Tim Anderson
Tim Anderson left Thursday's game with a bruised right calf, but the injury doesn't sound too serious. Anderson has had himself a productive rookie season, hitting .282 with seven home runs and seven steals in 308 plate appearances. The White Sox rookie plays at a valuable position (SS), and is just 23 years old, with a solid pedigree, but I would be wary moving forward. First of all, while the speed profiles well (49 steals at Triple-A in 2015), the power seems quite fluky, as the 180-pound righty only hit five home runs in said 2015 Triple-A season. Anderson only has a 24.8 percent fly ball rate, and is much more of a slap hitter than power hitter. Secondly, his plate discipline will have to improve vastly for him to avoid a Danny Santana-like drop off in his sophomore campaign. Right now, Anderson has 82 strikeouts to just 7 walks, a heinous ratio even for a rookie. Now we've seen players improve in this area, ala Javier Baez, but it almost always takes a year or two. Don't be surprised to see Anderson fall off a bit in 2017.
Miguel Sano
Sano tacked on another 0-for on Thursday, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Sano now hasn't homered since August 12, and has just eight hits compared to 23 strikeouts in that time. Sano has been off from the jump in 2016, and although it seems like it shouldn't matter, the Twins experiment to put the youngster in the outfield certainly seems like it affected him at the dish. Sano has seen significant drawbacks in his power and plate discipline in 2016, and it's only got worse. His walk rate has dropped each and every month, while his strikeout rate is up five percent after the All-Star break. His hard hit ball rate in August was the lowest month of 2016, but here's where the news gets at least a bit better. Even in his worst month, Sano still rocked a 33.9 percent hard hit ball rate, a month most batters would consider a strong month. If Sano can figure out his swing-and-miss issues, and that's certainly a big if, he's still as talented a pure hitter as you're going to find among players who only just turned 23. His raw power is still there, and a fresh start in 2017 may well be what the doctor ordered for Sano. I'm still buying on the Twins slugger.
Byron Buxton
The former number one prospect in baseball is back with the major league club, after being sent down to Triple-A to hone his skills at the end of July. Buxton returned in style, too, as he hit a three-run home run off Jose Quintana in his first at bat back. Buxton finished the game 1-for-3, and will certainly get a chance in September with the Twins out of the playoff race. Buxton has been hitting the ball well at Triple-A all season, with a slash line of .305/.359/.568 to go along with 11 homers and seven steals in 49 games. Of course Buxton has produced at Triple-A before and failed to keep those good vibes going upon being called up to the bigs, so he will have to prove himself before owners go flocking to add the 22-year-old speedster. His ceiling is still high enough that if he starts hitting at all, owners will indeed flock, and with good reason.
Daily Fantasy Leagues
Nelson Cruz
Cruz should return to the lineup Friday, fresh off a couple days off to injury, and gets a nice match up in his first game back. Cruz will face Brett Oberholtzer, owner of a 5.16 ERA/5.87 FIP/4.79 xFIP that would make Jered Weaver shudder. Oberholtzer has been victimized by the long ball this season, the reason his xFIP is the lowest of the crew, but I tend to think the issue is with Oberholtzer's lack of pitching talent rather than bad luck. BO currently has a HR/FB allowed rate of 20.0 percent, meaning that one in every five fly balls he allows leaves the yard. That's a prime matchup for Cruz, who has a HR/FB rate of 23.9 percent this season. It would almost be surprising if Cruz didn't homer Friday.
Yahoo: $16
Khris Davis
Khris Davis faces David Price and the Red Sox Friday, and should be a nice pick up in daily leagues. For one, Davis is having a strong season, with 34 long balls, good for a tie for fifth in all of baseball. The home runs have been no fluke, as Davis is sporting a stellar 38.0 percent hard hit ball rate, and his HR/FB rate in 2016 (25.8 percent) isn't egregiously removed from his career rate (21.8 percent). His opponent Friday, Price, has been better in the last month, but he has also had a tendency to slip up as soon as it looks like he has made a turn around. If you prefer your advice a bit more numerically-based, however, Price has also allowed opposing hitters a 35.6 hard hit ball rate, miles above his career rate (27.7 percent) and easily a career-high. Combine a hitter who is hitting the ball hard and a pitcher who is giving up hard contact, and good things should happen. Now Davis has a fair amount of swing-and-miss in his profile, and Price is still striking out batters at an elite rate, so there is a bit of worry there, but the potential for a long ball from Davis is too strong to pass up.
Yahoo: $19
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