Matt Beaty, 1B, OF, LAD
Beaty was recalled from AAA to join the Dodgers on Monday to replace the injured Chris Taylor and he went 1-2 with a double in his first game back with the club. He has had excellent contact rates in the minors and that has continued at the MLB level, as he currently has a 13.3% K% through 113 PA's. He also has a 43.0% Hard% in a small sample, and while he doesn't hit a ton of FB's, he has already racked up 9 doubles for the Dodgers this season. It will be interesting to keep an eye on how much playing time Beaty gets in this stint with the Dodgers, because he could put up solid numbers in a few categories.
Brandon Crawford, SS, SF
Crawford had an enormous game in the opener of a doubleheader against the Rockies on Monday, going 5-6 with 2 HR's and 8 RBI, and then followed it up with another HR in the nightcap. He's been pretty good over his past 21 games, hitting .351 with 15 XBH's and 21 RBI, but his overall numbers (.240/.310/.397 with 9 HR's) remain even slightly below his typical mediocre standards. Crawford is a career .250 hitter who has only once cracked 15 HR's and has never reached double-digit SB's. In 2019, he has a career worst 23.6% K% while also sporting a career low in FB% (27.9% entering Monday). There are plenty of quality fantasy SS's these days, so there shouldn't be a need to resort to Crawford.
Freddie Freeman, 1B, ATL
Freeman homered and drove in 3 runs for the 2nd straight game on Monday, and now has 25 HR's and 74 RBI through 94 games this season. That puts in on pace to easily crush his previous career-highs of 34 HR's and 109 RBI set in 2016 and 2013 respectively. What makes Freeman especially unique however is his ability to hit line drives on such a consistent basis. His 29.0% LD% over the past 5 seasons is tops in all of baseball, and is one of the primary reasons that he's a perennial .300 hitter. It also helps that he has a 42.0% Hard% over that 5 year stretch. With a strong BA, excellent power, and top-tier run production, Freeman remains among the fantasy elite.
Max Fried, SP, ATL
Fried put together a solid outing against the Brewers on Monday, going 5 shutout innings, allowing just 3 hits and 2 BB's while striking out 5. Fried is coming off a rough stretch in which he has posted a 6.14 ERA in 7 starts since the beginning of June, but during that stretch, he compiled a solid 41:13 K:BB in 36.2 IP, along with an excellent 54.4% GB%, en route to a very impressive 3.11 xFIP. For the season, Fried's 4.08 ERA doesn't stand out, but his 3.44 xFIP does. He has likely been a bit unlucky with a .338 BABIP and 20.3% HR/FB% this season, so we should see better results down the stretch. He could very well be a nice fantasy asset going forward.
German Marquez, SP, COL
Marquez produced a nightmarish outing against the Giants on Monday allowing 11 ER's on 11 hits in just 2.2 IP. He now has an 8.26 ERA in 8 starts since the beginning of June bringing his season ERA up to an ugly 5.12. Marquez has taken a step a back from last year with regards to his strikeout rate, but he still hasn't actually been that bad with a 3.60 xFIP. He's gotten unlucky with a 64.7% LOB% this season, but more importantly, he's gotten unlucky by having to pitch half his games in Colorado. This season, he has a 7.07 ERA at home and a 3.33 ERA on the road! Marquez is not a bad pitcher, but this is why we generally don't trust pitchers on the Rockies.
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