Yoenis Cespedes: (OF-NY Mets)
In a move sure to excite their fans, the Met's acquired Yoenis Cespedes from the Tigers in exchange for RHPs Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa. Fulmer and Cessa are in the Minors but both are reputed to have live arms. Cespedes is batting .293 with 18 HR's and should provide the anemic Met's offense with the middle of the rotation power bat that they desperately need to make a run this season. Cespedes makes hard contact as demonstrated by his 35.3 Hard Hit % which is a career best. For a slugger, he has a manageable contact rate although his 39.8% Chase Rate and 4.4% walk rate are less than ideal. The move to CitiField will not mute his HR ability since he has exceptional bat speed and superior distance on HR's. Great pick-up for the Mets.
Brandon Philips (2B- Reds) $3500
Brandon Philips is hoping to build off his monster game on Thursday where he went 4-5 with 2 HR's and 7 RBI's to along with 2 steals. Phillips is having a very solid season bouncing back from 2014's disappointing performance. Especially notable is the SB numbers this season which at 14 after one in today's game is a marked improvement over last season's 2. While the power numbers are not impressive, he still should easily surpass last season's career low of 8. He had 7 entering the game today. The turnaround can be partially attributed to a more patient approach at the plate which has seen his K rate drop to a near career low of 11.8%. He is an elite contact hitter at 91.3% this season so the chances of his maintaining this production is strong. At $3500, he makes for a good DraftKings play when he has been this productive the past few days.
Matt Carpenter (3B- STL) $4100
After exploding out of the gate in April with a wRC+ of 201 and following that with a May that was certainly good, the wheels fell off in a major way in June where he hit only .190. The good news is that he has picked it up again of late batting .467 with 5 XBH in his last 15 AB's. These kinds of swings are not uncommon for Carpenter but the severity of this slump was quite extraordinary and he was forced to rest a few days to get his swing back. With the recent burst of power, he is at a career high 13 HR's after another HR today and he has a third of the season to go. His .303 BABIP is well below his .332 career mark so we should see his .261 average rise as the season progresses. Carpenter makes for a good DraftKings Play at $4100 while he has been this hot at the plate.
Domingo Santana OF-Brewers
One of the important pieces in the trade that sent Carlos Gomez to the Astros was the acquisition of Domingo Santana. The 22 year old outfielder is tearing the cover off the ball in AAA batting .320 with 16 HR's and 62 RBI's in 75 games. Santana was up briefly with Astros earlier in the season and he clearly was not ready with a 40.5 K rate in 42 AB's although he did pop 2 HR's. Power is Santana's calling card. A spot in the OF may have been opened for him when Gerardo Parra was traded as well. He will have to exhibit better plate discipline to take advantage of this opportunity but there is no denying his potential. I would recommend that you pick him up in NL Leagues and deeper mixed leagues on the chance that he gets called up soon.
Joe Panik (2B-SF)
Joe Panik is back in the Giants' lineup Friday after he missed a couple games with a stiff back. He brought a .309/.375/.440 batting line into today's game. Panik impressed in his rookie season in 2014 hitting .305 in 73 games but with only 1 HR. This year, the average has stayed strong and he has displayed far more pop with 7 HR's in his 96 games played. Panik has improved his hard contact numbers by 7% and he has continued to hit line drives at an impressive 23% which supports his batting average. The added power is coming from an increased FB rate which now stands at 33%. He is an excellent contact hitter with a near elite 89.4% rate. Panik looks poised to finish out the year strong.
@stevietheshu
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