Joc Pederson- OF- LAN- Idea- Pederson's rookie season has started off with a bang. At home against right-handers he has hit (in an admittedly small sample size) .300 with 3 homers and 10 walks in 40 PAs. At a price lower than 15 other outfielders and facing Rubby De La Rosa (who has given up 2 homers in 12.2 road IP this year), Pederson could have a solid game. Value play- FanDuels salary $3600
Jon Lester- P- CHN- Stats- Lester turned in a quality start in his last outing. This could be the start of some serious regression to the mean. Lester is the 2015 poster child for horrendous luck. Despite a K/9 of 9.97 and BB/9 of 2.08 his ERA is a whopping 6.23. That's even after his quality start. Lester's FIP is nearly 4 runs lower, at 2.25 and his xFIP is only slightly higher at 2.39. That's what will happen when you've got a BABIP of .424 and LOB% of 58.3%. If anyone in your league hasn't looked below the surface, Lester is a definite target to try and get on the cheap.
Darin Ruf- OF- PHI- Hot- Ruf went 2-for-3 with a homer, RBI and walk yesterday. In the last 5 games he has started he has gone 6-for-18 with a homer, 3 doubles, and 2 RBI. Yes, he's struck out 7 times in those games, but 3 of the Ks were in one outing. Given how anemic the Phillies' offense is, it wouldn't be surprising if Ruf got some more playing time. If so, he has shown an ability to belt the long ball. Ruf is tied for third on the Phillies for extra base hits despite being only 9th in PAs.
Tim Cooney- P- STL- Rookie- Cooney's major league debut came earlier than was anticipated, due to the injury to Adam Wainwright. It was also not nearly as successful as he would have liked. Cooney only lasted 2.1 IP and was charged with 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk while recording 3 Ks. Only 28 of Cooney's 52 pitches were strikes, and more than half of the batters he faced reached base. While he posted an ERA of 3.47 at AAA Memphis last year and 3.63 for the same club in 3 starts this year, his FIP was 4.93 in 2015 and 4.46 in his limited action in 2015. With a total of 133 Ks in 175.1 career AAA IP, Cooney can't be expected to provide anywhere near the fantasy value of the superstar he's replacing. At this point he'd have to perform better to show that he's worth any spot on a fantasy team.
Jean Segura- SS- MIL- Cold- Regression is catching up to Segura, and then some. In his past 4 games he has gone 2-for-18 to leave his average at .279 and his BABIP has dropped to .299. That's low for someone with Segura's speed. Prior to this stretch Segura had a .324 average and a BABIP of .344. He has only swiped 3 bases and walked twice this season. Despite a drop in strikeouts to 8.9%, Segura's Batting EYE is at a career low 0.25. His career BABIP is .302, but that's after a .275 in 2014 that can probably be considered an outlier. If he doesn't pick up the pace of his steals, then his fantasy value will be far below what was expected when he hit .294 and swiped 44 bases in 2013.
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