NEW YORK YANKEES: Dididon't - Gregorius has a right shoulder injury that has caused him to leave the WBC, leaving his status for Opening Day up in the air. Even without the injury, Gregorius was unlikely to surpass his 2016

WASHINGTON NATIONALS: "Max"imum Effort - I don't think there's been too much doubt about Scherzer's health this spring, but after tossing a minor league game Thursday he pronounced himself "back to normal", and his pronouncement was backed up by the

Los Angeles Angels: Garrett Richards and his Trick Elbow - Richards was much better in his second preseason outing, going 2 1/3 scoreless innings and fanning 4 batters against the Dodgers. Even with the success of Masahiro Tanaka in rehabbing

Nationals Notes: Welcome Matt? - Wieters signed with the Nationals on Friday, effectively displacing Derek Norris as the starter behind the plate immediately. Wieters has been disappointing for going on 5 years now, never quite living up the hype in

Have a great winter everybody....see you next spring! Ryon Healy (3B) OAK - Healy remains hot, picking up a couple doubles and a walk in the 8-6 loss to LA. Yes, the hard contact rate and BABIP would lead you

Ryon Healy (3B) OAK - Healy homered again Monday, giving him 5 for the month to go along with a 10-game hitting streak. His contact rate has skyrocketed this month, as he's limited the K's to just 10 in 68

Kendrys Morales (DH/1B) KC - Morales homered again on Monday, giving him 3 during his current 8-game hitting streak. Sure, Morales has been a bit of a disappointment this year, but the hard contact rate of 40.8% is extremely impressive,

C.J. Cron (1B) LAA - Cron had another pair of hits on Wednesday, making him 10-16 with 5 XBH in the past 4 games. He's steadily improved his chase rate and contact rate each year in the league, and he's

Tyler Anderson (SP) COL - The rookie is really racking up the K's over the past two starts, as after 8 K's in 7 innings against the Cubs last time out, Anderson fanned 10 Brewers in just 5 innings on

Alex Bregman (3B) HOU - Bregman homered again, giving him homers in every other game for the past 7 contests. He's still feeling his way a bit, as evidenced by the swinging strike rate that's a bit out of line

Gary Sanchez (C) NYY - Sanchez hit homer number 5 before he got to AB number 50 (which was later in the game) on Wednesday, showing off his excellent raw power with a blast into the netting above Monument Park

Mike Zunino (C) SEA - Zunino homered for the second straight game Wednesday, giving him a 286/390/800 line through 35 ABs. More importantly, he 286/376/521 at AAA this season, and Wednesday's HR was his 22nd between the two levels. Still

Alex Bregman (3B) HOU - Alex Bregman got the call on Monday and was immediately inserted into the lineup at 3B, batting sixth against Michael Pineda and the Yankees. He had a rough opener, striking out twice in an 0-4

Tyler Naquin (OF) CLE - Naquin hit his fourth homer in the past 8 games on Sunday, and he's now hitting 314/373/598 through 169 AB. The hard contact rate of 41% and avg HR distance of 404 feet lead me

Didi Gregorius (SS) NYY - Gregorius, fresh off a 337/368/535 month of June, had two singles, a double, and a steal in the 5-0 loss to Chicago Wednesday. He's showing more power than ever before, although it isn't really backed

Chad Green (SP) NYY - It's easy to dismiss a start against the Padres from a RHP, but there might be a bit more to Chad Green's outing than the opposition. Green held the Padres to 1 run on 3

Tyler Naquin OF (CLE) - I'm going to keep writing about Naquin until people start paying attention. The 25 year old homered again on Sunday, and he has 2 2B, 2 3B, and 2 HR in the past 5 games

Robbie Grossman (OF) MIN - Grossman is sizzling, reaching base in his 13th straight game with a walk, a single, and his 5th homer of the year in the 9-4 victory over the Angels on Monday. Grossman is now hitting

Carlos Beltran (OF) NYY - Beltran homered for the third straight game Wednesday, giving him 16 on the year and the 3rd highest ISO of his career. His avg HR distance isn't all that great (383 ft.) for the number

Nathan Eovaldi SP - NYY - Eovaldi continues to make positive strides, holding the Rays to 1 run over 6 innings for his 6th win in his last 7 starts. He walked 2 and fanned 7 as his K rate

Eduardo Nunez 2B/SS/3B - MIN - Nunez homered and doubled Wednesday, and he's now hitting 314/347/482 on the season. He's on pace for roughly 36 doubles, 16 homers, and 32 steals (figuring a quarter of the season has passed), and

Michael Saunders OF (TOR) - Saunders wasn't even in the starting lineup, but he still managed to single and homer in 4 trips to the plate Wednesday, extending his hitting streak to 5 games. He's hitting 315/388/556 for the season

Ian Desmond - OF (+SS?), TEX - 2016 is looking like 2015 a bit, as Ian Desmond is trying to crawl out of a statistical chasm created by an abysmal first few weeks of the year. Desmond is 14-34 with

Chris Tillman, SP, BAL - Tillman didn't throw a ton of strikes on Wednesday, but he was effective enough to scatter a mere two singles and two walks over 6 2/3 shutout innings against the Rays, striking out 9. Beating

Hector Santiago, SP, LAA - Santiago was brilliant Monday, shutting out the White Sox over seven innings on just 2 hits and 3 walks, striking out 10 to pick up his first win of the year. There were some alarming

Marco Estrada - Estrada came off the DL Sunday and pitched a gem against Boston, shutting out the Sox over seven innings on just five hits and two walks, striking out eight. There are a few powerful reasons to expect

NAVA-MORE? - It's looking more and more like a Nava/Gentry platoon is what the Angels will roll into 2016 with in LF, and while Nava really struggled last season, there is a bit of cause for slight optimism. Nava has

FORGET THE BIG THREE, HOW ABOUT THE BIG FOUR? - With the Big Three at the front of the rotation and Lucas Giolito waiting in the wings, Joe Ross has understandably flown under the radar a bit in Washington, but

NEW LEAGUE, RETRO PERFORMANCE? - The converse of the "bet on pitchers moving to the NL" theory isn't quite as sure of a bet, but it does tend to help a bit, and in Andrelton Simmons' case in particular there

David Peralta - The standard September caveat of "make sure he's in the lineup" applies, but I like Peralta very much against Christian Bergman tomorrow. Peralta is priced at $3600 and is hitting 318/375/541 against RHP this year. I also

Justin Verlander - Verlander had a solid outing against the White Sox Wednesday, holding them to 5 hits and 3 runs over 7 innings to pick up his 10th QS in his last 12 outings. More importantly perhaps, he fanned

Starlin Castro - Castro remains on fire, adding to a September hard contact rate of 39% with a pair of doubles in the 9-5 win over the Brewers. Since resuming "most of the time" status on 8/24, Castro is 30-73

Logan Forsythe - Forsythe doubled and homered on Sunday, giving him 31 and 17 respectively on the year. This is pretty clearly a career year for Forsythe, who is pretty much maxed out at this level of power if you

Anthony DeSclafani - DeSclafani has quietly been improving since the beginning of August, maintaining an ERA in the high 3.00's while cutting the walks and increasing the K totals. His strong outing Monday against the Pirates (7 1/3 IP, 1

Eduardo Escobar - Escobar continued his hot hitting Wednesday, picking up a single and a walk while scoring a run for the 11th straight game. He's really blossomed playing every day, hitting 295/375/577 over the month of August and scoring

Julio Teheran - Teheran only allowed four hits and a walk (and three ER) over 7 1/3 innings Monday to tally his 5th straight QS, striking out 5 and picking up his 9th win of the year. It's been a

Jonathan Schoop - Schoop hit his 9th homer of the year against Noah Syndergaard, boosting his line to 301/335/529 through 153 ABs this year. People need to get on the bandwagon here, as 2B with 25-30 HR power do not

Jonathan Gray - Gray was excellent on Monday, allowing a solo homer to Travis D'Arnaud and a couple of walks over six innings, striking out 5 Mets. He didn't get the win due to some very questionable managing from Walt

