Sean Marshall
Marshall made it 3-3 in quality starts with another gem on Sunday against the Braves. This time Marshall allowed only 1 ER in 6 2/3 innings on 6 hits and 1 BB, while striking out 8. Marshall now has a 22:5 K:BB ratio in 20 innings and is 1-2 with a shiny 2.25 ERA. Marshall's been great so far but I continue to question his long-term potential. Despite the strong K Rates early on in this season, Marshall's "stuff"doesn't seem to translate to a lot of strikeouts as his only above average pitch is a curve ball that has been slightly above average most of his minor league career but really sparkled on Sunday. Marshall's curve ball looked similar to Rich Hill's on Sunday and could be a sign that he's going to be a more effective starting pitcher than I originally anticipated. But for now I'm just chalking it up to one good day with exceptional stuff. Last year Marshall was victimized primarily by the HR Ball as he allowed 20 HR's in just 125 Innings as well as a below average BB Rate. Marshall didn't have a lot of problems in the minor leagues allowing HR's and showed good command at the lower levels, but hadn't had much experience above AA heading into last season, so his struggles weren't too surprising. I think long-term Marshall's potential is more of a mid-to back end of the rotation starter and eventually that will show. Marshall makes for a spot start option in mixed leagues and a back end of the rotation starter in deeper leagues.
Felix Pie
Felix Pie was recalled on Sunday and appears set to take over the everyday CF role for the Cubs for the rest of the season. Pie was hitting a cool .396 at AAA with an OPS above 1.000 and had little left to prove in the minor leagues. The 22 year old is still very raw and may not offer immediate success for fantasy owners, but he's a 5 tool prospect in the mold of Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes that will need plenty of time to develop. Pie has that type of ceiling as his defense in CF is already well above league average and has speed on the basepaths is exhilarating. However he's still developing plate discipline (this year at AAA was the first in his career he's ever had more BB's than K's and the first time he's ever been within 20 BB's of his K total. He doesn't hit LH pitching at all but tore up RH pitching so it's still likely he'll see the bench against most LH starters, but it appears the Felix Pie era in Chicago has truly begun. In long-term keeper leagues, Pie is a must add as his ceiling is incredibly high, but in shallower keeper leagues or yearly leagues Pie probably needs time to go through his growing pains offensively at the major league level. On Sunday he got off to a strong start with a 2-5 outing with 2 Runs and a RBI to raise his season line to .241-.255-.407.
Homer Bailey
It appears fantasy owners clamoring for Homer Bailey will finally get their wish this Saturday as the Reds appear ready to call him up to make his major league debut against the Indians. So much for letting the kid get his feet wet with a start against one of the other bottom-feeding offenses in the NL Central as Bailey will face one of the top offenses in all of baseball. As I've mentioned before in this space, I'm not as high on Bailey as I am some of the other top prospects (my quick rankings coming into the season were: 1. Hughes, 2. Gallardo, 3. Lincecum, 4. Bailey). Bailey's certainly in that elite class and many top scouting services have Bailey as the #2 prospect behind only Hughes, so his long-term potential is through the roof. However for this season Bailey's lack of experience above AA (only 130 innings or so) could lead to an adjustment period, especially playing in the bandbox that is Great American Ballpark. He makes for an excellent addition in long-term keeper leagues as he gets to face the weak NL Central for his career and should be an immediate add in NL Only leagues and deeper mixed leagues. In traditional mixed leagues he's worth a flier based on his enormous potential but be aware that it's a speculative pickup. As I've mentioned in previous rants on younger players, it's impossible to know whether they'll adjust immediately like Jerad Weaver or Tim Lincecum or whether they'll struggle immediately like Chad Billingsley or Hayden Penn. Bailey's worth a look just understand what you're investing in.
Hunter Pence
Anyone who thinks they could've predicted *this* from Hunter Pence has to be kidding themselves. With a 4-5 day on Sunday Pence raised his average to .375 on the season and knocked out his 5th HR to boot. He's now Slugging an incredible .625%. All of this despite striking out in 16% of his plate appearances and showing little ability to draw a walk; Pence's minor league career showed the ability to hit for power but also showed much more plate discipline than he currently has exhibited. He's also benefiting from a friendly .330 BHIP% that is unlikely to last, but for the most part all the Power Pence is displaying is quite real. The batting average will certainly come down as the mediocre EYE and high BHIP% suggest a hitter more in the .290 range than the current .375, but Pence will challenge 20 HR's this season and knock in his share of RBI's hitting in the middle of the Astros lineup.
Adam LaRoche
LaRoche has long been forgotten by many fantasy owners after his horrid start in Pittsburgh, but LaRoche is starting to come on of late. LaRoche hit .283-.374-.424 in May and started off June by going 4-11 with 2 2B's and a HR in his first 3 games. LaRoche got off to an awful start in each of the last 3 seasons during the first half only to turn it on significantly in the 2nd half of the season highlighted specifically by last season's FPI of .84 during the 2nd half. LaRoche is available in way too many formats right now and deserves an immediate look. For those owners looking for a replacement for Jason Giambi they should look to see if LaRoche is an easily available replacement on the waiver wire.
