Jeff Francoeur - Francoeur hasn't shown the increase in walks that we've all been hoping to see, but he has shown a bit more discipline this year if you dig a little deeper. The 25 year old had been fairly consistent in swinging at pitches outside of the strike zone in his previous four years (a bit more than a third of the time), but this season he has cut that number by 25%, and he's making a bit more contact on the pitches he is swinging at as well (up more than 5% from career average). The results have been solid in the early going, with a drastically reduced K rate and a 317/348/508 batting line. We're still firmly ensconced in small sample size territory, but the expected rebound from Francoeur this season is looking more likely by the day.
Ryan Church - Church is mysteriously losing playing time a bit lately to the Gary Sheffield retirement tour, but that shouldn't last too long as Church is likely to be the fourth most productive Met on offense regardless. Church, in my mind, has significant upside because injuries and park effects have clouded his performance record at the big league level. He's 30 years old, and as far as I can tell we still don't have an accurate picture of what he can do. I think Church is definitely worth more than his prevailing market value....for example, he's only owned in 18.5% of ESPN leagues. Not a great sample, but an indicator perhaps. I'd be a buyer.
Javier Vazquez - Vazquez tossed his fourth straight quality start yesterday, going six innings against the Reds and allowing seven hits and two runs (one earned), walking one and fanning nine. I definitely like Vazquez this season, as the move to Atlanta can't help but assist his flyball tendencies, and he has a much younger OF behind him to chase down those flies. His K:BB rates are always stellar, so subtracting a few hits and a few homers, well....he should be very solid this year. Keep in mind his first four starts have been this solid despite a .384 BABIP.
Felipe Paulino - Even though Paulino scuffled a bit in his second start and took the loss, I've been impressed by both his stuff and control in the early going. The 95+ fastball was expected and is always nice to see, especially when coupled with a sharp slider, but for a guy that has had trouble walking fewer than four men per nine in the minors he looks to be in decent command of his stuff. He definitely has a higher ceiling than just about any Astro youngster, which is certainly somewhat damning with faint praise. In other words, he's worth a look.
Nick Hundley - Hundley walked and doubled last night in the Pads victory over Pittsburgh, and I'm sort of surprised about how little I'm hearing about him. A 25 year old starting catcher with a minor league EYE of .083 and an ISO of almost .200 should be getting a bit more press, in my opinion. Hundley isn't likely to be a star (especially in that park), but being a solid contributor is well within his reach.