Jonathan Schoop - Schoop was 1-3 with a 2B and a HBP on Wednesday, and he's hit in 7 of his last 8 to bring his line up to 299/336/551 for the year. His power numbers are extremely impressive, as

Gerardo Parra - Parra came into Monday's game with a line of 408/469/704 for the month of July, and he managed a 1-2 line with two walks against Chris Heston and the Giants Monday night. Parra isn't really doing a

Rougned Odor - I'm having a tough time containing my excitement about this kid lately, and another 3-4 day (single, triple, homer, walk) Wednesday isn't helping things any. Odor is now 40-108 (.370) with 7 2B, 4 3B, 5 HR,

Tom Milone - Milone tossed his sixth straight QS Wednesday, holding the O's to 1 run on 5 hits over 7 innings, walking 2 and fanning 5 to move to 5-1 on the year. Sure, his peripherals look pretty ugly

James Shields - Shields managed a QS Wednesday against the Mariners, just his second in the last 5 starts, with a 6 2/3 IP, 2 ER outing in which he walked 4 and fanned 7. Shields is generating swinging strikes

Eugenio Suarez - Suarez was 3-5 with 3 RBIs, a 2B, and 2 SBs on Monday in the 11-7 win over the Twins. He's now hitting 316/361/421 on the year, and as long as the defensive woes (5 errors over

Kendall Graveman - Graveman is one out against the Yanks away from posting 7 straight quality starts since his return from the minors after a 7 IP, 2 ER outing against Texas on Wednesday. If you're looking at his season

Josh Reddick - I guess we should finally discuss Josh Reddick, huh? Reddick is exhibiting a severe increase in plate discipline this season by any measure (chase rate, swinging strike%, contact rate, swing%, BB rate, K rate), and it's coincided

David Peralta - Peralta continued his assault on RHP Wednesday, going 2-5 with a double against the Braves in a 9-8 loss. He's hitting 282/353/534 against righties and is ranked #54 among OF despite his part-time play, yet he's still

Billy Burns - Burns had two singles, a homer, and a steal in the 7-2 victory over the A's on Sunday, and he's now hitting 309/356/395 through his first 81 ABs of the year. Burns has the LD rate to

Lucas Duda - Duda is certainly a changed hitter this year, combating the ever-present shift with a more level, spray-hitter sort of a swing than we've seen from him in the past. Unsurprisingly, due to the combination of a change

Melky Cabrera - Another 0-5 on Sunday dropped Cabrera to 8-34 with 1 HR for the month of May, dragging his season line down to 264/314/309. That's a putrid performance from a LF, particularly from one that is a notorious

Andrelton Simmons - Simmons had a pretty enjoyable series against the Phils, going 6-11 with a double, triple, and a homer while walking twice. He's now hit in 6 straight, picking up XBH in 4 of those contests. Looking at

Miguel Montero - Montero has been killing it since Tax Day, hitting in 10 straight starts after a 2-4 on Monday night. He's now hitting 298/373/491 despite a BABIP of .300 and a LD rate of 27.9%, and he's posting

Nick Martinez - Martinez certainly pitched well enough to move to 3-0 on Sunday with 6 more shutout innings, but the bullpen (and Mike Trout) kept him from the victory. I was prepared to ignore Martinez entirely, assuming that no

Rene Rivera - I feel like I left a bit unsaid a few weeks ago regarding Rivera, whose 318 ABs last season were his highest total since 2007. Rivera was pushed to the majors (and into a backup role) right

Ian Desmond is definitely a position where you can get a leg up on your competition these days, because if you include Hanley Ramirez, there are still only 4 guys that clearly should be off the board in the first

Doug Fister - Fister is a major concern for me heading into 2015 after a superficially excellent 2014 (16-6, 2.41 ERA, 1.08 WHIP). Fister was able to succeed last year despite precipitous declines in swinging strike%, GB rate, and velocity

Gio Gonzalez - Surprisingly, Gonzalez has had the worst performance of the Nationals' primary rotation members this season, going 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA over 151 2/3 IP. I'm hoping it depresses his value a bit for 2015, because he

Alex Colome - It's hard to judge a guy on a start against the punchless Yanks right now, but Colome was rather efficient through 6 2/3 on Monday, scattering 6 hits and a walk while striking out 4. The 1

Jeff Locke - Locke has fit the bill of a spot starter pretty well for most of this year, and he continued that trend on Monday with a 7 IP, 1 ER performance against the Phillies. Locke allowed just 3

Tanner Roark - I like Tanner Roark. I think he can be a solid back-end starter due primarily to his excellent control and one other thing......his schedule. Roark's peripherals have actually gotten worse across the board in the second half,

Bud Norris - Norris pitched very well on Monday, holding the White Sox to 2 runs on 3 hits over 7 innings of work, striking out 5 without walking a batter. Norris has improved his control, GB rate, and velocity

David Peralta - Through 8 August starts, Peralta has 5 multi-hit games to go along with 3 2Bs, a 3B, 2 HRs, and 2 SBs. He's also picked up 6 R and 10 RBI and has continued to show a

Jose Ramirez - Ramirez looks like he's going to be the starting SS for the Indians down the stretch, as Mike Aviles has only spelled him once since the Cabrera deal. Ramirez is a diminuitive switch hitter with a bit

Enrique Hernandez - Hernandez is a pretty interesting case, as he kind of slipped off the radar for a few years after being drafted in the 6th round (with a $150K bonus) of the 2009 draft out of the American

Jeff Locke - After an 8 inning, 3 hit, 2 run (1 earned) performance against the Phils Sunday, Jeff Locke has now rattled off 6 straight quality starts since returning from AAA. Most remember last year's flukily good first half

Brian Dozier - Dozier had a rough three-game set in Texas, going 1-13 with 5 K's. Let's get something straight: I do like Brian Dozier as a player. He has some pop, he's running like he did in the minors,

Jarred Cosart - Cosart was fairly solid over 6 2/3 against the Angels Wednesday, allowing 8 hits and 3 runs while walking 1 and striking out 8. Cosart is barely owned in any format, and no one seems to think

Josh Harrison - Harrison homered Sunday to give himself a modest five-game hitting streak to go along with a 294/330/486 line for the year. With all of the talk about Gregory Polanco (yes, he's a legitimate star) and Harrison's lack

Phil Hughes - Hughes continued his solid start to the season on Wednesday, moving to 5-1 by scattering seven Padre singles over seven innings, fanning seven without walking a man. Hughes has taken his typically solid control to new levels

Seth Smith - The red-hot Smith only managed two hits Sunday after missing the cycle by a homer and a single respectively the past two days, and he's now hit in 8 straight with 7 doubles, 3 triples, and a

Brandon McCarthy - McCarthy was #1 on my Buy Low list even before Saturday's excellent outing against the Padres, as the 30 year old is showing his typically excellent control to go along with the 2nd-highest swinging strike% of his

Marcus Semien - Semien should get free rein the next few weeks with Conor Gillaspie out, and although the numbers don't look great just yet, there are some incremental gains being made in Semien's game, particularly on the plate discipline

Travis Wood - Wood was brilliant on Monday, allowing 6 hits and a run to Arizona over 7 innings, striking out 9 without walking a batter and hitting a 3-run homer to boot. Wood has shown a sharp increase in

Dallas Keuchel - Keuchel posted his second straight quality start Wednesday, going 6 innings and allowing 6 hits and 2 runs to KC, walking 1 and striking out 5. Keuchel has had a nice little velocity jump thus far (and

Jesse Chavez - Chavez was brilliant on Monday, showing off the two attributes that have led to his ridiculously hot spring: improved control and a flashy new high GB rate. Lest you think that chavez is feasting on weak offenses,

Tommy Hunter - Hunter immediately put himself in jeopardy as the O's new closer with an HBP and a single to two of the first three hitters in a 2-1 game, but he nailed down his first save of the

SEATTLE MARINERS Abraham Almonte - Almonte has somehow moved his way into the discussion for the starting CF job, and now that value that I hinted at a month ago doesn't necessarily have to wait for the inevitable Hart or

ATLANTA BRAVES Alex Wood - With Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy both succumbing to injuries in the past few days, Alex Wood's role with the Braves has become quite a bit clearer: he is now a near-lock to open the

CHICAGO WHITE SOX Adam Eaton - I'm intrigued by Eaton's fantasy value this year, as it looks like he'll be the everyday leadoff man and the team has already come out and said that he will have the "green light"

CHICAGO WHITE SOX Jose Abreu - Jose Abreu is likely the most difficult player to forecast for 2014, with so few Cuban comparables relative to most other foreign countries, a baseball change that likely accounted for a not-so-insignificant portion of

Welcome to spring....after a fashion. Below are a select smattering of the player projections and comments that will soon be available with the draft software, followed by a bit more detail regarding the specific players in question. Hope you all

Dioner Navarro - Those of you still battling the last few days of the year should definitely take a look at Navarro, who is the starting catcher for the final handful of games with Wellington Castillo going under the knife.

