Jonathan Schoop (2B/1B - DET) - Schoop doubled and homered (his 5th in 8 games) on Wednesday, and that was after coming into the game hitting 365/422/811 for the month of June. He's frankly been terrific since mid-May, and I think the lion's share of the improvement can be attributed to his showing just a shred of patience for the first time in his career. His swing% is down near 50 after having just 2 seasons under 56.4% in his career, and he's cut his chase rate by 5.5% as well. That slightly more passive approach has helped him across the board, with a bump in exit velo, 2.5% more walks, 2% fewer K's, and a career-high hard hit rate that's up 8% from last season. There are aggressive hitters and passive hitters, and you don't necessarily want to change a player's natural approach. Schoop seems to have managed to rein in the worst of his aggressiveness while still being aggressive overall, and it's absolutely resulted in an improved player.
Abraham Toro (3B - HOU) - Toro is getting all of the playing time in place of Alex Bergman, and he's been producing enough that we should take note. He homered and singled on Wednesday in the 13-0 rout over Baltimore, and he's hitting 306/359/472 through his first 39 PAs this season. Toro has excellent contact ability to go along with a little bit of power and speed....he really could be an above-average player on the whole offensively, and he's going to keep getting playing time for at least another few weeks. I think he needs to be owned in all formats for now, but I'm just not sure there will be any playing time for him once Bregman returns (ETA: 2-3 weeks). For a full season, Toro projects to be a 15-20 HR, 5-10 SB player with a helping, and potentially a very good, AVG.
JP Crawford (SS - SEA) - Crawford entered Wednesday's contest hitting 358/407/568 in June, and that can only increase after going 2-4 with a run and a double against the Rockies. He now has a 10-game hitting streak, and for the first time, the 26 year old seems to be showing a bit of that top prospect pedigree. The contact ability remains very good, but the biggest problem with Crawford from a fantasy perspective is that he's simply a much better real-life player than a fantasy one. His exit velocity is bottom tier and not likely to improve all that much, and while he has decent speed he's never been much of a base-stealer. I could see him becoming a 10/10 player with a good AVG, but that's probably close to the ceiling unfortunately. There is a place for low ceiling/high floor guys on rosters, but it's usually more injury insurance than anything else. He's shown enough this month that I believe that he should be rostered in most formats, but he's more of a lower-tier MI than anything right now. This recent burst of power merits a bit of watching....I'm always willing to revise my opinion for players in the 25-27 age range regarding power ceiling.
Tony Kemp (2B - OAK) - Kemp had another pair of hits on Wednesday, and he's hitting 289/404/459 on the year. He's playing most of the time and hitting leadoff in a top-10 offense, but with the limited power ceiling I don't see a ton of interest in him out there......I think that's a mistake. He has good speed, great contact ability, and hits enough flyballs where 10 HRs is possible. He's probably a 10/15 guy with a helping AVG that'll score a ton of runs, and in OBP-based leagues he's a borderline star.
Robbie Ray (SP - TOR) - Ray bounced back from a subpar outing last start to throw 6 innings of 1-run ball in Miami, allowing 4 hits and walking 1 with 6 K's. The strides that Ray has made this season are simply fantastic. For a pitcher with as little control as he has shown throughout his career to post 2.4 BB/9 through 14 starts is remarkable, and the velo jump has resulted in the swinging strike rate increasing a ton as well. There are still homers, but with far fewer men on base it just isn't as much of an issue anymore. Ray is absolutely pitching to an SP2 level right now, and with the added velo and control there's no reason to expect backsliding.
Jarren Duran (OF - BOS) - Jarren Duran is absolutely killing it at AAA, and with the Sox having a reasonably obvious lineup hole in CF, I think he's worth a speculative pickup if you have the space. Duran has exhibited all of the necessary offensive skills at different times in his 3 minor league seasons, with power finally showing up in large quantities this year (12 HR in 31 G). There is a huge ceiling here, and at 24 I think he's ready to contribute.
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