Gordon Beckham (2B - White Sox) - Beckham was out of the linuep on Monday with a groin strain. He plans on being back in the lineup no later than Wednesday, but remains iffy for the series opener against the Twins on Tuesday. It has been a tale of two seasons for Beckham - pre-All Star and post-All Star. Prior to the ASG, Beckham hit .216 with a .581 OPS, 0.34 FPI, .38 BB/K, and a AB/HR of 91.0. The White Sox stuck with the kind through the early-season sophomore slump and it has paid off. Since the break, Beckham is hitting .372 with a 1.000 OPS, 0.85 FPI, BB/K of .47, and a AB/HR of 26.0.
Mark Teixeira (1B - Yankees) - Can you imagine what Teixeira’s numbers would be like if he played this way the entire year? He hit another HR yesterday, giving him 26 for the season and 6 in his last 9 games. Taking a look at his AB/HR rates, by month, for the season, his outlier month is quite the sore thumb. Starting in April, his rates are 40.5, 19.7, 20.0, 12.0, and 6.8. So for the season, his rate is 16.5, but since May 1st it is 14.5. Taking a look at his FPI reveals a completely different echelon of fantasy star. For the season, his FPI is a respectable 0.65, but since May 1st he’s at 0.74. To round it out, his OPS for the year is .859, but without April he’s at .933. The slow start really kills his overall numbers, but he has been every bit his fantasy worth since May 1st.
Brian Matusz (SP - Orioles) - Perhaps the new skipper is providing a little boost to Matusz. Back-to-back quality starts in August of 6.0 IP and 1 ER allowed might raise a fantasy eyebrow or two. He’s mostly been way too inconsistent for most mixed leaguers this year, especially after a July that saw his ERA climb to 5.46 with only one quality start in 6 appearances. Matusz certainly has the potential to be a big game pitcher and it showed in June with 4-for-6 QS with an ERA of 3.69 (easily his best and only serviceable month of the season). His next two starts will be his biggest test to see if he can repeat his previous two starts. He will face the Rays this weekend and the Rangers next week, two of the best teams in the American League.
Jeremy Hellickson (SP - Rays) - With the Rays making the move on Monday to place Wade David on the 15-day DL, Jeremy Hellickson was recalled and is expected to make today’s start against the Tigers. Hellickson looked great in his debut a week ago when he went 7.0 IP and gave up just 2 ER and 3 hits against the Twins to earn his first big league win. He struck out 6 and walked 2. It remains to be seen if Hellickson is just a stop gap or if he will officially be replacing Davis in the rotation. Its still a risky proposition to start a guy in his 2nd career start, but Hellickson should at least be claimed in AL-only leagues at this point.
Juan Pierre (OF - White Sox) - Juan Pierre has been around forever, which always makes it just a little more difficult to make a free agent claim on him. But not only did Pierre swipe his 43rd bag of the year last night, but he also extended his hit streak to 16 straight, raising his average to .268 for the season and his August average to .325. Pierre’s fantasy value is easy to break down. When he’s hot, he gets on base, steals bases, and scores runs. His fantasy value isn’t going to get much higher than it is right now. If you need SB and runs, look to Pierre for at least another couple of weeks.
