Tyler Flowers (C-ATL): Tyler Flowers hit his 4th homer of the season to spark the Braves to victory over the Mets. While Flowers continues to strike out at a 33% clip, he's made some quiet offensive gains across the board. He's upped his walk rate to 11% and his hard hit rate to 40% while decreasing his chase rate to 26%. Add in his elite batted ball speed numbers, and we have a catcher on the cusp of becoming must-own #2 option in the majority of mixed leagues. Once he garners more playing time, which he should in 2017, he'll make for a sneaky option in keeper leagues.
Kolten Wong (2B/OF-STL): After the Cardinals demoted Randal Grichuk they promptly called up Kolten Wong, who went 1-for-4 with 1 RBI in his debut in CF. Before his demotion, Wong posted an 18% hard hit rate, a 54% groundball rate, and was only able to muster 1 homer and 2 stolen bases. He did post a 1.458 OPS in AAA, and while it was in the Pacific Coast League, the reports flowing out of St. Louis suggest that Wong could be back. There is plenty of risk here, both in terms of performance and playing time, but he's a must-add in all standard mixed leagues for the upside and versatility.
Trevor Rosenthal (RP-STL): Trevor Rosenthal didn't record an out and was pulled after giving up 2 runs in the 9th. While he has experienced his fair share of misfortune with a .412 BABIP, Rosenthal has walked 19% of the batters he has faced and has allowed an ugly 38% hard hit rate. Hitters simply aren't chasing his offerings out of the zone, as indicated by his 22% chase-rate, which is down 8% from last season. Mike Matheny is notoriously stubborn, but the Cardinals can ill afford many more blowups and TR could soon find himself "taking a breather" in favor of Mr. Oh.
Jerad Eickhoff (SP-PHI): Jerad Eickhoff fell to 4-9 after allowing 3 earned runs on 9 hits and 1 walk in 5 and 2/3 innings, striking out 6 DBacks. While Eickhoff continues to provide serviceable numbers, he simply isn't missing as many bats as he did in 2015. His K-rate has dipped to the 20% mark while his swinging-strike and chase rates have also followed suit to league average marks. If he can improve his fastball location--a pitch that features a current value of -11.9--Eickhoff could return to the pitcher from last season. However, until he shows it, stream him for home starts against weaker offenses. In other words don't go to Jerad when he's pitching on the road.
Archie Bradley (P-ARI): Priced at $6500 for his matchup against the Phillies, Archie Bradley screams tournament play on FanDuel. Anytime you can roster a SP for less than 7K who carries a 26% K-rate, you have to consider it. While Bradley continues to experience bouts of wildness, I see this as more confidence based, as his 64% first-pitch strike percentage attests to. The Phillies are 28th in offensive production against righties, making this a prime matchup for the former top-pitching prospect.
FanDuel Value Plays:
Joey Votto $3700
Yasmany Tomas $3400
Neil Walker $3300
Billy Hamilton $3000
Michael Conforto $2900
Rickie Weeks, Jr. $2200
