Eric Thames (MIL) - Eric Thames took a seat on on Monday. After a red hot start to the season in April, Thames has just a .209/.317/.429 slash line since May 1. On the season, he has 28 home runs, but 9 of those came in his first month of the year. His 39% hard hit rate and favorable home ball park do come close to supporting his homerun totals (24% HR/FB rate), but his 70% contact rate and 13% swinging strike rate do not paint the picture of a player with any better feel for the strikezone than he had earlier in his career before he left to go play overseas. Looking towards 2018, Thames will be a source of power, but he shown no indication of the 40 steal speed he tallied in his last season in Korea. With the rise in power across the league, there's really nothing special in his game that sets him apart.
Giancarlo Stanton (MIA) - Giancarlo Stanton is just seven home runs away from tying Roger Maris' "non-asterisk" single-season home run record. With 18 games left to play, Stanton already has a video game-like stat line with 54 home runs, 113 RBI, 111 runs scored with a slash line of .281/.377/.644. Not enough of the media's attention is focusing on Stanton's potential chase of history. It's not going to be easy, but Stanton has an outside shot at getting it done. Hurricane Irma could force the Marlins to play their final ten home games elsewhere, so the ball park impact of this home run chase could be interesting.
Starling Marte (PIT) - Starling Marte went 1-for-5 with a home run on Monday. Marte was struggled mightily since returning from his suspension for using PEDs. In 223 plate appearances, Marte has 3 home runs, 14 RBI, 31 runs scored and 12 stolen bases, but he's hitting just .251/.318/.330. Don't forget Marte hit .311/.362/.456 in 2016 with 47 stolen bases, pushing his draft stock into the second round of most drafts. At the moment, it's difficult to see how large of an impact performance enhancers had on his performance. As It stands, I'd have difficulty taking him before Round 4 in 2017, but steals will again be scarce and he certainly appears capable of contributing there still.
Clayton Kershaw (LAD) - Clayton Kershaw returns to the mound on Tuesday against the Giants. The Giants have the 3rd lowest wR+ against left-handed pitchers this season and while they don't strike out much, Kershaw's $11,400 price tag feels like an unnecessary discount despite his lackluster outing last week against the Rockies. He's a cash game lock for us on tomorrow' DFS slate.
Anthony Rizzo (CHC) - Anthony Rizzo had a pair of bad offensive series back-to-back over the last week, so his price has fallen to just $3,900 on FanDuel. He faces a starting pitcher in Robert Gsellman, who does have even splits, but they're bad splits. He has a wOBA against >.350 againt both right-handers and left-handers. Take the discount with Rizzo to get exposure to this Cubs offense.
Eric Thames (MIL) - Eric Thames took a seat on on Monday. After a red hot start to the season in April, Thames has just a .209/.317/.429 slash line since May 1. On the season, he has 28 home runs, but 9 of those came in his first month of the year. His 39% hard hit rate and favorable home ball park do come close to supporting his homerun totals (24% HR/FB rate), but his 70% contact rate and 13% swinging strike rate do not paint the picture of a player with any better feel for the strikezone than he had earlier in his career before he left to go play overseas. Looking towards 2018, Thames will be a source of power, but he shown no indication of the 40 steal speed he tallied in his last season in Korea. With the rise in power across the league, there's really nothing special in his game that sets him apart.
