Pablo Lopez (SP - MIN) - There was the outing we were all looking for: 8 shutout innings, allowing just two singles and a walk with 14 K's in a completely dominant performance of the A's. Cynics will say that it was just Oakland, and I'll counter with the fact that he gets the Mariners, the Tigers, and the White Sox twice in his next 6 outings. The Astros and Brewers fill out his personal expected schedule through the beginning of August, and for a guy that had an xERA of 3.55 and a SIERA of 3.38 coming into Sunday's gem, I remain relatively unconcerned. Yes, the SS% has been down for the year, but it's been back up for the past 5 outings now.....he just wasn't getting the results that are usually associated with that. Add in an abnormally high HR/FB rate, and it's been ugly. I was 100% in favor of trying to buy him low before Sunday and I was pleading with people to try and do so Saturday on SiriusXM....if you haven't made the call yet it can't hurt to take one last try. If you get rid of that pesky ERA the past 4 years of his career look rather consistent, hence my lack of concern.
Jarred Kelenic (OF - ATL) - Kelenic homered again on Sunday against Nestor Cortes and the Yanks to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. There's still an awful lot of swing and miss here, but hitting leadoff with above average power and an excellent LD rate gives him some upside as well. The relatively weak state of OF in general makes Kelenic worth a claim to me right now, and at just 24 years of age there is still time for his career to get back on track. Since 5/20 (a few days before the Acuna injury), Kelenic is hitting .290 with 7 2B, 5 HR, and 2 SB, which is roughly a 25/10 pace in HR and SB. Sure, he's also on pace for 125+ K's, but there's been positive production.
Jarren Duran (OF - BOS) - Duran had his 4th straight multi-hit game on Sunday, picking up 2 singles, a double, and his 20th SB in a 7-4 win over Cincinnati. He's now hit in 13 straight and is hitting almost .400 with a SLG of about .650 during June. The swinging strike rate is down, the EV is pushing up into plus-plus territory, and he's on pace for 40 SB and 100 R. He may an OF1 heading into 2025 in 12-team formats: that's how good he's been. He hasn't yet shown the power at the big-league level that he did in AAA, but I wouldn't discount 20-HR power from him moving forward either. I've been really impressed with his progress as a hitter.
Jake Irvin (SP - WAS) - Who says you can't throw curveballs at Coors Field? Irvin threw 44 of them on Sunday in his 98 pitch outing, getting 11 of his swinging strikes in yet another strong performance: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K. That's his 7th QS in the past 9, and while he's really only shut down 2 good offenses (I don't include the Braves post-Acuna just yet), you can only play the teams on your schedule. If he can do that in Colorado, I can't really have any qualms about him facing the resurgent Rays and Mets. I keep waiting for him to pumpkin, because the arsenal outside of the curve just isn't all that impressive, but I really think that he's found something over the last few months that is pushing him from "maybe he can be average long-term" to "maybe he can be a #2/#3". The control improvement is fantastic and is really the driving force of my opinion here.
Colt Keith (2B - DET) - Keith was the biggest offensive star in the 11-run outburst on Sunday, picking up his 2nd 4-hit game in the last two weeks (including a double and his 4th HR). Just 22 years old, Keith has been exactly the opposite of the player that I expected to see in his rookie campaign, showing a bit less patience and a lot less power than I thought I'd see, but more speed and better contact ability. It's added up to very little in terms of overall production, but a player that hit 27 HRs with a .300+ AVG in 126 games in the high minors last year certainly merits continued scrutiny, especially when he has improved the contact rate that I expected to be the biggest issue for him. He's still hanging around my reserve lists in deeper leagues, and 4-hit games twice in a few weeks is pushing him closer and closer to the lineup (and to relevance once again in standard formats).
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