Nick Franklin - Franklin has scuffled down the stretch before hitting in his last five games, and that might scare some folks off for 2014, but I think that's being a bit pessimistic. Franklin has been very unfortunate with his

Andrew Cashner - Cashner is accelerating through the finish line this year, showing marked improvement over the last month that culminated (for the time being) in a brilliant one-hit shutout of the Pirates on Monday. Cashner has just 5 walks

Avisail Garcia - Garcia is one name to note for 2014, as the 22 year old finished up August with a 354/386/494 line while starting basically every day. Garcia is filling out, and with that is coming a bit of

Rey Fuentes - Rey Fuentes was called up and started yesterday in CF for the Padres, batting 7th and taking an 0-3 in his MLB debut. Fuentes is a burner with a great CF glove, but more importantly, he took

Scooter Gennett - Gennett had a pair of singles yesterday and has now hit in 14 straight starts (he has had a few unsuccessful pinch-hitting appearances). He's shown a bit more power than expected to this point and has had

Garrett Richards - Richards has been pretty impressive since returning to the Angel rotation, tossing 3 quality starts in 4 (he'd likely have 4 but he wasn't stretched out enough to go more than 5 in his first outing) after

Brett Oberholtzer - I'm sure Oberholtzer's second 7 IP, 0 ER start is going to set off a run to the waiver wire, and perhaps that's OK. The big lefty is an extreme flyball-pitcher with average stuff and good control,

Jose Veras - Jose Veras' value takes a big hit today with his trade to Detroit for 19 year old A-ball OF Danry Vasquez. Veras will provide another set-up man for closer Joaquin Benoit in Detroit, and thus will lose

Tyler Skaggs - Skaggs had a rough go of it last night, allowing 7 runs on 8 baserunners to the lowly Padres over just 3 2/3 innings of work. 5 walks were the major culprit, a common theme in many

Henry Urrutia - Henry Urrutia has been called up and apparently will be serving as the primary DH against RHP for the Orioles coming out of the break. A 26 year old OF from Cuba, Urrutia hit 365/427/531 between AA

Tyler Chatwood - Chatwood was solid again yesterday against the Dodgers, tossing a complete-game four-hitter but falling on the losing side of a 1-0 score. Chatwood has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 10 of 12 starts for Colorado,

Josh Phegley - I feel compelled to put my two cents in on Phegley, who has gone 3-10 with a pair of homers and 4 RBIs in his first 3 games with Chicago, despite the two reviews of the 25-year

Martin Perez - Perez is a guy that few are talking about just yet, and there may be a bit of prospect fatigue about him as he's been on the top-10 lists for the Rangers for 4-5 seasons. Perez has

Miguel Montero - Montero doubled and homered yesterday as he continues to heat up slowly after a miserable first two months of the year. Montero went through a similar pattern last season before breaking out in mid-June en route to

Jarrod Parker - Parker continues to impress, tossing his 9th consecutive QS yesterday by holding the Mariners to a pair of Raul Ibanez homers and little else over 7 innings. Parker's numbers continue to return to normal after an absymal

Jacob Turner - Things are starting to look a bit positive for Turner if you look a little deeper than the standard categories. Through five starts, Turner is 1-0 with a 1.97 ERA, but he's only fanning 5.6/9 while walking

Nick Franklin - Franklin hit his third homer of the year yesterday, and he's now hitting 299/382/522 in his first 20 games with Seattle. He has continued his impressive improvement in contact rate as he has moved to the majors,

Jacob Turner - Turner pitched great in his 2013 debut against the Mets Friday night, shutting them out for seven innings on five hits and a walk, striking out three. Turner has been much more of a "scouts guy" than

Shaun Marcum - Marcum was brilliant this weekend against the Braves, fanning 12 in 7 innings of work but still failing to pick up his first win of the season. You can tell Marcum isn't right when he's issuing walks

Jurickson Profar - Profar was 0-2 while knocking in the only two Ranger runs yesterday in his first big league game of the year, but more disturbing was the news that Ron Washington wants to split time (in his mind,

Dustin Pedroia - Pedroia had a single, double, and two walks yesterday to extend his hitting streak to 10 games in the 12-5 win over the Twins. Pedroia is having an interesting season, hitting .341 with a .433 OBP but

Anibal Sanchez - In a remarkable confluence of luck and skill, Sanchez tossed his seventh straight quality start yesterday to continue his fantastic beginning to 2013. Aside from one outing against the A's, Sanchez has faced a number of middling

Jedd Gyorko - Gyorko is definitely starting to heat up, as another homer last night gives him 3 to go along with a pair of doubles in his last 6 games. Let's set aside his time at Lake Elsinore and

Hisashi Iwakuma - That's 6-7 in QS for Iwakuma after a 7 IP, 1 ER outing against Toronto yesterday, and since that 7th start was a 5 IP, 2 ER, 11 K performance against the Astros it's safe to say

Clay Buchholz - That's six straight quality starts, six straight outings of at least seven innings, and six straight wins for Clay Buchholz after another strong outing yesterday against the Jays. It's curious that his swinging strike% is declining for

Mike Moustakas - Moustakas is 3-8 with 3 walks and 2 doubles since being benched Friday and Saturday, but is the 24 year old ready to become the 30-HR hitter that we all envision? He's been quite a bit more

Nolan Arenado - It appears that Nolan Arenado is coming up to take over the Rockies' 3B job, as Chris Nelson was designated for assignment late last night. Arenado is a very solid hitting prospect that has already posted 14

Daniel Nava - Nava has continued to hit the past few weeks, helping push Jackie Bradley back down to AAA once David Ortiz was healthy, and now appears poised to play most of the time for the Sox in LF.

Tom Milone - Milone picked up win number three on the young season yesterday, allowing two runs on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out six. His control has been great, as usual, but with 28 runs of support

Evan Gattis - You can be sure that Gattis is going to be in the lineup almost every day during this hot streak, as with Freddie Freeman on the DL for at least another week Gattis will be slotted at

Michael Saunders - Another pair of singles to go along with two runs scored and his 3rd steal of the season for Michael Saunders on Monday, as he continues his excellent performance from the WBC into the beginning of the

Felix Hernandez - Hernandez was brilliant last night, allowing just three hits and a walk to the A's over 7 2/3 innings, striking out 8. There has been a lot of talk about Felix's declining velocity over the past few

Ronnier Mustelier 3B (NYY) - There are going to be 200 ABs up for grabs, in all likelihood, for players that wouldn't otherwise have received them for the Yankees this spring before Granderson and Teixeira return. The obvious options are

Gordon Beckham (2B) CWS - After three seasons of disappointment, maybe Gordon Beckham's value has dropped enough now that he will be a bargain once again. Beckham showed the best contact rate of his career in 2012, and ended the

Mike Carp ,OF - SEA (for now) - It definitely looks like Mike Carp will be heading out of town this week after a marginally surprising designation for assignment last week, and that should put all of us on alert

