John Jaso-Athletics-C
John Jaso went 2-4 with his 6th homerun of the year off of Masahiro Tanaka. Jaso is starting to get some love in the fantasy community and it is righlty deserved. The Oakland Athletics have used the platoon system almost flawlessly with their catchers so far in 2014. Norris has been crushing lefthanders and Jaso takes care of righthanders. Both have been so successful, that the A's have began to play one at catcher and one at DH. This is good news whether you own Jaso or Norris. If I had to own one it would be Jaso. Simply because he is going to see more at-bats against RHP (dominate league #'s wise).
Alfonso Soriano-Yankees-OF
Alfonso Soriano went 2-3 with a double and an RBI. To put it plainly, Soriano has been terrible in 2014. Soriano raised his batting average to .233 to go along with 6 HR and 20 RBI. He has a measly .259 OBP. It will be hard for the Yankees to continue to trot Soriano out there against LHP with this type of success. Soriano's strikeout rate has risen even higher, while his walk rate has plummeted to below 3%. At the age of 38, we might have seen the last of a productive Soriano.
Drew Pomeranz-Athletics-SP
Drew Pomeranz gave up 1 ER over 7 innings with 7 strikeouts against the Yankees. The only blemish was a homerun by Brett Gardner. Pomeranz was once a top prospect with the Cleveland Indians, who was then dealt to Colorado for Ubaldo Jimenez. Pomeranz's career went off track in Colorado, like many pitchers before him, but he has seemed to find success in Oakland. He has a 2.20 ERA over 38 innings with 35 strikeouts. His xFIP is 3.89, which is not terrible, but it is not close to his actual ERA. This means that he is due for some regression, mostly due to his low BABIP and high walk rate. The good news is that he pitches in a pitcher friendly park, strikeouts out almost a batter an inning, and plays for one of the top teams in the league.
Juan Francisco-Blue Jays-1B,3B
Juan Francisco went 1-4 with his 10th HR of the year, courteous of Justin Verlander. Francisco has helped make the Blue Jays one of the most feared lineups in all of baseball. Francisco is known for two things, crazy power and striking out at an alarming clip. The part of his game that gets missed a lot of the times, is that he crushes RHP. So far in 2014 he has hit RHP to the tune of .308 with 9 of his 10 homeruns and the Blue Jays are smart enough to play him only against RHP, maximizing his potential for success.
Justin Verlander-Tigers-SP
Justin Verlander took the loss against the Blue Jays by giving up 5 ER over 7 innings. Verlander's velocity has been diminishing every year since 2011. In 2011, Verlander averaged 95 mph on his FB and this year he has only averaged 92 mph. Verlander has had to adjust to diminished velocity by attacking hitters in different ways. He has begun to utilize his fastball less and his curveball more. As power pitchers mature, they have to begin to rely on command and quality off-speed pitches. Verlander has struggled with this transition over the past year, year and a half. This is evident by his 3.53 BB/9, which would be a career high. Verlander is no longer a top tier SP, but he still holds value overall.
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