Maikel Franco
Franco stayed red hot with a home run in his fourth straight game. The long ball was Franco's lone hit of the day, but he scored twice in addition to the HR and RBI. Franco homered in the final game of the Phillies series with the Royals and homered in all three of their games against the Braves. Franco now has 17 home runs on the season, right about where you would have him pegged for before the season. Of course those home runs have come more recently, as he suffered an extended cold spell in the middle of the first half that saw him given up on by owners in shallow leagues. With the benefit of a full half-season, Franco's numbers are nearly right in line with his strong, rookie 2015 season. If anything, expect a bit more of the stronger part of 2016, as his fly ball rate is up in 2016, as is his hard hit ball rate. The batting average might not make it quite back up to the .280 figure from 2015, but if he's hitting home runs at a 35-40 home run pace, a .260 batting average is acceptable. For daily players, Franco now gets to head to Coors Field for his final pre-All-Star series. This streak could easily extend the next couple days.
Wilmer Flores
Flores put together his second multi-home run game in the last week, going 2-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs. Flores went 6-for-6 with two home runs and four RBI on Sunday, and he's now slugging a solid .431 on the season. With the Mets signing Jose Reyes, and looking to play him at short stop, as well as third base, Flores is likely to be designated a utility role, but if he keeps hitting like he has the past week, he'll find plenty of at bats. Flores quietly hit 16 home runs in 2015, and delivers solid pop with second, short, and third base eligibility. Mixed league owners likely won't be eyeing Flores just yet, but his ownership should be higher in NL-Only leagues. Flores is hitting a higher percent of fly balls this year, and that's a good sign for a 24-year-old who has shown decent pop his whole career.
Jonathan Papelbon
Papelbon collected his first save since returning from the DL, pitching a perfect ninth with three strikeouts to lock down the Nationals win over the Brewers. That makes two scoreless innings for Papelbon who is right back into the closer's role for the Nats. He has yet to allow a baserunner in those two innings and has five strikeouts. This is obviously great news for Papelbon owners, who might have been a bit worried that Shawn Kelley, who filled the closer's role admirably in Papeblon's absence, might be nipping at Paperlbon's heels if Papelbon struggled off the bat. Those owners would be right to worry a bit, as Papelbon has some of the weaker peripherals of any closer in baseball. His 4.34 FIP is a flashing red light, and even his 3.04 ERA and 3.24 FIP are fare from stellar in the world of dominant relievers we now live in. Papelbon should have a decent leash, however, if for no other reason than that he is owed so much money by the Nats. Teams don't always make the by-the-numbers decisions we can afford to make as fantasy players, as there are a lot more factors involved. Even with Kelley going 4-for-5 in save opportunities and sporting a FIP nearly a run lower, Papelbon would really have to struggle for Kelley to retake the role. In all but the deepest leagues, Kelley is back to having no real value.
Daily Fantasy Leagues
Jason Hammel
If you're willing to take a pitcher who gave up 10 runs in his last start, Hammel ($7,400) might actually be a good value on Thursday. The previous outing's blow up is almost certainly the deciding factor in the relatively cheap price for the Cubs righty. Hammel isn't going to post massive strikeout numbers, and his FIP (4.57) suggests a very mediocre pitcher, but that's where the bad news ends. Hammel has a solid if unspectacular track record (ERAs of 3.47, 3.74, and 3.45 the last three years) and with the Cubs next-level defensive positioning, I'm actually buying a bit of his ERA being lower than his FIP. It's also important to remember how much one bad start can really mess with a pitcher's numbers, especially in just a half a season. Before his blow up against the Mets, Hammel had a 2.58 ERA, and it wasn't too long ago he was in the low 2.00s. Now some of that is regression back to where he should end up, but to drop him into the middle tier seems rash. The best news for Hammel, though, is the match up. The Braves come to town, dragging their 28-57 record and 30th ranked offense to Wrigley. Hammel should bounce back with a nice start against the Braves and won't be this cheap with such a nice match up very often.
DraftKings: $7,400
Ryan Raburn
Raburn is your classic match up with a bad pitcher in Coors and choose the cheapest guy play. DraftKings is on to you a bit with the $3,900 price seeming a bit steep for a guy hitting just .232 this season, but going against Phillies spot starter, Adam Morgan, in the thin air of 2001 Blake Street will do that. Raburn hits lefties well to boot, with 52 of his career 91 home runs coming off of southpaws. Raburn also hits 11 points higher for his career against lefties, and has success against Morgan in his limited appearances against the Phillie lefty. Raburn in 4-for-7 with an RBI in his career against Morgan, and should get the start in the very favorable match up. He's the only Rockie who you won't have to break the bank for in a delicious match up.
DraftKings: $3,900
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