Tommy Hanson - Hanson is coming off a 4th straight season of increasing ERA, to go along with increasing walk totals and declining velocity the past two seasons. Combine that with a move to the more difficult league for 2013,

Jed Lowrie - Lowrie has come off the DL well, hitting in eight straight games in which he received an at-bat to the tune of 300/364/467. We talk a lot about the obvious skills like speed, power, contact ability, etc.,

Ichiro Suzuki - Ichiro reached base five more times yesterday in the marathon win over the A's, and he's 14-20 with 3 doubles, 2 homers, and 5 steals in the last five games. No Yankee OF is signed through next

Adam Eaton - Eaton, if I understand the D-Backs philsophy correctly, should still get a bunch of playing time the last two weeks even after Chris Young returns from his quad injury. Eaton has been fairly impressive since coming up

Johnny Giavotella - The 25 year old Giavotella has hit in six straight after singling and doubling last night against Chicago. It's been a disappointing year once again for a guy that I expected to run away with the 2B

Brett Jackson - In his last 20 games, Brett Jackson is just 10-55 with 27 K's. On the bright side, Jackson has walked 13 times over that span, and 9 of those 10 hits were for extra bases, which pretty

Brett Jackson - Jackson homered again last night, extending his modest hitting streak to 4 games, during which he has a double and 3 homers to his credit. He's also walked five times in the past three games (and 8

Jon Lucroy - Lucroy smacked a pair of homers last night against the Cubs, giving him 8 for the season and bringing his line up to 328/379/554 for the year. The 26 year old has been steadily improving in just

Andy Dirks - Dirks singled, homered, and walked twice yesterday in the 8-4 win over Minnesota, and he's been playing every day since his return, hitting 378/442/568. Dirks has improved in every facet of his offensive game except speed the

Michael Fiers - Fiers had his QS streak stopped at 9 last night in Colorado, as the 27 year old rookie allowed eight runs on nine hits in just two-plus innings. Fiers really has been brilliant since his promotion to

Hisashi Iwakuma - I've been more and more impressed with Iwakuma lately, as the 31 year old "rookie" managed his fifth straight start allowing three earned runs or less last night against the Angels, as he held them to three

Steve Pearce - This is a total flyer, especially since Brad Mills has already said that he doesn't envision Pearce as an everyday player right now, but a RH hitter with power heading to the land of the Crawford boxes

Francisco Liriano - Liriano is heading intra-division, as the White Sox took a gamble on the 28 year old lefty, sending Eduardo Escobar and Pedro Hernandez, two decent to fair prospects, over to the Twins. Liriano was pasted by those

Josh Rutledge - Josh Rutledge was only in the minors for 855 AB's, but the Tulowitzki injury has created an opportunity for him to play consistently with the Rockies. Rutledge has hit 368/390/684 in his first 10 games with Colorado

Michael Fiers - Fiers is, ahem, on fire right now for the Brewers, tossing his 5th straight quality start last night against the Cards in a 3-2 loss. Fiers has allowed 3 runs over 34 2/3 innings in his last

Franklin Morales - Morales got right back into the win column after his first poor start, holding the Rays to two doubles and three walks over five innings last night. Morales has loads of potential as a lefty with mid-90's

Neil Walker - Walker reached base for the tenth straight game, going 2-4 with a double and a homer in the 11-2 rout of the Astros. Walker is taking his time heating up this year, but has increased his ISO

Chris Carter - Chris Carter is back with the A's for his 5th tour of duty, and he's started this one with a bang, going 3-7 with a double and two homers in two games against the Rangers. Carter is

Yasmani Grandal - The catcher of the future may become the catcher of the present for the Pads, as the struggling Nick Hundley was demoted to AAA, opening the door for Grandal to wrest the backstop role away. Grandal has

Jason Castro - Castro is 4-7 with a pair of doubles and a homer over the past few days, and there are a few reasons for optimism in the 25 year old's underlying stats this year. Castro was indeed a

Brandon Belt - Belt had a single, double, two walks, and a steal last night in the 5-3 win over the Angels, and he's now hit in 7 straight and is batting 342/458/658 for the month. I know the Giants

Brandon Moss - Moss has played almost every day since his recall from AAA, and over the last five games he's gone 8-21 with all eight hits going for extra bases. He's knocked in 10 runs while scoring 7, but

Steve Lombardozzi - Lombardozzi is still not to the point where he should be owned in the majority of formats, but the Nats' utility man is basically playing almost 2/3 of the time now and sees his value growing by

Dillon Gee - Gee tossed his 4th straight quality start yesterday, holding the Cards to three runs (two earned) over 7 IP, striking out 8 in a no-decision. Gee has struck out 28 over 27 1/3 IP during this stretch,

Howie Kendrick - I am definitely ready to cut bait on Kendrick in just about all formats. He hasn't had an XBH since May 9th, and he has regressed in just about every facet of the game this year at

Will Middlebrooks - Middlebrooks stayed hot yesterday, going 2-4 with his 6th homer in the 6-4 victory over Detroit. The 23 year old has forced Boston to keep him up in the majors even after the return of Kevin Youkilis,

Melky Cabrera - Cabrera is putting up ridiculous numbers this year for the Giants, including a 426/452/667 line for the month of May after another five hits in the last two games. He has improved his contact rate to over

Matt Adams - Matt Adams is likely to start at 1B for the Cards for at least the next week-plus as the Cards deal with their latest run of injuries. Adams is a 2009 draftee that has done nothing but

Todd Frazier - Frazier hasn't exactly grabbed the 3B job and run with it, going 1-11 with 6 K's since Scott Rolen made his latest trip to the DL, but there's some potential here (particularly if Dusty stays out of

Andy Dirks - Dirks reached base twice more yesterday, extending his hitting streak to 7 games and bringing his line to 379/423/652 for the year. I was ready to brush this off just like everyone else, but after a closer

Jeff Samardzija - I'm getting more and more impressed with Samardzija, who picked up another quality start yesterday in shutting down the Braves over 7 innings for win number 4. The control improvements we noted this spring seem to have

Bryan LaHair - Another day, another homer (and a double) for LaHair, as the Cub 1B finishes April with 8 doubles, 5 HRs, and a .780 SLG. His swinging strike% and overall K rate scream for some regression here, as

Jose Altuve - Altuve had another pair of singles and a steal yesterday, and I'm beginning to think that hitting in the #8 slot benefits Altuve and his natural selectiveness. Altuve pressed a bit upon coming to the bigs last

Chase Headley - Headley banged three doubles yesterday in Colorado to extend his hitting streak to eight games, and he also has 7 XBH for the year already. I think that some of the small improvements that he's been making

Kelly Johnson - Johnson bashed his third homer of the young season yesterday in the 6-4 loss to Baltimore. I think Johnson is in store for a big year north of the border, as he's coming off of a second

David Freese - Freese is one of my favorite kinds of guys to draft mid-round: a guy that hasn't yet had success at the big league level yet has never failed to have success elsewhere (career minor league line of

Kurt Suzuki/Derek Norris - Suzuki is another player that, like J.P. Arencibia in Toronto, can't really afford an off-year with a top prospect breathing down his neck. Derek Norris has opened 2012 with five hits in his first three games,

Brent Lillibridge - This is definitely for deep leagues only, but Brent Lillibridge is exactly the type of player that can give a roster the necessary flexibility to withstand the attrition of a long year. Depending on your roster rules,

Chris Sale - Sale has really impressed me with his control this spring, walking just two batters through his first 24 innings in the rotation. I thought that would be one area that he struggled with early on in his

Chris Sale - Forecasting how relievers will perform when moved into the rotation is probably one of the more difficult things to do, but the consensus on Chris Sale seems to be that he'll be one of the better pitchers

Randall Delgado - Randall Delgado has been adequate in his 7 starts this year for the Braves, posting a 2.83 ERA while managing only 1 quality start with very poor peripherals relative to his minor league totals. Delgado is certainly

Jerome Williams - Williams improved to 4-0 in his return to the big leagues after a 4-year hiatus, as he's posted 4 QS in 6 while tallying a 2.95 ERA. His standard rates don't look all that impressive on the

