Zach Greinke, SP, ARI
Greinke carried a no-hitter into the 8th inning on Thursday, and ultimately allowed 1 ER on 1 hit in 8 IP with 11 K's. Greinke has been on fire lately with a ridiculous 38 K's and 3 BB's in 27 IP over his last 4 starts. Overall, his 2.79 ERA for the season is backed by a 2.92 xFIP and he entered Thursday's game with a career high 13.1% SwStr%. He appears to have regained his ace form after a rough first season with the Diamondbacks.
Manuel Margot, OF, SD
Those who thought that Margot's early season power (3 HR's through 9 games) was a just a fluke appear to have been right so far, as Margot hasn't homered in his last 27 games. With a weak Hard% of just 21.1%, we shouldn't expect this to change in a big way anytime soon. Margot does have a decent contact rate and very good speed, but he's only 4 for 8 in SB attempts You would think batting leadoff would give a boost to his fantasy value, but thanks to the Padres anemic offense, he has managed just 15 runs scored through 36 games. He could start running wild at some point - after all, he averaged over 30 SB's per season during his 5 years in the minors, but right now you don't have to feel so bad if you missed out on picking him up early in the season.
Addison Reed, RP, NYM
With Jeurys Familia diagnosed with a blood clot in his shoulder and potentially needing surgery, Reed will take over the closing duties for the Mets, quite possibly for a while. Reed has been stupendous this year in the Mets' bullpen with 22 K's in 18 IP and not a single BB. He already has 4 saves this season so he should have a long leash as the closer, and his 2.34 xFIP suggests that he won't have a problem holding down the job. He is now a must own in all formats, although in many leagues, he was already owned anyways.
Trevor Story, SS, COL
If Story's terrible performance to start the 2017 campaign wasn't bad enough, he was now placed on the DL with a strained left shoulder. His struggles are primarily tied to his 37.5% K% which make it impossible for him to hit for any sort of decent BA. But his .246 BABIP is still way too low, especially since he plays in Coors and has an above average Hard%. He does have an insanely high 63.5% FB% and 20% IFFB% which hurt his BABIP, but all those FB's should also ensure that the HR's keep coming. If he's not out too long, I would definitely be patient, because he's better than what we have seen so far this year.
Freddie Freeman, 1B, ATL
Freeman has been crushing all pitching this season, but 18 of his 21 XBH's have come against RHP's. On Friday, he'll face Jose Urena of the Marlins who has a nice 1.69 ERA, but his xFIP of 5.06 warns that regression is coming. Freeman is of course not cheap, but he's not even among the 5 most expensive 1B on DraftKings, and he's the same price as Hanley Ramirez!?! DraftKings Value Play Salary $4,700.
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