Alex Bregman (3B) HOU - Bregman homered again, giving him homers in every other game for the past 7 contests. He's still feeling his way a bit, as evidenced by the swinging strike rate that's a bit out of line with his minor league time, but the LD rate and hard contact% are excellent and solid respectively, so I'd expect that AVG to continue to climb. Bregman should definitely be owned in all formats, and could easily be a top-50 player as early as next season.
Devon Travis (2B) TOR - Travis sneaks under the radar a bit when discussing the best players up the middle, but he's basically picked right up where he left off last season, hitting 300/332/475 in just under 300 PAs. By any measure, Travis has been in the top 5 at 2B over the past two half-seasons, giving you some production across the board, and the fact that the hard contact rate and AVG keep climbing every month is a solid indicator that his health is intact as well. He may very well continue to slide under the radar going into 2017 without a full season's worth of a stat line to impress folks, but he's certainly someone that I'll be targeting.
Teoscar Hernandez (OF) HOU - Since we last spoke 5 days ago, Hernandez is 5-13 with 2 HRs, 4 BBs, and only 1 K.....the danger of reading things into small sample sizes lurks on both ends of this. If you'd like to be optimistic, Hernandez looks like a potential star (especially if you ignore his ugly 2015 at AA)...there are signs of power, speed, contact ability, and plate discipline at various points in his career, and there appears to be some positive progress in 2016. His HR Monday off of Jameson Taillon showed impressive bat speed getting around on a high, inside fastball, and I've definitely enjoyed watching him take a sizable number of pitches looking for one he can drive. The upside here is certainly significant: friendly park, solid supporting cast, and power, speed, and patience. I question the contact rate to some extent, but if this year's gains are to be believed, he should easily be a starting-caliber OF in all formats going forward.
Lonnie Chisenhall (OF) CLE - Chisenhall continues to quietly play well, picking up a single and a double in Monday's 1-0 win over Oakland to bring his line up to 300/342/472 on the year. He's followed an odd/even pattern the last 5 years, where he hits more line drives (and thus for a much better AVG) in the even-numbered years, and this year's 25.4% rate is no exception. He gives you a little bit of power and speed as well, but the AVG is the key here....he's a worthwhile starting option in standard formats despite not playing 100 percent of the time.
Mike Zunino (C) SEA - Zunino homered for the 3rd straight game Monday, giving him 9 in just 91 PAs on the year. Unlike his backstop counterpart for this series, Zunino's underlying data doesn't necessarily support this torrid start to his MLB season. There have been minor improvements in swing%, contact rate, LD rate, and hard contact rate, but most of those figures are still average at best (and well below in the case of contact rate). Furthermore, the avg HR distance really isn't better than average either at just 397 feet. At just 25, a catcher with solid power potential is still a reasonable player to own in all formats, but I don't think the ceiling is all that significant....I doubt he's a top-10 catcher in 2017, but he's likely on the fringe of that area.