Cory Luebke - Luebke continued his excellent September run, allowing only a two-run shot to Mark Ellis over 7 innings of work in an 8-2 win in Colorado. Luebke has struck out either 8 or 9 batters in 6 of

Matt Dominguez - Matt Dominguez is up and playing for the Marlins, and while he may not be their #1 prospect as a bat, he's certainly the one with the best combination of upside and current opportunity. I'd expect that

Alejandro De Aza - A single, double, walk, and two more steals for De Aza yesterday as the 27 year old is now hitting 324/365/565 through 108 AB's. Clearly there is a ton of regression to come here, but De

Addison Reed - Reed has stepped right into the White Sox pen and pitched like he belongs, fanning 6 in his first 2 2/3 MLB innings. The 22 year old throws 95 easily with a very solid changeup and an

John Lannan - After last night's 5 1/3, one run performance against LA, Lannan has now gone seven straight starts allowing three earned runs or fewer, bringing his ERA down to 3.48. Unfortunately, there have been nine unearned runs in

Nick Evans - Nick Evans has started the last 5 games for the Mets, including a 4-8 performance yesterday during the Mets' sweep of the Marlins. Evans has posted a minor league ISO of .200 over 2735 AB's, so there's

Peter Bourjos - Bourjos homered again last night, giving him four in the past week along with a 341/383/648 line for the month of August. The OF situation in Anaheim is extremely crowded right now, and all five players involved

Jordan Schafer - As David mentioned, Jordan Schafer did make his anticipated Astro debut yesterday, going 0-4 before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. Schafer is likely to be the starting CF the rest of the way for Houston, and it

Lucas Duda - Duda reached base four times last night and homered for the 2nd straight game in the 5-4 win over the Padres, and he's now hitting 354/444/622 since the All-Star Break. He's going to play primarily 1B for

Salvador Perez - Salvador Perez has arrived in Kansas City to assume the starting catcher's role, making four rookie regulars in the KC lineup right now. Perez is universally recognized as an excellent defender behind the plate, and he's apparently

Nathan Eovaldi - The Dodgers dipped down to AA to replace Rubby de la Rosa in their rotation, and they may have come up with a guy worth taking a flyer on. Nathan Eovaldi is a 21 year old that

Lucas Duda - Duda has started every game since the Beltran trade, so it looks like the Mets are going to try and live with his atrocious defense in the outfield for the time being. I can't believe they wouldn't

Jose Altuve - Altuve certainly doesn't look the part, standing 5'5" on a good day, but the new Astros' 2B can hit with the best of them. The 21 year old hit .408 in the Cal League to prompt a

Ubaldo Jimenez - Jimenez fanned 9 yesterday in just 5 1/3, but three runs allowed against Tommy Hanson was enough to send him to 3-8 on the year. The significant velocity drop and continually deteriorating GB rate have me very

Phil Humber - Humber moved to 8-4 yesterday with seven shutout innings against the Cubs, and he's now thrown five straight quality starts (and 11 out of 12). I'm becoming more and more impressed with the 28 year old, although

Kelly Johnson - Johnson did have an RBI triple and a pair of walks yesterday, but the massive K totals this year are killing his production. Johnson's ISO has maintained its expected bump from the move to Arizona last year

Nelson Cruz - Cruz popped his eighth homer of the month yesterday in the 14-5 loss to the Mets, but the excellent ISO that he's posting this year is offset by deterioration almost everywhere else in his profile. His plate

Charlie Blackmon - Blackmon has impressed enough during his first few weeks with the club that Dexter Fowler was sent back to AAA upon his activation from the DL, exactly what Blackmon owners were hoping for. Blackmon isn't going to

Anthony Rizzo - Rizzo is a must-have in all formats after being called up last week by the Padres, as despite Petco Park's limiting factors Rizzo is expected to be a solid power source in fairly short order. The 21

Justin Ruggiano - Ruggiano has started five of the last six games for the Rays (and has hit in all of them), as Tampa continues to find productive spare parts to remain firmly in contention. Ruggiano's persistent issues with contact

Dee Gordon - Dee Gordon is up to play SS for LA until Rafael Furcal returns from his latest leg injury. We've seen evidence of some maturation in Gordon's game at AAA this year, as the 23 year old has

Tony Campana - With both Marlon Byrd and Reed Johnson on the DL, someone has to play CF for the Cubs, and that someone is going to be Tony Campana for the near-term. Campana is a small speedster that has

Ichiro - Another 0-fer yesterday extends Ichiro's current skid to 1-18, and drops his batting average down to .272 for the year and .213 for the month. Yes, Ichiro's BABIP is rather low for him thus far, but with speed

Chris Denorfia - The demotion of Will Venable is a big plus for the 30 year old Denorfia, who is expected to play most of the time and bat leadoff for the time being. Denorfia has indeed played six of

Justin Upton - Upton hit his 8th homer of the season last night against the Padres in an 8-4 loss. His ISO is just about back to 2009 levels, and his AVG is being hampered more by a BABIP 30

Maicer Izturis - Izturis smacked a pair of singles yesterday against the Rangers, extending his hitting streak to 10 games in the 3-2 win. Izturis has typically offered you a bit of speed and AVG as a bench/reserve type of

Travis Wood - Wood shut the Astros down for the second time in five days, giving him five quality starts in eight outings. On the surface, Wood appears to be a candidate for substantial improvement, as his FIP ERA of

Mike Stanton - Stanton singled, homered, and tripled last night in the Marlins' 6-5 win in St. Louis. Stanton is still striking out at a prodigious rate, but the massive power that he offers could trump that. People said Ryan

Raul Ibanez - Another 0-3 from Ibanez last night drops him to 0 for his last 21. Curiously, there has been no mention of Domonic Brown coming off the DL and splitting time with Ibanez. For me, out of the

Jonathan Lucroy - Lucroy has hit in all five games since coming off the DL, and for me he's a bit of a sleeper as likely the sixth best bat in a decent offense (once Hart returns). Not only do

Derek Holland - I thought Ron Washington should have yanked Holland after 7 strong innings yesterday, and definitely after allowing a single with one out, over 110 pitches, and with a lefty in the bullpen. Instead, a two-run Cano HR

Mike Pelfrey - Pelfrey improved from hideous to poor yesterday, as the Met #1 starter allowed four runs (three earned) and eleven baserunners in 5 1/3 innings against Colorado. Pelfrey's control has escaped him thus far this year, and he's

Brandon Beachy - A 24 yr old undrafted free agent who was pitching out of the bullpen in Class-A Rome just two years ago, Brandon Beachy is now the Braves' 4th starter with Jair Jurrjens on the shelf. After the

Kyle Drabek - Without actually seeing a guy and just reading his minor league statistics every five days, it's easy to occasionally misread a prospect's likely big league contributions, and after watching a bit of Kyle Drabek yesterday I feel

Brandon Belt - The big news today in San Fran is that Brandon Belt has indeed made the Opening Day roster and will be the starting 1B at least until Cody Ross is healthy, pushing Aubrey Huff into RF. Belt

Jhonny Peralta - After struggling during his 27 and 28 year old campaigns, Jhonny Peralta finds himself written off by many as a second-tier option entering the 2011 season. It seemed to me, however, that there were some positive signs

Carlos Guillen - 2B and LF are really the only spots where there is potentially some competition this spring for Detroit, and most of the 2B uncertainty surrounds Carlos Guillen's health. The 35 year old has only averaged 386 PA's

James Shields - James Shields is a popular bounceback candidate in 2011, a sentiment that I'm willing to go along with to a point. Shields' ERA and winning percentage have deteriorated significantly the past two seasons, and it's worth examining

John Lannan - John Lannan's (likely) final start of the season ended his quality start streak at five with a 5 2/3, 4 run outing against the NL East champs last night. Lannan's seasonal line looks like the same guy

Jed Lowrie - Lowrie singled three times and homered yesterday against the Yanks, and at the risk of getting too carried away we're talking about a guy recovering from both wirst issues and mono, two power-sapping ailments if ever there

