Andrew Moore (SP-SEA) - Moore's MLB debut Thursday was an unqualified success, as the 23-year-old right-hander held the Tigers to three runs on six hits over seven solid innings with no walks and four strikeouts. Moore posted sub-9.0 K/9's at the Double-A and Triple-A levels, so the lack of K's limits his value in shallower formats, but at a minimum he could be a solid 12-team mixed league streaming option and a guy who won't hurt your ratios. The 72nd overall pick in the 2015 draft out of Oregon State, he profiles as a polished college arm who should slot in at the back-end of a decent MLB rotation.
Cameron Maybin (OF-LAA) - Some guys just take a while, even years, to fulfill the promise that made them a high draft pick and/or a top prospect. Could Maybin be one of those guys? Thursday he led off the game with HR #6 and later stole his 22nd base while scoring three runs and drawing two walks. That leaves Maybin with an All-Star like .277/.387/.442 slash and in June he's batting .391. He's doing it with improved plate discipline, as his 15% walk rate is far above his 8.5% career mark and he's dropped his K rate for the third consecutive season. He probably won't keep this pace up, but whatever he does over the second half will be gravy for fantasy owners, most of whom probably grabbed him off waivers.
Ben Gamel (OF-SEA) - Gamel is one of many "out of nowhere" guys this year. Gamel was 1-for-3 with a two-run double on Thursday and is now batting a healthy .354/.413/.490. He's hit just three homers in 198 at-bats, but Gamel also has 14 doubles and a pair of triples to go with a couple steals. At 25, it seems likely that the home runs will start coming in bunches, as he's not a power guy, but Gamel can run a bit and his hit tool looks solid. Also on the plus side, Gamel, who hits from the left side, entered Thursday batting .348 versus southpaws in 46 at-bats, so the Mariners may not even need to platoon him long-term. He'll need to hit for a high average to continue to play, but so far so good.
Nori Aoki (OF-HOU) - Aoki brings nothing exciting to the table, but he did go 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and a run scored Thursday in Oakland. The solid outing raised his slash to .277/.320/.348 with four steals. Aoki's K% is elevated a bit at 13.3% versus an 8.3% career mark and he's not hitting for much power of course, but I guess there's some deeper league value. Aoki looks to be merely a placeholder for top prospect Derek Fisher, but with the return of Josh Reddick, he could even lose time to Jake Marisnik on occasion. Aoki's days of 15-30 steals are over, so he'll need to hit for a higher average to avoid the dreaded DFA later this year.
Jose Quintana (SP-CHW) - I never saw Quintana as an ace, more a consistent #2/#3 type that you could rely on for 200 innings of a sub-4.00 ERA. He's gotten off to a slow start this year, but he appears healthy and the results lately have been better. Quintana improved to 4-8 on Thursday, holding the Twins to five hits over 6.2 shutout innings. He walked none and struck out nine in dropping his ERA to 4.69. Since recording eight outs and allowing seven runs on May 30th against Boston, Quintana's next four starts have resulted in a 2.25 ERA with a 24:8 K:BB in 24 innings. He's striking out hitters at a 9.0 per nine innings pace, which would be a career-high. If he can continue to limit the free passes, Quintana should be able to get a nice package for the White Sox at the trade deadline.
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