Jorge Polanco (2B/SS-MIN). The Twins continued their trend of aggressively promoting their position player prospects by calling up Polanco from high A Fort Myers on Thursday. One would assume that the Twins intend to give Polanco playing time (presumably at SS in place of the underwhelming Pedro Florimon), since it would not seem to make sense to make such an aggressive promotion only to have Polanco sit on the bench. Polanco was slashing a respectable but not overwhelming .289/.363/.404 at Fort Myers, with 5 HR and 8 SBs. Polanco is ranked as the Twins 8th best prospect by MLB.com (10th best, according to Baseball Prospectus) and profiles as a high-average hitter with middling pop and speed. The bigger question is whether he will be able to play SS, as he is blocked by Brian Dozier at 2B. Because it is not certain how the Twins intend to deploy him, he is not a recommended add right now, but if he gets the chance to start at SS, AL-only owners will want to add him, as he could supply 5 HR, 5-8 SBs and a decent BA for the rest of the season at a scarce position. He is unlikely to be of any use in standard mixed leagues, however.
Mookie Betts (2B-BOS). You're all probably sick of hearing about Mookie Betts by now, but I'm going to add my two cents anyway. If he's available in your league STASH HIM NOW. Betts has continued to simply destroy minor league pitching after his promotion to AAA - he is slashing .330/.422/.455 with 2 HR and 7 SB in 102 PAs. This is after he posted a .355/.443/.551 slash line with 6 HR and 22 SB in 253 PAs at AA. Betts backs up the gaudy power/speed combination with elite plate discipline, as evidenced by his 1.75(!) K/BB rate at AA and 1.09 K/BB rate in AAA. With George Springer and Gregory Polanco already in the majors, there is probably no other player in the minors who offers the potential impact for fantasy squads that Betts does. He played RF for the first time last night, which is indicative of how badly the Red Sox want to find a place for him to play. Given their current offensive struggles, and the recent setback suffered by Shane Victorino in his rehab from a hamstring injury, I would be shocked if Betts does not make an appearance in a Boston uniform within the next week.
Justin Verlander (SP-DET). After several rocky outings in a row, Verlander had a bit of a bounce back outing against the Astros on Friday, as he threw 6 solid innings, giving up 3 ER on 6 hits and one walk while striking out 8. Despite the relatively solid outing, though, there is nothing in Verlander's numbers to indicate that the Verlander of old is coming back. Verlander's ERA for the season is 4.80 and while his FIP of 3.87 and his 65.0% strand rate indicate that he should be in line for some positive regression, that is still a far cry from the Verlander of a couple years ago who was posting FIPs below three. Further cause for alarm is found in Verlander's 16.6 K%, which is almost 6 points below his career rate and his 9.1% BB rate, which is 1.5 points above his career rate. Such a drastic change in peripherals makes one wonder if there is not an injury in play here. With almost half a season's worth of numbers to analyze, it is unlikely that we will see significant improvement in Verlander's numbers. Verlander owners will probably just have to hold on to him and be judicious as far as his deployment (using him only against weaker offenses), as it is unlikely that he would bring much in return in a trade at this point.
Jake Odorizzi (SP-TB). Odorizzi lasted only 5 innings in the second game of the doubleheader between the Rays and the Orioles. While he somehow managed to give up only 1 run, he was not very effective, giving up 6 hits and 4 walks, while striking out 6. Prior to tonight's outing, Odorizzi had been fairly solid and even tonight's outing wasn't a complete disaster, although it didn't do his fantasy owners' WHIP any good. Odorizzi makes for a good sleeper option for the rest of the season, particularly for those in need of help in the K department (10.56 K/9, 27.4% K rate), as his 3.16 FIP and 3.54 xFIP indicate that there should be significant positive reduction from his current 4.14 ERA.
Brandon Workman (SP-BOS). Workman had his first rough outing since his ascension to the starting rotation, as he gave up 4 ER over 7 innings, on 7 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 5. Workman's ERA for the season now stands at 3.27. While Workman's performance has been solid to this point, he is unlikely to be able to maintain his current level of performance. Workman has been very fortunate on balls in play, with a .226 BABIP. As a result, his current ERA is likely unsustainable, as indicated by his 3.85 ERA and 3.97 xFIP. Given his solid 20.4% K rate, and assuming he can maintain a spot in the Red Sox rotation (which according to all indications is going to happen), Workman should be serviceable as a back-end option in AL-only and deeper mixed leagues.