Chris Narveson - OK, maybe I'm back on the bandwagon. Despite a 5.05 ERA, Narveson hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in an outing since the end of July, and last night's solid start against Houston gives him 4

Jordan Walden - Fernando Rodney blew his second straight save last night against the Mariners, and he's allowed 11 hits and 5 runs in his last 4 appearances. Meanwhile, Jordan Walden has allowed 7 hits and 1 run in his

Adalberto Mendez - Adalberto Mendez was an interesting choice for the Marlins to use as a starter in Game 1 of yesterday's twinbill, as the 28 year old has been primarily a reliver throughout his 8-year minor league career. Finally

Jenrry Mejia - The 20 year old has been tearing up the minors since his demotion, but last night may have cemented his return to Flushing later in the week. Mejia took a no-hitter into the sixth against the Chiefs

Sean Burnett - Lost in the departure of Matt Capps and the ascension of Drew Storen has been the performance of Sean Burnett in the Nationals' bullpen this year. Burnett has pitched exactly nine innings here in August, allowing four

Mike Leake - I think we've moved into full-on warning mode with the Mike Leake situation, as Leake failed to produce a quality start for the eighth time in his last ten tries last night against the Cards. Leake gets

Travis Wood - Travis Wood picked up his fifth quality start out of seven by shutting out the Pirates over seven innings last night, walking one and striking out four. I certainly wouldn't have expected Wood to be the lefty

Mike Pelfrey - When Joseph said that he expected Pelfrey's ERA to move above 4.00, I'm sure he didn't expect it to happen in just a week or two. Nine baserunners and six earned runs (in just 1 1/3 IP)

Hunter Pence - Pence singled and homered yesterday against the Pirates to extend his hitting streak to 8 games, and he's really heated up since summer started, batting 333/429/524 since the first of July. Pence has continued to improve his

Fred Lewis - Lewis has been seemingly growing into the leadoff slot for the Jays before our very eyes, as July has seen him increase his walk rate dramatically, an impact that he has magnified by swiping five bags in

Mike Pelfrey - After another 13 baserunners in 4 2/3 yesterday, I think it's time to throw out the caution flag on Mike Pelfrey. In his last five starts Pelfrey has gone 28 1/3 innings while allowing 43 hits. He's

Howie Kendrick - I'm starting to see some positives with Kendrick, who put up a 301/342/451 line for the month of June. His HR/FB ratio is moving up, and he's made some huge strides in cutting his swinging strike%. He

Tim Hudson - Hudson made it 5/6 in quality starts for the month yesterday, shutting out the Nationals over seven innings of work in a 5-0 win. Hudson is riding a GB% of close to 70 and his best velocity

Jason Castro - Jason Castro is the new starting catcher for the Astros, which now gives them arguably six position players that might warrant ownership depending on league size and style. I say arguably not only because you could argue

Ryan Braun - Braun singled and homered last night, driving in 5 in the 12-2 win over LA. Braun has certainly made strides in his plate discipline over the past three years, increasing his walk rate while cutting his K

Dan Haren - Haren couldn't pick up a 2nd straight quality start last night against Atlanta, but he did manage to pick up the win with a 5 2/3 IP, 3 ER effort. Haren's scuffles have been discussed ad nauseum

Brett Cecil - Cecil was outstanding again last night, this time going eight innings and allowing only one run to the Yankees in a 6-1 victory. Cecil has only been hit hard once in nine times out this year, and

Matt Holliday - Holliday doubled and walked yesterday, finishing May with a five-game hitting streak in which he hasn't struck out once. Looking at his past three or four years though, Holliday really seems to be slowing down early in

Johan Santana - To piggyback onto Drew's comment of a few weeks ago, here are a few more stats that illustrate the decline of one of the better pitchers of this generation: his contact% against has risen to its highest

Michael Young - Young has been scorching in May, as another double and a homer yesterday bring his monthly line to 382/456/551. At age 33, most of Young's indicators have been pointing toward the negative for a few years now,

Mike Pelfrey - Pelfrey halted the Mets' skid last night, holding the Braves to two runs on seven hits over 7 2/3 innings, walking two and fanning three. Pelfrey's best asset is likely his ability to induce groundballs, and three

Casey McGehee - What I wrote two weeks ago about McGehee still stands: he has made tremendous strides this year in his power and control of the strike zone...so much so that I'm inclined to buy in. The AVG, however,

Travis Snider - Snider is heating up, adding three more singles last night to make him 11-20 (with 5 XBH) in his last five games. Despite Snider's slow start to the year, his peripherals are loaded with positive signs. His

Michael Bourn - Bourn singled, doubled, walked, and stole a base yesterday in a 9-1 loss. He definitely has the Juan Pierre 2.0 skill set down pat, which will make him an asset when he's hitting over .300 and

Jonathan Sanchez - Last night was certainly a contrast in styles, as the efficient Roy Halladay faced off against Jonathan Sanchez, who is anything but. Sanchez got the best of Halladay last night, although his 107 pitches only stretch through

Randy Wells - Converted from catcher early in his Cub career, Randy Wells suffered through six-plus minor league seasons (and one rule V selection) to get to the point where he isn't really fighting for a rotation slot with the

Everth Cabrera - There's no questioning Cabrera's raw speed, but you could certainly question everything else about him. Cabrera had a mere handful of AB's above A-ball before last year's decent showing in San Diego, but the decency was masked

Brad Hawpe - Hawpe is now 5-9 with 2 2B's and 2 HR's in the past two games after a couple of solo shots off of Mat Latos last night. At age 31 this year, Hawpe is probably a touch

Gio Gonzalez - Gonzalez looked great in his 2010 debut against the Angels last night, allowing two runs on six hits over six innings, walking only one while fanning six. Gonzalez had two critical issues that primarily influenced his subpar

Ubaldo Jimenez - After bumping up his average fastball velocity to 96.1 in 2009, Jimenez was throwing 96-99 consistently on Opening Day against the Brewers. Although he did allow a handful (plus a few) of singles, Jimenez only walked one

Jason Frasor - It looks like Cito, as is his wont, is going back to the well for Jason Frasor as the Jays' closer to start the season. Frasor improved his control by more than a full walk per nine

Twins 3B - The Twins' 3B "battle" pits the disappointing Brendan Harris against the scourge of all that is good, Nick Punto. With a career OPS of .647 and 5 HRs in 509 games over the last four years, you

Dan Hudson - The White Sox have already brought their 2008 5th rounder up to pitch out of the bullpen, and those of you who can find value out of non-closer RP's would be well served to grab him. Even

Jason Bartlett - A pair of singles and a double cap off a scintillating August for Bartlett, as his triple slash stats for the month read 343/435/535. You can put me in the seemingly small camp that believes that a

Barry Zito - Zito tossed his third straight quality start and ninth straight outing giving up three runs or less in beating the Rockies last night 5-3. Zito is showing his best velocity since 2005 and his best control since

Randy Ruiz - Ruiz chalked up another three hits yesterday, including his fourth homer in 46 AB's, as the Jays fell to Tampa 12-7. Ruiz may have over 4500 minor league plate appearances, but don't be fooled into thinking he

Alcides Escobar - Escobar picked up another pair of singles with two runs scored in his third career start for the Brewers, and it does look like he might be able to provide AVG, R, and SB out of the

Brett Anderson - Anderson was great again last night, limiting the Rangers to two runs over 7 2/3 innings. Over the past seven starts, Anderson is pitching to under a 2.00 ERA and is fanning more than a batter per

Melky Cabrera - Let's call this a big up arrow, as Brett Gardner's injury opens the door for Cabrera to get even more playing time to take advantage of his semi-breakout season. Cabrera's stats sell him a bit short I

Jorge de la Rosa - Jorge won his sixth in a row yesterday, holding the Giants to two runs over 7 1/3 innings, striking out seven without a walk. De la Rosa has made great strides this year in almost

