CJ Cron, Los Angeles Angels - CJ Cron had a humongous on Saturday going 6-for-6 with two homers and he missed a third homer in his final at bat by maybe 15 feet. The homers leave him one short of having double digits and he's up to 42 RBI on the season. Cron has cut his strikeouts this season by 6% plus a 5% hard hit rate jump from last season. Cron is worth a look while he's on a ridiculous hot streak as he's picked up 13 base hits in his last five games including three homers, all coming in his last two games at Fenway. He's a streaky player but this is as hot as someone can be and with Sean O'Sulivan taking the mound for Boston Sunday there's a great chance that he keeps on rolling.
Max Kepler, Minnesota Twins - Max Kepler had the game of his career Saturday with a pair of homers and seven RBI in the Twins crushing of the Rangers. Entering today, Kepler is hitting .258/.324/.443 with three homers and 15 RBI since June 1st as he's been getting full time work in the Twins outfield. Kepler has been striking out more than he ever has at 26% and is only walking at a 9% so we'd like to see some improvement there. His hard hit rate definitely makes him someone to watch as a 36.7% mark there is over 10% better than he did last season in his brief cup of coffee.
Danny Duffy, Kansas City Royals - Danny Duffy dominated over eight innings against the Phillies allowing just two runs and striking out eight batters for the third start in a row. It feels as if Duffy has been on fantasy radars for year and he's finally putting it all together in the Royals rotation. He's striking out over 10 batters per nine with a sub-2.00 BB/9. He's also posting his second best ERA (over a significant amount of innings) at 3.11 and he has a 3.58 FIP as well. Nothing he's doing really seems unsustainable so it seems that he has maybe turned the corner for the Royals, and this makes him arguably the ace of the Royals staff.
Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers - After being shelled by the Indians last time out, Justin Verlander rebounded very nicely by throwing seven innings of two run ball with only one of those being earned. He allowed four hits and one walk and fanned eight, continuing his season long bounce back to the high level strikeouts that he used to post. Before that Indians game, he had posted quality starts in seven of his previous eight starts with a 5-and-1 record over that stretch. We could see him get a little better as his FIP is slightly lower than his ERA.
Michael Saunders, Toronto Blue Jays - Michael Saunders continued his tear with 3-for-5 game and he drove in two runs pushing his season total up to 36. His counting stats aren't really what you'd like them to be considering the lineup that he plays in, especially when it comes to RBI. Overall though he's posting a 141 wRC+ with a .288/.365/.544 triple slash to go along with his 15 homers. We'll keep watch on his health though since he's never played more than 139 games in a season and played nine games last year and 78 the year before that. As long as he stays on the field though he's a solid option in any outfield.
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