Jonathon India, 2B, CIN
India went 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI against the Brewers on Thursday, giving him 17 HR's in what has been a tremendous rookie season. The strong performance breaks India out of a mini-slump in which he went 3-25 (.120) with 1 XBH and 1 RBI over his last 8 games. Overall, India's power stroke has quickly developed here in the second half, as he now has 11 HR's in 172 PA's since the all-star break compared to just 6 HR's in 316 first half PA's. His FB% hasn't increased much from the 1st to the 2nd half and his EV has not improved, but he has increased his Pull% from 45.3% to 63.0% which helps explain the increased power production. He still shouldn't be viewed as a power hitter due to his modest 87.0 EV, but he is a solid all-around player and the heavy favorite to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award.
Zac Gallen, SP, ARI
Gallen allowed just 2 unearned runs on 3 hits and 2 BB's in 5 IP against the Pirates on Thursday, striking out 6 in the contest. That's 2 straight starts without an ER for Gallen now, as he went 7 scoreless with 9 K's his last time out. Over his last 6 starts, Gallen has a solid 3.63 ERA, but his 41:11 K:BB in 34.2 IP during that time is even better than the ERA would indicate. Overall his 3.98 xFIP indicates that he's a bit better than his 4.32 ERA, and his 10.76 K/9 is very strong. He's actually already at a career high with 80.1 IP, but he should still be a solid play of the remainder of the season.
Rhys Hoskins, 1B, PHI
Hoskins will miss the remainder of the season as he will be having surgery to repar his abdomen. He will finish the season with 27 HR's and 71 RBI in 107 games, a huge improvement over 2020, when he hit just 10 HR's in 41 games. His HardHit% grew by about 4% from 2020 which has helped boost his power. The injury came at a bad time for Hoskins, as he was in the midst of a hot streak in which he was hitting .419 with 6 HR's and 12 RBI in his last 10 games, with an 11.4% K% during that time. Now he'll have to wait at least until 2022.
Alex Wood, SP, SF
Wood went 5.1 IP against the Dodgers on Thursday, giving up 2 ER's on 6 hits and 2 BB's with 5 K's. After a rough patch earlier this month, Wood has now rounded back into form, allowing exactly 2 ER's in each of his last 3 starts. His 4.08 ERA for the season is nothing to write home about, but he has a 3.61 xFIP, 135:39 across 125.2 IP, and a very strong 51.0% K%. Pitching for the Giants also gives him the advantages of a very favorable home park, and pitching for one off the best teams in baseball. He should be a strong option moving forward.
Christian Yelich, OF, MIL
Yelich went 1-3 with a BB against the Reds on Thursday, as he is finally going through somewhat of a good stretch in what has been an awful season for the former MVP. Over his last 14 games, Yelich has hit .352 (19-54) with 2 HR's, 11 runs, 11 RBI, a 16.9% K%, and a strong 92.7 EV. One of the major reasons for his decline the past two seasons is the jump in his K%. He was always around 20% until 2019, then last year the number jumped to 30.8% and this year, he's at 25.9%. He has also seen a drop in his EV though, from at least 92.6 each year from 2018-2020 to 90.7 this season. His recent stretch is too small of a sample, but it will be worth keeping an eye to see if he can maintain those better numbers over the final month of the season. Regardless of how he finishes the season though, Yelich was one of the biggest busts in fantasy this season and will have a much cheaper price tag heading into 2022.
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