Giancarlo Stanton (MIA) - Giancarlo Stanton hit his 21st homerun of the season and added 3 other hits to lead the Marlins offense over Jacob deGrom and the Mets. It was Stanton's first home run since the Home Run Derby. Stanton has turned it around since the beginning of the month, but the contact issues have remained there (68.7% contact rate). Fortunately, it has been masked by an unreal 52.6% hard hit rate over that stretch. He should continue to produce elite power numbers in the second half, but don't be expecting it to come with a good batting average. It's going to be difficult for him to return 1st round value this year. Want some good news? He's just $3,000 on FanDuel tomorrow in a matchup against left-hander Steven Matz. While Matz has pitched well this year, Stanton absolutely mashes left-handed pitchers with a .327 ISO against them in his career.
Odubel Herrera (PHI) - Odubel Herrera continued to stuff the stat sheet on Saturday, going 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 stolen bases. Herrera has been nothing short of phenomenal, slashing .290/.373/.425. He also has 10 home runs, 13 doubles, 3 triples and 14 stolen bases. Despite the solid extra-base hit totals, he has only 33 runs batted in thanks to the anemic Phillies offense. Herrera looks like an interesting value tomorrow on FanDuel at just $3,800 as he goes up against rookie Jameson Taillon. It's important to note that Taillon has failed to pitch past the 6th inning in any of his last 4 starts, so Herrera will likely get to face a Pirates bullpen that has the 5th highest xFIP in baseball.
Trevor Story hit 2 more home runs on Saturday and has now hit 5 over the last week and 25 on the season. In total, he went 4-for-4 with 5 RBI and 3 runs scored, or 63.1 FanDuel points. Story's average homerun distance of 417.8 feet and average batted ball speed of 105.7MPH on those homeruns more than support the power. The pundits will continue to write him off, but the statistics support his stat line. The low 72.2% contact rate and 12.7% swinging strike rate will weigh on his batting average, but playing in Coors with a 44% hard hit rate will continue to aid his extra base hit totals. If you're playing an all-day slate on FanDuel ($4,000) or the afternoon slate on DraftKings ($5,500), Story will again be a top play.
Kirk Nieuwenhuis (MIL) - Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a career day against the Cubs on Saturday night, going 3-for-3 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI. The left-handed outfielder hit his 2nd home run off the newest member of the Cubs, left-hander Mike Montgomery. Perpetually a minimum priced option on most of the daily sites, the 28-year old has finally found regular playing time with the Brewers this season. Unfortunately, the former 3rd round pick has never blossomed the power/speed combination that he showed in the minors leagues early in his Mets' career. Over his career, he has hit right-handed pitching a little better than left-handed pitching and before tonight, he had just 1 career home run against southpaws. As an interesting side note, 7 of his 24 career homeruns have come in multi-home run games (3 total).
Justin Turner (LAD) - Justin Turner continued his torrid July by going 2-for-5 with a double and a couple RBI. Turner has always had reverse splits (better hitter versus right-handed pitching), but this year his splits have become even more extreme. Against right-handers, the 3rd baseman is slashing .300/.361/.548, but against left-handers he's hitting just .169/.297/.301 and just 5 of his 36 extra base hits have come against the former. Nonetheless, he's been a great return on investment for owners that drafted him as a reserve infielder this spring and he should continue to play well moving forward. Just don't start him against lefties.