Miguel Montero - Montero hit in his eighth straight, dragging his AVG up 20 points during that stretch to .273. The 26 year old backstop isn't showing as much power growth as I would have expected this year, but his

Ricky Romero - Romero tossed his seventh straight quality start yesterday against the Yanks, holding the Bombers to three runs over 6 1/3 innings to keep his ERA under 3.00. The high groundball/high strikeout combination that he's flashing is a

Scott Rolen - The 34 year old Rolen is having one of his best years (sans power, of course) ever in 2009, courtesy of a line drive rate that rivals the game's best. His .360 BABIP is actually quite a

Pablo Sandoval - Sandoval blasted two more homers yesterday against the Brewers, giving him 11 for the year. Sandoval has basically come out of nowhere to become the Giants' best hitter by far....he did virtually nothing in 2006 and 2007,

Hank Blalock - Blalock has definitely flown under the radar a bit this year, but the 28 year old has had a much better year than meets the eye. What's killing his stat line is twofold: a drastic reduction in

Zach Duke - Zach Duke is, to put it simply, a microcosm of pitching in general. In 2005 (8-2, 1.81 ERA, .296 BABIP, 26.4% LD) you saw extremely lucky Duke. In 2006 and 2008 (15-29, 4.62 ERA, .327 BABIP, 20.4%

Ben Zobrist - Zobrist reached base three more times yesterday against the Yanks, keeping his OPS up near the 1.100 mark for another day. I like Zobrist quite a bit three years back when he was a high AVG minor

Joba Chamberlain - Joba continued his string of strong road performances, posting his most efficient outing of the year against the Indians last night. Joba made it through eight innings before yielding to the Sandman, allowing only four hits, two

Mark Reynolds - Reynolds continued his hot hitting with a pair of doubles yesterday against the Braves, continuing a hot streak that has seen his AVG climb to a respectable .263. His BABIP is a good 70 points higher than

Nelson Cruz - People want to lump (at least before the season) players like Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis into the same low contact, high power group, but I wasn't buying it then and I'm not buying it now. Davis

Andy Pettitte - I'm getting a little worried about one of my favorite players of all time. Career worsts in K rate, velocity, and contact% against are hampering Pettitte this season and causing him to nibble a bit more than

Laynce Nix - Nix doubled, homered, and walked in last night's marathon against the Padres, and appears well on his way to securing more time in the Cincy OF. Nix's development has come off the radar for the most part

Michael Young - Young singled and homered again last night, but I remain on record as forecasting a decline. Fully one-third of the flyballs he has hit have left the park this year, and his BABIP of .355 is a

Michael Young - Young is off to the best power start of his career, but as Michael mentioned over the weekend a supremely fluky 40% HR/FB rate is the culprit, something that will work itself out in good time. I'm

Jeff Francoeur - Francoeur hasn't shown the increase in walks that we've all been hoping to see, but he has shown a bit more discipline this year if you dig a little deeper. The 25 year old had been fairly

Coco Crisp - Despite batting only .200, Crisp is off to a solid start with the Royals, posting an OPS of .923 in the first few weeks. A breakout from Crisp wouldn't be all that surprising if you look at

Jason Kubel - Kubel singled and homered last night against the Jays as he continues to provide some sorely needed offense for the purposely punchless Twins. I still contend that Kubel is finally catching up from the lost year of

David Purcey - The good and the bad of David Purcey was on full display yesterday, as the young left-hander allowed ten baserunners and five runs in just 4 2/3 innings to the Indians while striking out ten. Purcey did

Travis Snider - Snider is definitely one of the favorites for ROY in the AL, and he got off to a solid start yesterday with a double and a homer in four trips against Detroit. Snider hit 25 homers across

David Freese/Troy Glaus - Last night's news that Troy Glaus won't be available for much of the first half (if at all this year) certainly bumps David Freese's stock upwards, and you don't have to squint to much to see

David Freese/Troy Glaus - Last night's news that Troy Glaus won't be available for much of the first half (if at all this year) certainly bumps David Freese's stock upwards, and you don't have to squint to much to see

Daisuke Matsuzaka - Matsuzaka's first spring start looked remarkably like last year's action, as the Red Sox hurler tossed five innings, allowing only two hits and two runs (one earned) with three walks and two K's. Matsuzaka's ERA was expected

Alfredo Aceves - Aceves has thrown two straight quality starts against the Angels and White Sox after last night's outing, leading to all sorts of speculation that he'll be in the Yankee rotation next season, something I find reasonably unlikely.

Brandon Wood - After two homers last night, Wood has three in his last three games, so maybe he's finally adjusting to the big league level. The 23 year old has seen his plate discipline deteriorate in each of the

Justin Verlander - Yesterday was the latest in a season-long stretch of rough outings for Justin Verlander, as he allowed six singles, a homer, and two walks to the Yankees in just 1 2/3 innings to take his league-leading 15th

Will Venable - With Scott Hairston gone for the year, Will Venable has gotten the call for the Padres as, likely, their everyday CF. The Padres' minor league system is full of offense-suppressing parks, as you'd expect given their big

Nelson Cruz - Just like last time he came up, Cruz returned to Texas with a bang last night, blasting a homer, double, and a single in five trips to the plate. Something to keep in mind every single time

Jon Lester - Lester continued his emergence as one of the better young pitchers in the game last night, holding the Orioles to four hits and a run over seven innings to earn his 12th win of the year. He's

Denard Span - Span just keeps hitting, adding a double and a steal to his tally last night against the Yanks. He has looked every bit the leadoff man in August, hitting 325/400/525 with three steals in three tries. The

Omar Infante - Infante is tearing it up right now, showing huge jumps in LD%, BB rate, and contact% this year with the Braves. This is a guy that had 52 extra-base hits in Comerica Park as a 22 year

Marlon Byrd - Byrd was the hero last night with a walk-off grand slam against the Yanks, bringing his post-All Star break line to 283/406/528 in nearly every-day play. Byrd is posting career highs in walk rate, K rate (in

Adam Jones - Jones has been hot since about the 20th of May, and after last night's 3-6 performance he is virtually assured of putting up his second straight month with a better than .800 OPS. He still swings at

Mike Pelfrey - Pelfrey won his seventh in a row last night, shutting down the Cards over seven innings in a 7-2 win. The Mets have won his last nine starts, he's only walked three men in his last 36

Howie Kendrick - Kendrick added to his scorching July with another couple of hits (including a homer), bringing his line for the month to 373/387/678. Basically, Kendrick now has a remarkably similar line to his 2007, with a bit of

Kyle Lohse - Yesterday's outing makes three straight quality starts for Lohse (and 8 of 10, if you're counting), as the right-hander extended his winning streak to eight with seven innings of shutout ball against the Pirates. As easy as

Daisuke Matsuzaka - Matsuzaka has now allowed only one run in his last 17 1/3 innings after shutting the Twins down completely into the eighth last night, helping the Sox to a 1-0 win. That said, I'm still concerned over

Justin Masterson - Masterson scuffled again last night, walking five in six innings and allowing four runs for the second straight outing. He seems to be finding the adjustment to the majors rather difficult, but some of that is masked

Chase Headley - Headley hit a two-run homer last night to account for the Padre offense, giving him three in his first 40 AB's for the Pads. People tend to discount stats from the Cal League and the Texas League

Justin Duchscherer - If you're trying to find some evidence that Duchscherer is due to backslide, I'll offer up a few points to consider. The .242 BABIP has been mentioned already, and by itself it isn't too far from his

Bartolo Colon - Colon didn't have much last night, giving up eight baserunners (including three homers) and several other hard-hit outs in just four innings of work before leaving with a stiff back. Colon has had a very favorable schedule

Edgar Gonzalez - After hitting .290 or better in four out of five seasons in the minors, Adrian's big brother finally ended up in the right place at the right time with the Padres and is picking up consistent playing

Nick Swisher - I think he's back. Yesterday was a Swisher-style line with two homers and two walks, and since his K's are down and his LD% percentage is up from last year, you certainly wouldn't expect this kind of

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Sabermetric Tuesday – Week 10 style. Today I’d like to try and see if we can find some solid evidence pointing toward sustained breakouts on the offensive side of the ball, and perhaps unearth

Michael Young - Young has now hit in 18 straight games after three hits last night and raised his AVG.....10 points. Lots of 1-5's in there for the 31 year old of late, which makes for good press but not

Jason Giambi - Giambi now has an OPS of 1.146 for the month of May after a double and a homer last night, and that obviously doesn't count another ball that he hit to the warning track in left-center, which

Jon Garland - Garland rattled off his fifth straight quality start last night, holding the Tigers scoreless over 7 1/3 innings while allowing four hits and three walks against five strikeouts. More walks and fewer K's, Garland's lot in 2008

Josh Hamilton - Hamilton continued his hot hitting with his 11th homer last night, and with his strikeouts down 8% while basically everything else has remained the same, you've got to be more and more excited about his long-term potential.

