Albert Pujols (future HOF - STL) - Can we talk about what the future Hall-of-Famer is doing? He has looked done since 2016, including a 215/301/376 line in the first half this year. Something happened during that HR Derby I guess, because he entered Monday's contest hitting 449/500/939 in 18 games since the break, and he singled and homered again to help beat the Cubs 1-0 Monday night. The hard contact rate is up 15% this month, the K rate is down 6%, and the GB/FB ratio is almost half of what it was in the first half. Suddenly 700 HR is a real possibility (#693 was Monday's blast), and I for one will be rooting for it. I do think he's startable in most formats, believe it or not.
Edward Cabrera (P - MIA) - Cabrera walked the first two batters of the game Monday night in Oakland, and then proceeded to go 8 innings while allowing just two singles and one more walk. He "only" struck out 7, giving him 28 in 22 2/3 innings since his return from the minors.....and 0 runs. 4 straight outings without a run allowed, and it's easy to see why when watching him. I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the entire start, and Cabrera is just filthy. He only has 3 1/2 miles of separation between his change and his fastball, but the changeup moves so much it's crazy. The curveball is at least as nasty, and the fastball has plenty of life. The criticism of Cabrera is that he doesn't always know where the ball is going, and that's fair to a point. He's walked 10 in those 22 2/3 shutout innings, but the complete paucity of hard contact this month has kept them from being an issue. There's not the best floor here, but the ceiling is tremendous...a true #1 is within reach. I love this kid, but it is true that the upcoming schedule is nasty. He has a run of LAD, @ATL, NYM, PHI before potentially finishing with CHC and WAS. The good news is that 5 of those 6 scheduled outings are at home, at a park that suppresses HRs by almost 15%. I'm inclined to roll with him despite the schedule difficulty for at least the first outing....his stuff is so electric that the upside is enticing enough.
Drew Waters (OF - KC) - The 23 year old Waters made his MLB debut for the Royals on Monday, hitting 9th and playing RF. He had really stagnated at the AAA level the past few seasons before being dealt from Atlanta last month, but since coming to the KC organization he has hit 295/399/541 with a significantly increased walk rate, something he attributes to the Royals minor league coaching staff. Some of his newfound patience was on display Monday, when after going 0-3 with a K in his first three trips to the plate he was able to coax a bases-loaded walk to force in the go-ahead run in the 8th inning. Waters has plus raw power and plus-plus speed, so if the plate discipline is indeed improved, the below average hit tool could begin to play up. There is some potential here, particularly in terms of speed. I like him in many formats for the stretch run, but there's a rather low floor here to go with the nice ceiling. Probably not for shallow to average depth leagues.
JJ Bleday (OF - MIA) - Bleday walked, singled, doubled, and stole a base on Monday against Oakland in the 3-0 victory. For all the talk of hit tool questions and below average speed, I have to tell you that that's not what I've seen in a couple viewing opportunities. He seems controlled and patient at the plate, with a below average chase rate, and the swinging strike rate through 109 PAs this year in Miami has actually been a tick below average, and it was around average in the minors as well. He also hits a ton of line drives, with a hard hit rate of above 40% so far in Miami, so I'm inclined to give the hit tool something closer to average despite the low batting averages. The power is there and likely still developing, and there's much more speed than advertised as well: his sprint speed is definitely above average and he's averaging a steal every 9.3 games (roughly 16 per 150). I think he could be a 20/10 player as early as next season with a better AVG than people expect (the .246 BABIP seems extremely low given the LD rate and hard hit rate). Could be a top-50 OF within 2 years.
Drew Smyly (P - CHC) - Smyly was great against a lefty-mashing Cardinal lineup on Monday, allowing 4 hits and a run over 7 innings with 2 walks and 6 K's to take a tough-luck 1-0 loss. He's really been pretty solid over 7 starts since mid-July, and he's been flat-out excellent in 4 August starts: 24 IP, 17 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 23 K. He has a couple of road matchups against teams he has handled all right recently coming up (STL, MIL), and he also has road trips to Miami and Pittsburgh coming up in mid-September. I was confident enough in what I'd seen from him recently to start him this week in my house league...the chase rate is a career-best, the BB rate is a career-best, and the swinging strike rate is above average for just the 2nd time in his career. I'll probably be riding him until he bucks me right now.
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