Javier Baez, SS, CHC
Baez broke out for 2 HR's and 3 RBI as part of 3-5 effort against the Tigers on Monday. It's been a rough go for Baez in 2020 who even after the big day is still hitting just .219 with .684 OPS for the season. Baez has always struck out a lot which is typically associated with a low BA, however his consistently high BABIP (.337 career) has protected him from being a BA liability. This season however his BABIP has fallen to .286 which has left his BA extremely vulnerable. In addition his K% is even higher than usual at 33.6% (career 28.3%) thanks to a career worst 61.0% Contact% (career 67.1%). Baez has been good for long enough that we can expect him to turn things around, and his 91.4 EV is still very good so his BABIP should come up at least somewhat. But this is always the risk with someone who swings and misses as often as Baez does.
Adam Eaton, OF, WAS
Eaton went 2-5 with a HR (2) and 4 RBI in a loss to the Marlins on Monday. Eaton has a weak .239/.300/.370 slash line through 23 games and has been dragged down by a career high 20.8% K%, but his 6.9% SwStr% entering Monday is still elite and right around his career norm, so it's very likely we could see some positive regression to his BA. In fact, over the last 10 games, Eaton has cut his K% to 12.8%, and his results have been a lot better with a .286/.348/.429 slash line during that stretch. Eaton has never been a huge source of power or speed as he has never reached 20 HR's or 20 SB's in a big league season. However he can be a good source of other counting stats, especially considering his prime spot as the #2 hitter in the Nationals lineup. Even with the slow start, Eaton has accumulated 14 runs and 12 RBI through 23 games this season.
Jack Flaherty, SP, STL
Flaherty pitched 5 shutout IP against the Royals on Monday, allowing just one hit and no BB's while striking out 3. Flaherty is still building up after the Cardinals long COVID layoff and only threw 64 pitches in this one, but he was efficient enough to last 5 innings and eke out the win. Overall, he has compiled a 1.98 ERA and 12:2 K:BB through 13.2 IP so far this season, which is actually quite modest considering what he did in the 2nd half last year, but there's no reason not to expect ace-like results moving forward. Flaherty may still not be completely built up by his next start, but he should be able to get through at least 5 or 6 innings.
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, STL
Goldschmidt went 3-5 with a HR and 3 RBI against the Royals on Monday and is now hitting an incredible .368/.507/.561 with 3 HR's across 73 PA's. After hitting at least .290 for 6 straight seasons, Goldschmidt saw his BA drop to a disappointing .260 in 2019 as his typical .340+ BABIP fell to an average .302. So far this season, we have seen the opposite, as he posted a .419 BABIP through 18 games. The odd thing about it is, that while Goldy's peripherals last year didn't differ much from his career norms, his EV and HardHit% this season are much lower than usual, yet he has still managed a higher BABIP this season. While I would love to believe that Goldy is back to his prime MVP-caliber days, reason would dictate that last year's performance is more predictive of what to expect going forward considering the decline in his Statcast metrics. That being said, it could be an interesting opportunity to sell high.
Eugenio Suarez, 3B, CIN
Suarez went 1-4 with his 5th HR of the season against the Brewers on Monday. Suarez has now homered in back-to-back games and 3 times in the last 6 games after hitting just 2 HR's through his first 20 contests this season. He has been struggling mightily overall with his EV and HardHit% significantly below previous seasons. However 3 of his 7 Barrels this season entering Monday have come in the last 5 games so there is hope that things will improve shortly. While a couple of HR's can't be considered a hot streak, we know that Suarez is capable of catching fire, so if he has been wasting away on your bench, now would be a good time to get him back into your lineup in case that happens.
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