Jeff Locke - After an 8 inning, 3 hit, 2 run (1 earned) performance against the Phils Sunday, Jeff Locke has now rattled off 6 straight quality starts since returning from AAA. Most remember last year's flukily good first half and are expecting a pumpkin anytime now, but I'm not so certain. His control has been phenomenal during this stretch, with just 6 walks in 7 starts on the season, and the separation between his fastball and his change (his best pitch by far) has increased by 2 full MPH this season, helping him to post career bests in swinging strike% and chase rate by a fairly substantial margin. It's only 7 starts, but his SIERA is already over 3/4 of a run below last year's figure, leading me to believe that this is much less of an aberration than last year's hot start. The schedule is pretty rough for the few weeks surrounding the break, but I'd likely be willing to make him a reserve over that span and see how things look in two weeks....I have a sneaking suspicion that Locke is going to provide back-end rotational value all year.
Jesse Hahn - Hahn tossed another quality start against the Giants on Sunday, holding them to 3 runs on 5 hits over 7 innings with 2 alks and 5 K's. Hahn has been getting most of his production out of his curve, as his velocity doesn't seem to have completely returned from the numerous arm injuries over the past handful of seasons. He has a very fortunate BABIP thus far, but he still looks like someone that belongs in a rotation, although it's possible that you can find a trade partner that might value him a bit more than you should.
Josh Harrison - Harrison continues to impress, tripling and scoring twice on Sunday to bring his 2014 line up to 298/335/453. With Clint Barmes hitting the DL, there is a pretty fair chance that Harrison will be able to add SS eligibility to his profile over the next few weeks, which only enhances the value that he can provide. The soon-to-be 27 year old is offering a career best in LD rate to go along enough power and speed to be on pace for 10 HRs and nearly 20 SBs, and I don't believe this performance level to be over his head.
David Peralta - Peralta's value continues to rise, as he was still in the lineup yesterday against lefty Alex Wood. Peralta singled in 4 trips to extend his hitting streak to 7 games, and he's now hitting 325/347/444 over his first 117 ABs. He's been the beneficiary of some good fortune on balls in play, but he's shown 10-15 HR power and a bit of speed as well, so he certainly belongs in many lineups as long as he's hot. With just 410 minor league ABs after his conversion from pitching and a stint in the indy leagues, it's certainly possible that there is still some more growth to be had here as well.
Jay Bruce - Bruce broke an 0-26 slump with a 2-run homer off of lefty Will Smith on Sunday, giving him 8 in 70 games on the year. Despite a poor end of the month, Bruce still hit 300/351/540 during June, lending some credence to his claims that his knee feels 100% now. There's probably a bit of a trickle-down effect for Bruce with Todd Frazier moving up to the #2 slot and Joey Votto struggling....Bruce's zone% is under 40 for the first time in his career, so there haven't been a lot of decent pitches for him to offer at, but once healthy he looked solid until the past week or so. I think that he should have a 2nd half that is much more typical of him, so if a "buy low" strategy is available, I would pursue it.
