Jeremy Hellickson (SP, PHI) - Hellickson pitched well against the Cardinals, cruising through seven innings while allowing just one run on six hits with four K's and two walks. He dropped his ERA to 4.61 with the outing, but his 5.81 FIP declares that number is not to be trusted. He continues to be homer-prone with a 1.71 HR/9, but the real reason he isn't a mixed league viable option is his paltry 4.07 K/9. After hovering around the league-average strikeout rate for the past few years, his K's have completely fallen off the table this year thanks in part to a drop in the effectiveness of his curveball. In 2016 he had a 13% whiff rate on his curve, but this year that number is down to less than 4%, and he's been throwing it less as a result. He's allowing the most in-zone contact of his career as well, at 87.5%, which bodes poorly for his future performance. He should be avoided in all formats.
Michael Taylor (OF, WAS) - Taylor doubled, walked, scored twice, and stole two bags from the 8-hole in a 12-3 spanking of the Marlins. He now has eight home runs and seven steals over 210 plate appearances, most of which have come after Adam Eaton was lost for the season. He's slashing a standard league-friendly .261/.295/.467, but his lack of walks kills his value in OBP and points leagues. He's walking just 4.8% of the time while striking out at a 33.3% clip, which is actually worse than what he did last year. He has traded about 6% of his line drives for fly balls, which should help his power continue to hover around a .200 ISO as long as he maintains his 35% hard contact rate. He is unlikely to maintain his current .361 BABIP though, so his average could very well dip down into the .230-.240 range, keeping him from being a real asset in mixed leagues. He's worth owning in standard roto NL-Only leagues, but that's just about the only format he's going to be useful in.
Anthony Rizzo (1B, CHC) - Rizzo blasted his third leadoff home run of the season and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games, also drawing a walk. He now has four home runs in seven games batting leadoff and is hitting .375 with 10 RBI in that span. It might not stick for long, but for the time being the move to the top of the order seems to have awoken Rizzo's bat. Another interesting note on Rizzo is that he has been slowly accumulating games played at second base, thanks to Joe Maddon's extreme shifting. He switches gloves when he shifts to cover second base, which makes the games played eligibility a little less egregious, but whether he "earns" the eligibility or not, it's right around the corner in leagues that require 10 games played at a position to qualify in-season. Rizzo as a second baseman is obscenely valuable, so if you find yourself in a league with a Rizzo owner who doesn't realize this is on the horizon and you need a second baseman, now is your last chance to send over a trade offer.
Mark Melancon (RP, SF) - Melancon finally notched his 11th save, his first since May 27th. To make matters worse for his owners he had allowed 6 ER over his last 1.1 innings over two appearances. Last year it was May 15th when he saved his 11th game, and his innings total is way down from his tenure with the Pirates. He's ecplised 70 innings in each of the past four seasons, but this year the Giants have just been so bad that he hasn't had many opportunities to lock down a win. Unfortunately, the Giants are very much going to be sellers at the deadline, so their win total isn't going to skyrocket over the second half. On the bright side, if there is one, his 3.82 FIP is a full run lower than his 4.82 ERA, as he's incurred some bad luck. His 17.6% HR/FB rate is nearly double his career rate of 9.3% as well, so he could very well pitch closer to his 3.36 xFIP the rest of the way. He's been rough to own so far, but he is in no danger of losing his job and the rest of the season should be a much smoother ride.
Tommy Pham (OF, STL) - Pham smashed his seventh home run of the year, finishing 2-5 with 2 RBI. With Randal Gritchuk's refusal to change his all-or-nothing approach, Pham has seized the left field job all to himself. He has quietly put up very good numbers, slashing .281/.373/.481 with 7 HR and 6 SB over just 158 plate appearances. The best news for him is that he has cut an incredible 14% from his strikeout rate, which is now down to a very manageable 23.4%. He is also walking at an 11.4% clip, and his 35% hard contact rate helps backs up the .200 ISO. A 37% pull rate and 25% fly ball rate doesn't help his cause though, so he'll need to start getting more balls in the air if he's going to hit for more power. He has been efficient on the bases, swiping 6 bags in 8 tries, but he hasn't stolen 20 bases since 2014 in the minors, so this pace may not continue. He has an issue with his eyesight that makes him a volatile asset, and he's been incredibly injury-prone, but he's a guy that needs to be owned in deeper mixed leagues while he's healthy.
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