Astros IF - Yulieski Gurriel has signed a 5-year deal with the Astros, and he isn't expected to take an awfully long time to prepare for the majors. The 32 year old 3B will join a laundry list of st least 7 and possibly 8 players that need playing time in Houston's infield going forward, leading to speculation that the 'Stros are going to be active players here at the deadline. A.J. Reed's playing time has to be in jeopardy, as his contact issues seem omnipresent at times, while Alex Bregman (with his 1120 OPS) has got to wonder what more he's supposed to do at AAA to get a call-up. As far as Gurriel's potential, yes, there is a lot. He had video game numbers in Cuba, with 38 walks and 3 strikeouts in his most recent campaign, but all scouting reports mention a RH bat with very good control of the strike zone and plus power. Comps have included the good versions of Hanley Ramirez and David Wright, just to give you an idea of the level of play forecasted. He certainly warrants a claim in all formats whenever he's eligible, and we can all sort of the playing time issue on the fly. For now, I'd consider Reed and Bregman to get slight downgrades for remainder of season forecasts, and possibly (unfortunately) the red-hot Luis Valbuena as well.
Jose Abreu (1B) CWS - Abreu went 1-4 in the 8-1 loss to the Angels Sunday, continuing a decent month in which he's hit in all but two games (at a .341 clip) but with little power. He's hit .317 over 146 ABs dating back to June 1st, and although the power numbers are down quite a bit, the batted ball speed and avg HR distance show that he's still hitting the ball hard enough to expect a bit more pop than this. I like him to perform better in the 2nd half than he did the first, and I definitely like gambling on him for Monday's DFS slate against lefty Wade LeBlanc, when he's priced at just $3400 on DraftKings.
