Luis Castillo, SP, CIN
Castillo had what was likely his best start of the year on Wednesday, allowing 2 ER's in 6 IP while striking out 7 against the Brewers. After a breakout season in 2017, Castillo had compiled a 7.85 ERA through his first 5 starts this season. The Reds are trying to work on his arm angle, and maybe that helped, but it's also important to note that Castillo has a very respectable 3.99 xFIP and has been hit with a combination of bad luck including a .349 BABIP, 64.3% LOB% and 22.6% HR/FB. Still, we can't ignore that his K/9 has dropped to a mediocre 8.05 K/9 after posting an excellent 9.87 K/9 as a rookie in 2017. His SwStr%, however, has actually improved to an excellent 13.5%, so there's reason to believe that the strikeouts will return. There's obviously some risk in playing Castillo right now, but he still has very strong upside, and there are reasons to be optimistic that that upside will show up once again in the near future.
Yu Darvish, SP, CHC
After an encouraging start against the Brewers last week, Darvish took another step back on Wednesday allowing 6 runs (5 ER) in 4.1 IP against the Rockies. He did strike out 8, but he also walked 3 and allowed 3 HR's while failing to complete 5 IP for the 4th time in 6 starts. His 26.4% K%, while still very good, would be a career low, and his mediocre 9.4% SwStr% (entering Wednesday) if anything indicates that the strikeout rate may fall even further. Meanwhile, his BB/9 has ballooned to 4.80 for the season, nearly a BB and a half higher than his career rate. It's still early, but Darvish owners (and the Cubs) are fair to be concerned about their investment.
Anthony Rizzo, 1B, CHC
It took about a month but it looks like Rizzo is finally ready to get his season going. After an April to forget - .149 BA, 1 XBH, and a trip to the DL - Rizzo has started May in a different fashion with HR's in each of his first two games. Rizzo's peripherals aren't much different from previous seasons other than a lower BB%, and he has somewhat compensated for that with a career-high HBP rate (7 in 20 games). Rather it's his .175 BABIP and 8.0% HR/FB (entering Wednesday) that have dampened his numbers, and once those revert back to his career norms, we should see another season of about .280-30-100. On another note, Rizzo had been moved to the leadoff spot for Tuesday's game before returning to his typical cleanup spot on Wednesday, but his position in the lineup shouldn't have a major impact on his overall fantasy value.
Eugenio Suarez, 3B, CIN
In case you haven't noticed, Eugenio Suarez came back from the DL about a week ago and has picked up right where he left off. With 3 2B's, a HR, and 10 RBI in 7 games since being activated, Suarez now owns a season slash line of .315/.415/.593 with 3 HR's and 17 RBI in just 15 games. He has cut his K% down to 15.4% (career 23.7%) and has a phenomenal 10:9 K:BB for the season, while also his raising his Hard% to a whopping 53.5%. He definitely has the looks of a mixed-league 3B, and right now he's unowned in over 40% of ESPN and Yahoo leagues!
Corey Dickerson, OF, PIT
Dickerson has heated up a bit in recent days, going 14-39 (.359) with 3 HR's over his last 11 games. He'll have a chance to do more damage on Thursday against Nationals RHP Jeremy Hellickson who allowed a .507 SLG to LH-hitters in 2017 and is on that same pace with a .500 mark this season. Dickerson meanwhile has a career .866 OPS against righties. DraftKings Value Play Salary $4,000.
This is just a small sample our daily analysis, join our member area for over 80 daily player updates sent to your inbox every morning and track your team online. Click here for details: https://www.insiderbaseball.com/baseballsample.htm Click here to register: http://www.fantistics.com/salesbaseball.php3
