Ben Zobrist- TB- Hot- After having his first hitless game in almost a week on Wednesday, Zobrist bounced back nicely yesterday. He went 3-for-4 with a walk to raise his average to .310. It was his 4th multi-hit game in his last 6. Zobrist is playing a bit over his head right now. His BABIP of .315 is above his career mark but his Batting EYE of 1.56 is way above even his usual solid number. Zobrist did manage an OBP of .405 in 2009 (almost right at his current .404) but that was with the help of a .326 BABIP. Zobrist would be a sell high candidate.
Marcus Semien- CHA- FYI- Semien will be playing 3B until Conor Gillaspie's hand gets better. He has been on a hot streak lately, going 9-for-23 in his last 5 games. Gillaspie was hitting .302 when he got hurt so he will get the 3B job back when his hand is better. Semien is in Chicago's long term plans, though and he is giving indications that he will be able to hit well enough to justify his preseason ranking as Baseball America's 4th best White Soc prospect.
Corey Kluber- CLE- Hot- Kluber was lights out yesterday. He needed just 101 pitches to tally a complete game. Kluber gave up just 4 hits, walked none and struck out 11. It dropped his ERA from 5.40 to 3.90 on the year. AS happened last year, Kluber has been the victim of bad luck. Even after his performance yesterday his FIP is over a run lower than his ERA, in large part due to a BABIP of .353 against him. In 2013, a .329 BABIP produced an ERA over half a run higher than his FIP. Kluber has a K/9 of 8.35 and BB/9 of 1.67 now. He has thrown quality starts in 3 of his last 4 outings and looks like a buy low candidate, if you still can after yesterday.
Carlos Santana- CLE- Cold- Santana went 1-for-4 with a run yesterday but it wasn't a slump breaking type of performance. He has been battling horrendous luck as his BABIP is at .167. Santana has a Batting EYE of 1.00, so he isn't hacking at everything in desperation. This is something that regression to the mean will fix.
Michael Choice- TEX- Hot- Choice has played in all but one of the Rangers' last 12 games. He hasn't always started but he has been getting at bats even before Shin-Soo Choo sprained his foot. During this stretch he has batted .333 in 27 PAs with a homer, 4 runs, 4 RBI and a steal, walking 5 times while striking out 6 times. Choice has experienced some good luck, with a .400 BABIP. There is a lot to like about Choice, though, and he has seemed ready to make the jump to a major league assignment. If Choo is out for a significant length of time, Choice would be a solid one for a sleeper choice (see what I did there?)
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