Eric Thames- 1B- MIL- Idea- Thames still isn't at the top of 1B salaries, despite his 13 homers and .315 average. He took a .290/.416/.624 slash line against RH pitching into yesterday's game. The Brewers are facing Luis Perdomo and his .409/.480/.591 slash line against LH hitting. This follows his 2016 slash line of .309/.357/.504 slash line against LH hitting in 2016. Perdomo allowed 15 homers in 66.2 IP against them last year. This matchup is tailor made for Thames to show what he can do against pitchers that don't have "Cincinnati" or "Reds" across the front of their uniform. Value play- Draft Kings salary $4700
Eric Sogard- SS- MIL- Stats- Sogard made his second appearance of 2017 yesterday, grounding out in a pinch hitting appearance. I was in Miller Park Friday when he walked in his first two appearances and homered his third time up. That left Sogard with a perfect 5.000 OPS for the season after 3 PAs. Madison Bumgarner had done Sogard one better in the homer department on Opening Day, leaving himself at the same 5.000 OPS for the season, but hitting 2 homers and walking once. I haven't been able to find out what the record is for highest number of PAs with a 5.000 OPS to start the season, but 3 has to be up there. After yesterday's performance Sogard's OPS is at a mere 2.750. Having had a strong performance in spring training, if Orlando Arcia continues to struggle at the plate, Sogard could see his playing time increase now that he is back in the majors.
Neil Walker- 2B- NYN- Hot- Regression to the mean has been a good friend to Walker. After May 7 he had a .207 average and .231 BABIP. After going 3-for-5 (with a run scored and 3 RBI) Walker is on a 6-game hitting streak with 4 multiple hit games in that span. He is now hitting .255 and although his BABIP is up to .284 there is still room for more positive regression.
Matt Albers- RP- WAS- Rise Value- After recording his 3rd hold of the season in the first game of yesterday's doubleheader, Albers picked up his 2nd save of the season in the nightcap. He threw a perfect 9th inning and struck out a batter. Those 2 saves gives him only 1 fewer than putative closer Shawn Kelley, who blew the save in the first game. Albers owns an ERA of 0.61 and is making a push for a higher visibility role.
Dee Gordon- 2B- MIA- Cold- Gordon continues to suffer from bad luck, only recording hits twice in his last 6 games after going 0-for-4 yesterday. His BABIP dropped to .295 and his average is at .250. Gordon has stolen 11 bases in 34 games this year, so his speed is still there. His Hard% is up from his last full year in 2015 from 17.6% to 19.5% and his LD% is up from 21.5% to 22.7%. There isn't anything there that indicates Gordon won't experience regression to the mean, which puts him as a prime candidate to acquire for a bounce back as the season progresses.
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