Jeremy Hefner, SP, NYM Hefner has been an above-average starter for most of the season, but he's still owned in just 27 percent of Yahoo! leagues, likely because he has just four wins. Over his last 15 starts, Hefner has thrown 94 innings and posted a 2.78 ERA, a 74/20 K/BB and a 0.77 HR/9. He allowed seven homers over his first 14 innings this season. The righty has a .257 BABIP, but that's because he has limited line drives to 18 percent and induced infield flyballs at a 9.3 percent rate.
Jake Westbrook, SP, STL It looked like the Westbrook downturn was coming in June, when he recorded a 5.32 ERA in 22 innings after returning from the disabled list, but he has allowed four earned runs on 10 hits over 14 innings in his first two starts this month and has a 2.88 ERA for the season. The right-hander is likely due for some steep regression in the second half of the season. Westbrook's batted ball distribution - 60.6 percent groundballs, 18.7 percent line drives - is nearly identical to his career output, but his .279 BABIP is 21 points below his career BABIP. He also has walked 30 batters and struck out just 29 in 75 innings this season.
Dan Haren, SP, WAS While many fantasy owners likely moved on from Haren long ago, those who are still hanging onto the former frontline starter should consider following suit. Yes, Haren's K/9 of 7.66 and BB/9 of 1.66 are both slightly better than his career rates, the right-hander has been thoroughly clobbered this season. He has given up 112 hits in 87 innings, and 39.3 percent of those hits went for extra bases. If he had enough innings to qualify, his HR/FB of 15.3 percent would rank as the eighth worst mark in the majors. A 15.3 percent HR/FB is a major problem for anyone and is especially harmful for a pitcher with a 43.5 percent flyball rate.
Kyle Lohse, SP, MIL Lohse is having another solid season due to his low walk rate and extremely high strand rate. The right-hander's HR/FB is a career-high 12.2 percent because he hasn't had the comforts of Busch Stadium to fall back on, but 12 of the 16 homers he has allowed were solo shots. While he went 0-4 with a 6.51 ERA in May, Lohse recorded an ERA of 2.53 in April, 2.34 in June and has a 2.45 ERA in July.
Martin Prado, 3B, ARI Prado is hitting .333 with three doubles, three homers, 10 RBI, five walks and a .906 OPS over his last 16 games. The utilityman's BABIP is still extremely low at .263 considering he has a 21.8 percent line-drive rate and a 48.4 percent groundball rate. His career line-drive rate, groundball rate and BABIP are 20.1 percent, 47.5 percent and .310, respectively. This season is unlikely to be a repeat of 2011, when Prado hit .260 with a .266 BABIP - he had a 14.6 percent line-drive rate that season.
