Chase Anderson (SP-MIL) - If you have overlooked Anderson's recent run, you're not alone. Tuesday, Anderson beat the Pirates with 5.2 innings of two-run ball. He walked one and struck out four in lowering his ERA to 3.70. In 99.2 innings, Anderson's K:BB sits at a decent 94:33, but while that's fine, his performance over his last nine starts has been more impressive: a 2.63 ERA and 39:12 K:BB over 48 innings. Sure he's not going to be much more than average at best in the strikeouts category, but with solid control and a strong offense (well Christian Yelich at least) behind him, Anderson should have plenty of fantasy value going forward. His peripherals splits suggest that as a Draft Kings play, he's better at home and best against LH hitting heavy lineups (reverse platoon splits). By the way, assuming ESPN is correct, it seems criminal that Javy Guerra entered the game in the sixth, threw six pitches to retire the last hitter in that inning, and was awarded the win after the Brewers took the lead in the top of the seventh. This is why measuring pitching performance off W/L record is ridiculous.
Dinelson Lamet (SP-SD) - The Mariners' starting lineup Tuesday featured five hitters batting less than .230 but it was still a strong effort from Lamet. The right-hander took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before finishing with two hits allowed over seven innings with four walks and 12 strikeouts. It was easily his best and longest outing since undergoing Tommy John surgery early in 2018, and the outing took his ERA from 5.09 all the way down to 3.90 in 30 innings. His 42 strikeouts indicates that the 10.9 K/9 he put up in 2017 is no fluke, and coming into Tuesday, Lamet was throwing harder (95.7 mph average fastball) than he did back in 2017 (95.0 mph). His 13 walks give him a slightly high 3.9 K/9, but he's never exhibited above-average control regardless. The strikeouts and home park make him an interesting fantasy play.
Bryan Reynolds (OF-PIT) - The Pirates have made some bad trades in recent years (Chris Archer for one), but the deal that needed them Reynolds and Kyle Crick from the Giants for two months of Andrew McCutchen is looking really nice. Tuesday, Reynolds went 1-for-4 with HR #11, giving him a surprising .335/.407/.529 slash line in 351 PA's. Reynolds may not be a 30/30 superstar, but he's yet to hit below .300 at any level, he'll walk around 10% of the time, and strike out 20% or so, making him an ideal #2 hitter in his prime. He's also a former 2nd round pick who stands 6'3", so it's not out of the question that he will be able to add muscle/power as he gains more experience. He's not a player to build around, but a switch-hitting OF who hits .300 with 15-20 home runs and gets on base at perhaps a .360 clip is a valuable commodity.
Jon Lester (SP-CHC) - It's probably an outlier, but when a previously solid pitcher allows 11 runs (10 earned) over four innings on 10 hits with three walks and two homers allowed, it jumps out in the box score. Lester saw his ERA rise from 3.86 to (ouch) 4.46 in the span of those four innings. Over his past four starts, Lester has now allowed 19 runs in 22 innings, even though he still missed bats with 23 strikeouts. He'll try and shake this off and move on, but the A's were hitting everything in sight. I guess kudos to Lester for making it out of the second inning when he allowed eight of his 11 runs. He should be okay going forward, but how will he fare pitching in Cincinnati next time out? I guess we'll see.
JD Davis (OF-NYM) - It's past time to give Davis some love here at Fantistics. He was 2-for-3 with a walk, double, and two runs scored against Miami on Tuesday, hitting out of the two hole. The strong game left Davis with an impressive .305/.374/.504 slash line with 12 home runs in 266 at-bats. With Dominic Smith sidelined for awhile, Davis appears to have left field for himself, and hitting in a prime spot such as #2 in the order will only help. It's time to get him on the radar at least in 12-team mixed leagues, as though he doesn't run much, there is some power in his bat and he did hit .342 last year. Perhaps all he needed was a chance.
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