1. Dee Gordon (SS - Dodgers) - After hitting over .300 in the minors and posting a .350+ OBP, Gordon has struggled at the big league level. So far this season, he is at a .229/.269/.307, but has still managed to swipe 12 bases in 16 attempts in 26 games. He has been showing a few signs of life with a modest 5-game hitting streak and no strikeouts in 14 ABs to start May. As I mentioned before, you can only imagine the SB potential if Gordon can get on base more. In the meantime, he still has plenty of fantasy value because of his tremendous speed out of a weak SS position.
2. Bud Norris (SP - Astros) - Norris loves to tease fantasy owners with outings like this. He seems to always dominate the Cardinals and it seemed to be the case on Saturday. He hurled 6.0 IP of shutout ball with 3 hits, 4 K's, and 4 BB for his 2nd W of the season. Norris is a K guy but is risky everywhere else. Even though he has averaged almost 6.1 IP per start and has a K/I of 0.88, his WHIP is still 1.39 because of a high H/9 of 9.4 and a BB/9 of 3.1. He's a good addition if you are looking for help with K's but he has the potential to kill your ERA/WHIP in any given week. Next week he'll face the Pirates followed by the Brewers in the following week. I think he's worth the claim for that Pirates match-up for sure.
3. Mark Buehrle (SP - Marlins) - Buehrle's record is just 2-4, but his move to the NL has given him a little boost with an ERA/WHIP of 2.83/1.09. The impressive part is that he's 5-for-6 in QS, but because of a lack of run support has been unable to convert to wins. Buehrle has been in the league long enough where we know with pretty good certainty what to expect from Buehrle. He is certainly exceeding expectations right now, probably due to a change in leagues and a more favorable home-park environment (versus the band-box of U.S. Cellular).
4. Chris Johnson (3B - Astros) - With third basemen like Pablo Sandoval and Evan Longoria going on the shelf for extended DL stings, Chris Johnson's fantasy ownership has skyrocketed over the past week, but he is still floating around in some leagues. Johnson has been quietly hitting the ball well down in Houston, hitting .306 for the season with 3 HR (including his first career grand slam last night), 18 RBI, and 10 XBH. While Johnson may be a good stopgap, his extremely low batting EYE could spell some slumps in the near future. He has 27 K's and just 3 BBs for a BB/K of 0.11. That's good for at least a strikeout per game that has kept his OBP at .333.
5. Jason Heyward (OF - Braves) - Heyward finally hit another HR, his 3rd of the year, which is hopefully a good sign of things ahead. When we think of Heyward, we typically think of power potential but in almost 1,200 plate appearances he has averaged an AB/HR of just 28.7 for the last 3 years. And incredibly, it has been very consistent with a breakdown of 28.9, 28.3, and 29.3. I am optimistic that this year turns out to be a bigger power year for Heyward as his HR/FB % is just 8.3% in 2012 compared to a 12.5% the previous 2 years. And, he is still hitting plenty of flyballs with a GB/FB of 0.60 compared to his previous rates of ~1.20+. Now is a good time to buy low on Heyward as I think we're poised to see a power boost out of him during the summer months.
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