Congratutions to Cleveland fans on their first championship in 52 years! With the Cavaliers taking home the trophy, the Indians will try to make it two in row for Cleveland and right now they are in 1st place in the AL central. With that in mind, I decided to take a look at a few of the Tribe players and what their role should be for fantasy owners.
Rajai Davis, OF, CLE
Davis has been on fire in the month of June, with a .313 BA, an OPS over .800, and most importantly for fantasy owners, 10 steals in 17 June games. Not only is Davis running wild again, but his power seems to keep developing at age 35, as he's on pace for career highs in HR's, runs, and RBI. With a spot entrenched in Cleveland's lineup, Davis looks like a pretty good fantasy asset right now.
Jason Kipnis, 2B, CLE
The good news is that after striking out in 29.3% of his PA's in April, Kipnis has cut his K% to 17.5% since May 1, right in the range of last year's 16.7% mark. He's still unlikely to go back to being a .300 hitter as his .356 BABIP last season will be tough to match, but at least he's not a batting average risk. Another interesting development is that Kipnis has started going the other way more recently, with a 32.7% Opp% in June compared to 18.1% in April and May. If this trend were to continue, it would be good for Kipnis' BA as he has a career .401 average when going the opposite way, compared to .272 when pulling the ball (which happens to be the worst mark of any player this decade). On the other hand, this would be bad news for his power as his HR% is about 4 times higher when he pulls the ball compared to going the other way. It also explains why he only has 1 HR in June. A power drought would be especially problematic considering that his speed has also mysteriously disappeared - his SB on Monday was his first since April 21.
Josh Tomlin, SP, CLE
Tomlin pitched 7 innings on Monday allowing 4 runs (3 earned) and picking up his fourth consecutive quality start. It's been a nice June for Tomlin as he now has a 2.36 ERA through four starts this month. However, he did allow another 2 HR's on Monday and that's been a problem for him this season with 15 HRA in 13 starts. Combine that with a low K% and it's kind of hard to expect his ERA not to rise sooner or later.
Juan Uribe, 3B, CLE
What has gotten into Juan Uribe? Entering this past weekend's series against Chicago, Uribe had a slash line of .217/.276/.299 and quite frankly I was surprised he was still on the Indians' team. He had been even worse in June, with only 2 singles in 28 AB's. Yet here he is now with three homeruns in his last three games, more than he had hit in the entire season combined until now. Despite the hot stretch, Uribe is not likely to help your fantasy team in the long term as he has a career .256 average and hasn't reached 15 HR's since 2010. Considering that his FB% is at a career low 30.6%, it's unlikely he'll reach that mark in 2016 either.
Mark Trumbo, OF, BAL
Ironically as a right handed hitter, Trumbo has actually been better against right handed pitchers this season with a .916 OPS against them. At home against righties, his OPS is 1.012. On Tuesday, he and the Orioles will face SD right hander Luis Perdomo who has struggled against all MLB hitters, but righties specifically have a 1.094 OPS against him. He has also allowed 5 of his 7 HR's on the road, and Tuesday's game will indeed take place at the hitter-friendly Camden Yards. I like Trumbo's chances. Value Play Draft Kings $4,200.
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