Jose Bautista, OF, TOR
Bautista hit his 18th HR on Monday against the Rays, but also struck out twice in the game. Over the past 6 years, Bautista's K% has settled between 14-17%, yet since returning from the DL on July 25th, that number has reached over 25%. He has never been a high BABIPer, so the increase in strikeouts is a disaster for his BA, which indeed currently sits at a depressing .228. Bautista is also most likely to finish with his lowest HR total since 2009, but he did miss significant time with an injury. He is a BA risk, but he's also a good bet for 30 HR's if he can stay healthy in 2017.
Max Kepler, OF, MIN
Kepler has been in a magnificent slump recently, hitting just .209 with 1 HR over his past 36 games. Random players don't usually hit 12 HR's over the period of a month but that's exactly what Kepler did from July 2 to August 2, so you would think that wasn't a fluke. His Hard% dropped 15% from July to August, which is a big part of the disappearance of his power, and maybe he's getting worn down from the season. Either way, it's fair to say that Kepler has more power than what we have seen recently, but not enough to expect a repeat of his 25.0% HR/FB from July.
Dustin Pedroia, 2B, BOS
With two more hits on Monday, Pedroia now has multiple hits in 13 of has last 16 games. Make sure you read that correctly: He has at least two hits in 13 out of 16 games. And over his past 31 games, Pedroia has a ridiculous .449 BA with 25 runs scored and a remarkable 5.9% K%. He has always been an excellent contact hitter and his career worst BA is a still solid .278, but this year Pedroia is boasting a career-high LD% and his highest Hard% since 2007, which have propelled him to what would right now be a career-high BA of .330. With a consistently high BA and no shortage of opportunities to score runs atop the Red Sox lineup, Pedroia looks to continue being a valuable fantasy 2B as he moves into his mid-30's.
Chris Young, OF, BOS
Young went 4-4 with a HR and 2 2B's on Monday, making him 9-16 with 3 HR's and 3 2B's over his past 5 games. Young is a difficult player to own due to his sporadic playing time, but he makes for a very good play against LHP's especially in daily leagues as heading into Monday's game, he owned a superb .330 BA and 1.082 OPS against southpaws, compared to .241 and .746 against RHP's.
Victor Martinez, DH, DET
Martinez comes at a very reasonable price on Tuesday for someone who is hitting .291 with an .842 OPS and 37 of his 45 XBH's coming against RHP's. On Tuesday, he will be facing Twins RHP Kyle Gibson who has allowed a .336 BA against lefties this year and owns a 6.70 ERA in 8 starts since Aug 1. Value Play DraftKings: $3,600.
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