Domonic Brown (OF-PHI): Garrett Richards shut down Domonic Brown and the Phillies' bats. Brown has looked awful at the plate this year, and after the 0-for-4, 2 k performance last night, his season line now sits at .221/.282/.294. Interestingly, Brown has improved his contact rate and EYE, but most alarming is the 12% spike in his groundball rate (now at 54%!). And (wait for the nails on a chalkboard), Ryne Sandberg recently implied that Brown will sit on days when the Phillies face "tough lefties" even though Brown hit them well last year and is actually showing a reverse split this season! With this news and with Brown's overall struggles, I'd be willing to accept as little as 75% of his draft day value.
Rafael Montero (SP-NYM): Rafael Montero impressed in his Major League debut, allowing 3 earned runs on 5 hits and 2 walks (3 strikeouts) in 6 innings, but Masahiro Tanaka shutout the Mets to tag him with the loss. I wouldn't put much stock in Montero's AAA numbers from the PCL, although they were decent: a 41:18 strikeout to walk ratio and 17 earned runs in 41 and 2/3 innings. Throughout his minor league career, Montero has shown fantastic control and elite K:BB ratios, and while his ceiling may be lower than fellow Mets' prospect Noah Syndergaard's, his floor is higher and he is more Major League ready now. He is worth a flier in all formats outside of 10-team mixed.
Hunter Pence (OF-SF): Hunter Pence had a monster night at the plate, going 4 for 5 with 2 runs and 3 RBI and hitting his 3rd homer of the season along the way. The effort pushed his season line to .273/.348/.416 with 6 steals, 29 runs, and 13 RBI through 41 games. The hits have been falling for Pence during the past week, as his BABIP (now at .308) continues to normalize towards his career mark (of .318). The veteran has actually cut down his K-rate (to 14.4%) and increased his BB-rate (to 9.9%) and looks primed for a strong 2014 campaign.
Brandon Crawford (SS-SF): Brandon Crawford logged a 3-for-5, 2-run, 3-RBI night, and hit his 5th homer of the season to push his line to .258/.342/.461 with 16 runs and 20 RBI through 39 games. There is reason to believe the power surge isn't a complete fluke, as Crawford has increased his fly ball and home-run-to-fly-ball rates, while continuing to improve his EYE. He could be a sneaky MI add in most mixed leagues for the remainder of the season.
Wily Peralta (SP-MIL): Wily Peralta continued his breakout 2014 campaign with 7 strong innings of his own. He allowed only 1 earned run on 5 hits and 1 walk while adding 4 strikeouts. Peralta has shown that he is a must-start in all fantasy formats. However, there are reasons for concern and to sell high. His 2.05 ERA/3.33 xFIP fueled by a high strand rate and a low BABIP is part of the story, but equally concerning is his average 18% K-rate. You have to love the 4.5% BB-rate and the fact that his average fastball velocity is 95 MPH, and I do think Peralta is developing before our eyes, but if you could net 90 cents on the dollar in a trade, I'd consider.
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