Samuel Denudo, Minnesota Twins - Denudo put together a solid start against the Giants giving up two runs in 5.2 innings but couldn't get the win as he left trailing 2-0. He has made four starts now for the Twins and has pitched well in them, allowing three or less runs in each start while going at least 5.0 innings in each. His FIP climbed slightly with his latest outing, but still sits at a very respectable 3.47. Since moving to the rotation, Denudo has relied more on his changeup (2.3% in April, 8.8% in May) which has made his curveball slightly more effective generating the same whiff counts on 7% less curves. Overall, his peripherals line up well with his career averages aside from his FB rate and his HR/FB rate. He's allowing 7% more FBs than his career average but also allowing 9% fewer HR/FB so that may begin to even out if he does remain in the rotation once Ricky Nolasco returns to the rotation.
George Springer, Houston Astros - Springer returned to the lineup Saturday and promptly sent the first pitch he saw from Brandon Maurer over the fence for his fifth homer of the year. He then added another homer, again off Maurer, in the fifth for the first multi-homer game of his career. Springer has been attacking the baseball early in the count, with four of his six homers coming on the first pitch of the at bat. Entering Saturday, when making contact with the first pitch, Springer is 9-for-18 with the four homers and two doubles. Dating back before the injury, Springer had a hit in five straight games (six counting Saturday) and watched his average climb 10 points to .240 with a wOBA of .330. Springer may never hit for a high average with his exceedingly high whiff rates (63.8% Contact Rate),but the power is starting to come around and he's getting on base more often which means only good things for fantasy owners who stuck with him through his slump.
Brandon Maurer, Seattle Mariners - Maurer's terrible 2014 continued against the Astros surrendering six runs in just 4.1 innings of work including two homers, both of which were to George Springer. His ERA now sits at 6.99 and his FIP is still very high at 4.89. He also owns nearly a 1:1 K:BB rate and batters are making contact on 88.5% of pitches that are swung at off the righty. Maurer's fastball is rated as a slightly above average pitch, but he does not have any other pitch that rates about average this year according to Fangraphs Pitch-FX. His sinker though has been extremely troublesome for the righty, as opposing batters are slugging .830 off of it with a .500 ISO. Maurer is probably the best candidate to get replaced in the rotation when James Paxton (3 IP for Tacoma Saturday) and Taijuan Walker (Begins rehab Wednesday) return from their rehab stints.
Rougned Odor, Texas Rangers - Odor had the best game of his young major league career Saturday going 4-for-5 with two triples, a double, and five runs driven in. With the great performance he is now triple slashing .278/.297/.500 with a .343 wOBA. With the news that Jurickson Profar may miss the remainder of the season, Odor's value for the rest of the season takes a large leap. He will have to fight off Luis Sardinas for playing time, but Odor's talent level and track record through the minors should keep him in the lineup everyday baring an enormous slump. Over the course of a season, he has the ability for double digit homers and steals with a respectable batting average. In 130 games across two levels last year, he hit 11 homers and stole 32 bases with a .306 average.
Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels - Based on the ridiculous standards Mike Trout has set for himself, he is starting to heat up over the past week from a "disappointing" start to his season based on his draft position. He now has a hit in five straight games, including homers in back-to-back games but has still struck out four times in those five games. Even with his career high 26.2% K rate, Trout still owns a wOBA of .389 with 10 homers, 33 RBI, and 5 steals, all equating to a 2.9 fWAR (good for third in the majors). As compared to last season, Trout is seeing more fastballs and less offspeed pitches, and it's the second highest amount of fastballs Trout has seen since his 2012 season. Long story short, Trout isn't chasing more pitches, he's simply just not making as much contact as he has in years past which means when he does he could start putting up his incredible numbers across the board.
Josh Sperry - @jsperry1991
This is just a small sample our our daily analysis, for more, join our member area: http://www.fantistics.com/join/join.php3
