Pedro Alvarez- Pedro Alvarez remains one of the most extreme splits players in baseball. His inability to hit left handed pitching has greatly limited his value to owners in most formats. The exaggerated splits for Alvarez are not the only issue with his 2015 as his ground ball rate has sky rocketed to 55.6%, which is the highest its been since 2011. For a power hitter like Alvarez, the large increase in ground ball rate is a troubling trend. When combined with his inability to hit left handed pitching, it leaves fantasy owners with very little in ways that Alvarez can be deployed. He can be somewhat of a power source against right-handed batters, but unless you have a platoon partner, he should be left on the bench or wire.
Brandon Belt- Brandon Belt hit his 8th home run of the season on Wednesday. The good news for Belt owners is that his power seems sustainable, but his batting average remains a less than stable asset. His .379 BABIP, unlike his power, is not sustainable. It is realistic that Belt may see a 20-25 drop in batting average over the course of the remainder of the season. The negative to that situation is that an extended cold streak is very likely on the way. I'd sell high before that drop comes because once the cold streak starts it will be hard to find buyers.
Chris Rusin- Chris Rusin had his best start of the season against the Marlins last week with an 8 strikeout performance in Colorado. Tomorrow he takes the field against the Marlins in Miami. Rusin has done a very solid job of inducing ground balls and he seemingly had the Marlins number last week. It may be going back to the well one too many times, but I like Rusin again this week against the Marlins especially at his current price tag. Fanduel Salary- $5,500.00
Jake Arrieta- Jake Arrieta has completed the transition to fantasy ace. He has become as elite as one could hope for. After Wednesday night's performance against the Tigers, Arrieta has a 27% K Rate to go along with his 50% ground ball rate, which is obviously that very special plateu that we look for when identifying elite starting pitchers. Equally impressive, Arrieta has managed to walk only 4.9% of the batters he has faced in 2015. Overall, its hard to find a pitcher who has been as consistently outstanding over the last 12 months as Arrieta. Fantasy owners should be more than pleased with the return they are getting on their investment.
Williams Perez- Williams Perez pitched well on Wednesday and ended up with his second win of the season, but he should be ignored in basically all fantasy formats until he can show more consistency on the mound. Perez is walking 12% of the batters he faces, which is far too high a number for a pitcher only striking out approximately 20% of those batters. Perez's 51.1% ground ball rate is one of his saving graces, but it isn't enough to make him relevant unless he can control the strike zone better than he has shown to date.
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