Miguel Cabrera (1B, DET) - Miggy went 0-3 against Trevor Williams and the Pirates, dropping his line to .254/.341/.411 on the season. So many of his peripherals have looked great all year and screamed positive regression, but here we are two-thirds of the way through the season and he still has just 13 homers and 52 RBI. Miggy owners have to be frustrated but can't bench him. His 45.4% hard contact rate is actually a career-high, and he has a below-average .296 BABIP despite a 27% line drive rate. You could easily argue that should be 30 points higher, and even that would be well below his career .345 BABIP. With the Tigers selling JD Martinez prior to the trade deadline the lineup in Detroit isn't getting any better down the stretch, but he should provide enough value to nullify the lineup downgrade. I'd still try to buy low if the trade deadline hasn't passed in your league.
Mike Moustakas (3B, KC) - Moustakas went 1-4 with his 32nd homer of the year, good enough to tie him for 3rd in baseball. Coming into the season he had been slowly working year over year to go the other way with the ball and avoid being shifted all the time. He decided to completely eschew that approach this year though, and his fantasy owners are loving it. He has a 46% pull rate that is nearly as extreme as his career-highs, and is hitting 8% more fly balls (up to 48%) than he was in his abbreviated 2016 season. His 16% strikeout rate is his highest since 2014, but it's his tiny 4.3% walk rate that is more disconcerting. The .305 OBP definitely hurts in OBP leagues and points formats, but with 32 homers and 73 RBI you will still take this production given the low cost you paid for him on draft day.
Matt Belisle (RP, MIN) - Belisle locked down his second consecutive save, giving up a hit with one strikeout in a scoreless ninth. Belisle seems to be the first man up in Paul Molitor's committee, and needs to be owned by those starving for saves. His overall numbers on the year are deceptive - 4.43 ERA,7.46 K/9. Since the calendar flipped to July he has yet to allow a run, while striking out 15 batters and walking just two. He was done in earlier in the season by a few blow ups, which for a reliever makes your season line look bad even if you have a strong stretch, like Belisle is in right now. He still hasn't earned himself a ton of leash though, and Molitor won't wait long before moving to Taylor Rogers or someone else in that bullpen if Belisle blows a few saves.
Dylan Bundy (SP, BAL) - Bundy tossed seven strong innings against the Angels, striking out 10 without walking a batter. He gave up two earned runs on five hits, two of which were from Mike Trout, which is permissible. Bundy pumped his strikeout rate back up to 7.17 per nine innings with the stellar outing, pairing with a very nice 2.68 BB/9. It's a nice turnaround from Bundy, whose owners had largely given up on him following an 8.41 ERA over 20.1 July innings. His peripherals still point to regression though, with a 4.71 FIP that doesn't think his .263 BABIP will hold, understandably. He is an extreme fly ball pitcher though, which lends to maintaining a low BABIP over an extended period (Marco Estrada can tell you about that). Starting Bundy in spacious parks such as Angel Stadium is the best bet for success, where his fly balls have less of a chance to carry out of the park and hurt him. Fire him up for his next start on the road in Oakland.
Ervin Santana (SP, MIN) - Santana allowed four runs over six innings against the Brewers, but only two of them were earned. He walked one and struck out six, settling for a no-decision. His ERA fell to 3.27 on the year, and despite his metrics shouting regression from the rooftops, Santana continues to be relatively effective. He has been hit or miss, with this being his fourth quality start in six tries since the start of July. However, in those other two starts he has allowed nine runs over 10 innings. His FIP is 4.79 and his xFIP is 4.80, which makes sense given his (still) obscene .225 BABIP and 81.9% strand rate. He has found a way to limit hard contact to 29% though with a 13% pop-up rate, both of which are great at keeping BABIPs low. Pitching in general is pretty lackluster this year so he's still a valuable starter, but with the low 7.08 K/9 he's more of a mid-tier fantasy option the rest of the way that I wouldn't trust in tough matchups.
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