Jesus Flores - Flores has jumped right into the Nationals' void at catcher with a modest five-game hitting streak, including a couple more singles last night against the O's. Rule V picks are tricky to project, because they always lose

Delmon Young - One of the biggest Delmon Young supporters I know asked me yesterday about including him in a deal, so the time may very well have come to put the full-court press on his owners in your respective

Travis Hafner - Put simply, this is just not the same guy that we watched from 2004-2006. After making only 40% of his outs on the ground during that tremendously productive three-year stretch, Hafner's GB% has increased to 49% since

Josh Hamilton - The most exciting thing about Hamilton so far this year is not that he’s basically maintained his hitting stats crossing over to the tougher league, although that’s nice in and of itself. For me, the drastic reduction

Conor Jackson - Jackson continued his assault on the NL last night, finishing up with a single, two triples, and a homer in five trips to the plate. He is hitting 364/473/750 on the year, and Drew's prediction for a

Ervin Santana - Santana posted his third straight quality start, allowing three runs over seven innings to the Rangers last night. Santana was very unlucky on balls hit into play last year, and that fact, combined with his excellent stuff,

Huston Street - It's hard to believe that there isn't something wrong with Street. After allowing only 12 homers in 199 innings from 2005-2007, he's allowed 3 in 3 2/3 innings this year - one in each appearance. There are

Nate McLouth - I really think that Nate McLouth is one of those rare players that has changed their game at the major league level. In the minors McLouth was a speed guy, slapping singles and doubles and racking up

Jeremy Guthrie - One look at Guthrie's splits from last season (and the rest of his pro career, if you want to get technical about it) leads you to believe that one game might actually mean something this time. As

John Bale - Bale pitched poorly yesterday down in a AAA game, but as bad as Jorge de la Rosa continues to be (four runs on nine baserunners in four innings, also yesterday) he may still get a rotation slot.

Homer Bailey - Homer Bailey was pretty far ahead of Johnny Cueto in the pecking order this time last year, but it appears that Cueto has passed him this spring, as Dusty Baker seems inclined to give Cueto the third

Looks like the dreaded "job-share" is in force for the catching position with the Padres, as both Josh Bard and Michael Barrett are likely to get substantial playing time. That, of course, relegates them to lower-tier status in just about

Garret Anderson - Not only is Anderson hitting as he did at his peak (after 3 1/2 years of visible decline prior to July), but he's walking more than he ever has before to boot. Anderson is hitting 316/376/564 since

Daric Barton - Barton made his major league debut yesterday against the Mariners, and this isn't going to be your ordinary cup of coffee......Barton may very well be in the lineup to stay. (Incidentally, he went 2-3 with two walks

Alex Gordon - Gordon had three singles for four RBI's yesterday against Texas, but it's his power since the break that intrigues me a bit.....his ISO of .240 is actually quite good, which you'd never believe given the lack of

A.J. Burnett - A.J. Burnett was at it again last night, walking batters with aplomb until he absolutely had to get an out, which he of course was able to do. Burnett has had a very cushy schedule since coming

Danny Richar - Richar hit his second homer of the year last night against the Royals, and although he's only batting .192 through his first 52 AB's, I'm a bit optimistic about him. He's only 24, and if we ignore

Ryan Zimmerman - Zimmerman had three more hits last night, and the 22 year old is now hitting 307/364/504 since the break, which is more like what everyone expected from him coming into the season. He seems to fly under

Wilson Betemit - Betemit did what he does best again last night against the O's, posting a homer, a walk, and a strikeout in three plate appearances. I wasn't sure that Joe Torre would recognize Betemit's value any more than

Melky Cabrera - Fresh off of a 368/410/528 July, Melky Cabrera keeps nosing his way toward a .300 AVG and an .800 OPS as we move toward the home stretch. Cabrera picked up three more hits, including a triple, against

Joe Blanton - Joe Blanton has been whining about the presence of rookie Kurt Suzuki behind the plate for his last few starts, but there are a few other factors at work in his last five starts that aren't likely

Coco Crisp - Crisp had four more hits last night, giving him ten in his last three games, and also boosting his July line to 366/430/606. This last flurry has bumped his 2007 line above last year's totals, and although

Matt Garza - Garza has been overlooked a bit this year, both by the Twins and by most fantasy players, after a poor MLB debut last season. The fact remains, however, that Garza has managed a strikeout rate of 10.36

Chris Duncan - Chris Duncan didn't start again last night, but he did come in as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning and singled home two runs to make the game tight at the finish. Duncan is leading the Cardinals

Vernon Wells - Wells has had a horrible first half, but perhaps last night's 4-5 performance will jumpstart him. Wells' AVG this season is about 20 points below his career worst, and after posting four straight years with ISO's between

J.D. Drew - How is it that Drew is owned in only 1 out of 3 ESPN leagues? After another hit and two walks last night, Drew is hitting 306/353/565 for the month of June. He is still a dangerous

Conor Jackson - Jackson has been scuffling a bit lately, but in my mind the 25 year old is a breakout waiting to happen. There might be one or two hitters per team that can exert enough control over the

Jonny Gomes - Three homers in a couple of days for Gomes, who might have a little window here between the troubles of Elijah Dukes and the re-injury of Rocco Baldelli yesterday in a minor-league rehab stint. No matter how

Josh Fields - Josh Fields is going to be the White Sox starting 3B for the foreseeable future, and that after only 1400 minor league AB's to his credit. Fields has solid offensive potential in every category, with 52 HR's

Melky Cabrera - Including last night's 0-3, Cabrera is on a little 8-18 streak right now for the Yanks, and without Jason Giambi in the fold for quite some time, Cabrera is basically assured of playing time for the indefinite

Chad Gaudin - Gaudin's BB:K ratio may not be stellar (3:2 last night despite allowing only one unearned run, and merely 23:46 for the year), but you can look no further than the 0 homers allowed in his last ten

Anaheim Angels: Recap - The Angels have played .600 baseball to open up a 4 1/2 game lead on the A's largely due to the second-best pitching staff (in terms of actual run prevention) in the league thus far. The

Mark Teahen - Teahen has returned to his 2006 post-break performance here in May, hitting 356/447/575 for the month so far. I know there were quite a few skeptics out there in April, but with a .401 OBP through the

Carlos Pena - Carlos Pena is making a bid to keep his playing time once Aki Iwamura returns, as Pena is hitting 343/429/629 for the month of May. Ty Wigginton is the entrenched veteran in the Ray lineup, so perhaps

New York Mets: Recap - Despite having the second-best Pythagorean record in all of baseball, the Mets find themselves 1/2 game behind the Braves in the NL East. Atlanta's performance notwithstanding, the Mets have to be pretty happy with how

Alfonso Soriano - Expanding on what Joe said this morning, I completely agree that Soriano is primed for an excellent month. One thing I've noticed about hot hitters is the tendency to hit the ball with authority to the opposite

Dustin McGowan - With Gustavo Chacin hitting the DL with shoulder pain, Dustin McGowan might be getting another shot at the Toronto rotation, although Chacin's replacement has not been offically announced as of this morning. McGowan would be on the