Freddie Freeman (1B-ATL) - You don't need us to tell you Freeman is elite, but it's hard to ignore a 4-3-3-4 line in the box score. Freeman hit his 32nd and 33rd home runs while bumping his RBI total to 102 and finishing the night with a .307/.399/.576 slash line. He's just one homer and seven RBI short of his career highs in those categories, so safe to say this will be a career season. It's amazing to see what he's done this year despite an abnormally-low .784 OPS (pre Tuesday) against southpaws. Those marks the past two seasons were .923 and .880, so there's still actually room for some improvement amazingly. His 18.2% K% would be a career-best if it holds, so Freeman should remain elite for at least a few more seasons at age 29 now.
Anthony Rendon (3B-WAS) - Rendon isn't going to win the NL MVP, but he's having about as good a walk year as a guy can hope for. Tuesday, Rendon was 3-for-3 with a walk, double, RBI, and his third stolen base of the season. The night lifted him to .322/.400/.608, with the 1.008 OPS being a career high if it holds up. Rendon continues to exhibit great contact ability, checking in with a 14.2% K% and a BB% of 9.7%. He would be an easy first-round fantasy guy if we could count on even 10 steals, but his owners aren't complaining much about his numbers. I wonder how many baseball executives would take Rendon over Nolan Arenado given Arenado's H/R splits?
Harrison Bader (OF-STL) - Deeper mixed league owners may have another outfield option soon, as Bader is getting called back to the big leagues. After hitting an encouraging .264/.334/.422 in his first full season a year ago, Bader found himself demoted to Triple-A last month when his 2019 line sunk to .195/.309/.339. He had actually cut his K% a little, from 29.3% to 28.1%, but that's still a lot of strikeouts, so perhaps we should have foreseen some regression given that and his .359 BABIP last year. Hader though fared well in Triple-A, batting .317/.427/.698 with seven homers in just 75 PA, so it's possible he figured some things out. His return seemingly pushes Tommy Edman to a reserve role.
Austin Slater (OF-SF) - Slater's audition for a 2020 starting job went well again on Tuesday, as he hit a two-run homer off Cole Hamels in a 1-for-3 effort that left him at .295/.408/.533 in 105 at-bats with four home runs and 14 XBH. Slater is now a career .270/.354/.383 hitter in 418 AB, which is very respectable, and the power he's shown this year provides some hope for the future. As to playing time, Slater has some competition, but would the Giants really keep him on the bench that often in favor of the likes of Kevin Pillar or even Alex Dickerson who is playing well, but is older? That remains to be seen I guess, but it would seem the Giants aren't going to make the playoffs, and in theory, they'd be looking more towards 2020.
Nicholas Castellanos (OF-CHC) - Amazing what can happen going from a non-contending team in a pitcher's park to Wrigley Field. Castelllanos went 3-for-5 Tuesday, hitting his seventh home run in 18 games as a Cub. My guess is that hitting in front of the likes of Bryant, Rizzo, and Baez is better for a hitter than hitting ahead of guys like Dawel Lugo and Brandon Dixon - don't feel bad if you don't know who these Detroit Tigers hitters are. Castellanos on the year is hitting a solid .287/.340/.505 with 18 home runs. His 112:35 K:BB is pretty mediocre, but that .32 BB/K is pretty much in line with his .28 career mark. Perhaps that improves in his new situation, but Castellanos is probably more valuable in BA leagues than those roto formats that moved to OBP. Either way, he should finish strong with the Cubs.
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