Jarrod Dyson
Dyson continued his nice little run of late, going 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and two runs scored. Dyson was 2-for-4 with two runs and a steal Wednesday, and had a run and an RBI Tuesday, as well. Dyson, despite just 329 plate appearances this season, has 29 steals, and could actually see a bit of an uptick in his batting average in the future. For one, Dyson is hitting .362 in September, and while that has been in large part due for an increase in his BABIP, that's to be expected because his BABIP was extremely low, especially for a speedster before this month, Even still, Dyson's BABIP is just .308 for the season, a low figure for a player with Dyson speed and batted ball profile (56.5 percent ground ball rate). Dyson is already 32 years old, but is clearly not slowing down just yet, as his 29 steals in 36 attempts show. He is still an undervalued commodity, whose value could shoot up if he is ever given a full-time job in the run-happy Royals lineup. More than likely, he'll continue his plight as a valuable, albeit slightly frustrating due to playing time, AL-Only player in 2017.
Ubaldo Jimenez
Jimenez continued his strong second half on Thursday, going 6.2 scoreless innings in a very important win for the Orioles. Jiminez has thrown 60.2 innings in the second half of 2016 (8.0 of which came out of the bullpen), and now has a 2.82 ERA in those post-All-Star Break innings. Jimenez allowed just one hit against the Jays Thursdays, and while he walked three, he also struck out five. This is two full months of strong results for Jimenez, but he's still a tough one to get a read on. Only one of his eight second half starts have seen him post a sub-3.00 xFIP within the game itself, and his strikeout numbers haven't increased as the rest of the league has. Jimenez is more likely a "Should I stream him" guy in most shallow leagues, only really having rosterable talent in 16+ team leagues. Overall, I'd say his stock stayed pretty flat in 2016. If you were one of the believers in his 3.83 xFIP in 2015, you're probably reading a lot into his second half success this season. If you weren't a believer, which I am not, you're pointing to the first half, and the fact that he can never put together a full season.
Ariel Miranda
Miranda put together another nice outing on Thursday, going 5.1 innings, allowing just four hits and a walk, while striking out five. The 27-year-old lefty gave up one run to the A's and got the no-decision. Miranda has really only had one poor outing since joining the rotation full-time in August, and even that outing (4 IP 3 ER 0K) didn't kill you. His ERA is down to 3.88 on the season, and he owns a record of 5-2. That being said, there are plenty of red flags. Miranda owns an ugly K/9 rate of 6.83, so that ERA has to be a lot better in the future to have real value. And his ERA is due for a big increase if FIP (5.25) and xFIP (5.07) are to be trusted. Miranda's left on base rate isn't too crazy, but his opponent BABIP of .222 would be historically low were he to maintain that pace over a full season. It's not as if Miranda is inducing soft contact, either, as opponents have a hard hit rate of 36.5 percent (before Thursday). Not that Miranda would be on the radar for anything other than deeper leagues, but avoid him even there, and I wouldn't trust him as an early-season streaming option, either.
Daily League/Streaming options
Brad Peacock
If you're scrounging for starts in a 12-14-team league for Friday, Peacock might just be your answer. The Astros righty will be pitching for a lot more than his opponent, Daniel Wright and the Los Angeles Angels, as the Astros have their season hanging by a thread at this point. Peacock was also outstanding his last time out, which, not coincidentally, came against the Angels. Peacock held the Halos to just one run on two hits and a walk over five innings. Peacock added seven strikeouts, and was impressive in just his fourth start of the season. Peacock hasn't given up more than two runs in any of his four starts this season, and while he is far from dominant, he has a favorable matchup, and will likely be available/cheap depending on whether you are streaming or playing daily.
Yahoo: $30; ESPN ownership: 6.7 percent
Carlos Rodon
Rodon is a bit of a boom or bust option, but has been far more boom than bust in the second half of the 2016 season. (Rodon also did a lot better in the second half of the 2015 season, but I'm not sure two years are enough to read into this as a trend.) Rodon is sporting a 3.49 ERA in the second half, with exactly a strikeout an inning. His WHIP is down from 1.533 in the first half to 1.239 in the second half, and has seen his BB/9 go from 3.13 to 2.55. Rodon is fresh off one of his best starts off the season, a two-hit, 11-strikeout, three-walk gem in eight shutout innings of a win over Cleveland. However, his price isn't too high because the two outings before that he gave up six runs each time out. That's part of the risk with Rodon, but his matchup is a good one (home against the Twins), and at this time of the season, you might as well go big, right?
Yahoo: $35; ESPN ownership: 43.1 percent
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