George Springer (OF-HOU)
Springer went off Sunday to the delight of fantasy owners going 5 for 5 with 5 runs scored, 2 HR and 4 RBIs. It capped an absolutely monster week for Springer who finished the week with a .519 (14-27) average, 5 home runs, 10 RBIs and 10 runs scored. His epic effort mostly likely turned the tables for many owners and Springer owns a very strong .321/.400/.660 line with a now AL leading 15 home runs and 37 RBIs. The numbers are even more impressive considering he is the Astros every day leadoff hitter. Springer may still be entering his prime years and despite posting numbers across every category that are about in line with his career - the one outlier is that he has a hard hit % of 48% - 13% higher than his career mark. This has seemingly led to his .317 ISO despite his FB% still hovering around his career mark of 33% (35%). Deploy him with confidence going forward as he is ranking as one of the top hitters in the league to open the 2019 season.
Dwight Smith Jr. (OF-BAL)
Smith Jr went 2-4 with his 8th home run of the season Sunday. He continues to be one of if not the best Orioles hitter of 2019 raising his triple slash line to .286/.333/.510. Smith is hitting the ball hard at a career high 30% hard hit rate - and is doing a better job of hitting line drives - as he has more than doubled his rate to 24%. Smith Jr. showed good skills in his early days in the Blue Jays farm system, posting several seasons of both double-digit home runs and steals. Granted he has seen limited major league at bats over his first 3 seasons - but one must wonder about the Blue Jays decision to designate him for assignment and then trade him for future considerations now that he owns a career .285/.341/.490 line with 19 doubles and 9 home runs and 5 steals over just 286 career plate appearances. Provided he can keep hitting line drives as he is currently doing his .303 babip may hold true - and we could see a late breakout from the 26-year-old. Now is the time to grab him if he is still available.
Omar Narvaez (C-SEA)
Narvaez doubled and homered Sunday to raise his season line to .304/.386/.522. He currently ranks in the top 5 of just about every major hitting catcher for catchers that have accumulated 100+ plate appearances and his 7 home runs are only 2 off his career high he set last year - and he has only played in 35 games this season. If the power numbers weren't enough Narvaez has a nice 11% walk rate and a 17% K rate. Those who currently start him on a regular basis may want to keep an eye on his FB% in the coming weeks - as it currently hits 12% higher than his career mark (currently at 43%) - a strong of indicator as to why he has gotten off to a great start in the power department with a .189 ISO.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3B-TOR)
Vlad Jr. went 1-4 with a double Sunday afternoon. Despite posting an above league average hard-hit rate of 43% he has not seen the hits fall - and one bring reason could be that a whopping 65% of the balls he puts in play have been on the ground and his 18.8% flyball % would rank in the bottom 5 of players in the league if he was qualified. At least he's drawing a decent number of walks (12%) but his strikeout rate of 22% is almost double what it was at every stop in the minor leagues - not unexpected for someone playing in the majors for the first time. He will continue to get regular playing time - but fantasy owners expecting a quick payoff have been sorely disappointed by a .191/.283/.234 line with virtually no counting stats (0 runs scored, 1 RBI).
Prospect Watch
Cannan Smith (OF-NYY/A)
Smith, a Yankees farmhand at A Charleston hit for the cycle Sunday, going 4-5. Smith has been on a tear since the end of April hitting .411 over 56 at bats to raise his average to .327 and a strong .945 OPS with 8 doubles, 1 triple and 2 home runs. Smith didn't do much last season (.596 OPS) and struck out in 31% of his plate appearances. He has cut that number down to 20% this year while walking at a more reasonable 12% clip. Obviously being at A is a long way off from any sort of meaningful major league at bats, but the former 4th round draft will be someone to keep an eye on in the low minor leagues going forward in 2019.
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