Danny Jansen (C-TOR) went 3-5 with a homer, a 2B, 5 RBI, and an additional run scored as he batted 2nd against the White Sox on Monday afternoon. The 29 year-old has - as usual - missed part of the campaign while on the IL, but he's been highly productive when healthy, posting a .333 average to go with 5 big flies, 12 RBI, and 14 runs scored in 78 PA, with a robust wRC+ of 201. With a career BABIP of just .239, his current .321 BABIP is sure to decline, taking his average with it. But to his credit Jansen has logged a career-best 11.5% strikeout rate in his limited sample size while ripping lots of liners (over 23%) and lofting tons of flyballs (59%). His Statcast profile includes a 37.5% hard-hit rate, career-high 12.5% barrel rate, and 89.5 mph average exit velocity, so he should continue to generate pop, as he has throughout his career (when healthy, of course).
Matt Olson (1B-ATL) went 2-4 with a homer, 2 RBI, and a walk in game 1 of Monday's doubleheader with the Padres before going 1-4 in the second game. The 30 year-old has had a largely quiet start to the 2024 campaign, as he now claims a .230 average to go with 6 homers, 25 RBI, and 18 runs scored across 187 PA, with a wRC+ of 110. Part of the low average can be attributed to his 26.5% strikeout rate, his lowest highest since 2020. But the .292 BABIP is actually higher than his career average in that department (.280). Curiously, Olson's Statcast metrics include career highs in a 56.5% hard-hit rate and average exit velocity of 94.5 mph while his 15% barrel rate and average launch angle of 17.3 are in line with his career norms. Expect him to continue to turn things around.
Erick Fedde (SP-CHW) took an L as he scuffled against the Blue Jays on Monday, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits and a walk while recording just 2 punchouts over 6 innings of work. The 31 year-old righty tossed 57 of his 84 offerings for strikes while surrendering one longball. The rough outing represented some correction to the mean for Fedde, as there was a significant gap between his ERA (2.60) and xFIP (3.60) entering the contest. Still, he's been a solid pitcher so far in his return to MLB, with a 3.10 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, and 3.78 xFIP through his first 58 IP (10 starts) of the season. The control remains much improved on his career walk rate (3.6 career) and his strikeouts are up a bit (7.2 K/9 career), but Fedde simply doesn't miss enough bats (8% swinging-strike rate) as he uses his sinker (31%), cutter (25%), slider (23%), and change (21%) to minimize hard contact (29%) and generate some grounders (46%). One has to have some guts to run him out there on Saturday when he faces the Orioles at home.
Ryan Weathers (SP-MIA) put together another solid outing on Monday, this time holding the Brewers to 2 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks while recording 8 punchouts in 7 innings of work. The 24 year-old lefty fired 56 of his 94 offerings for strikes while all of the damage against him came on an Andruw Monasterio 2-run shot. Weathers now owns an unexciting 3.65 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 3 BB/9, and 4.34 xFIP through his first 56.2 IP (10 starts) of the season, but he's now rattled off four straight quality starts in which he's allowed a total of 8 ER over 27 IP while fanning 19 and issuing just 4 free passes. Weathers's 10% swinging-strike rate is neither poor nor impressive while his contact rate is just slightly below average (78.5%) and he's limited hard contact to a 32% clip. He faces a real test this weekend as he's scheduled to face a Diamondbacks lineup that ranks #2 in MLB with a team OPS of .805 against southpaws.
Robert Gasser (SP-MIL) is an exciting option for standard fantasy leagues as well as DFS on Tuesday as he's slated to take on the woeful Marlins in Miami. The Marlins rank #29 in team OPS against southpaws with a .584 mark. To his credit, Gasser has been solid in his first two big-league starts, compiling a 0.82 ERA, 4.9 K/9, 0.8 BB/9, and 4.13 xFIP in 11 IP. To be sure, that ERA will rise and the strikeout rate is unimpressive, but Gasser's minor-league track record - including an 11 K/9 in 135.1 Triple-A IP last season - suggests that he has more strikeout ability than he's shown so far in the majors. The 24 year-old lefty is currently available in 57% of CBS leagues and 89% of ESPN leagues.
This is just a small sample our daily analysis, join our member area for tools that will help you win your fantasy championship. Click here for details: http://www.insiderbaseball.com/baseballsample.htm Click here to register: http://www.fantistics.com/salesbaseball.php3
