Rhys Hoskins- 1B- PHI- Hot- Hoskins has had a power surge over the last few days, slugging 3 homers in his last 4 games. He now has 15 homers for the season so is pretty much on track to reach his projection of 32. Hoskins has an Exit Velocity of 91.0 and a HardHIt% of 47.3%, so his considerable power is in evidence. His overall value has taken a hit as his average of .238 is below his projection of .252. Hoskins has seen his Batting EYE drop considerably this season, to 0.34 from 0.67 in both 2019 and 2020. His drop in BB% from 15.7% to 8.6% has also impacted his OBP. It climbed from .364 in 2019 to .384 last year but has plunged to .310 so far in 2021. Hoskins has gotten a little better recently, with 6 walks and 13 Ks in June. He has been swinging more often at pitches outside the strike zone (31.4%), a trend that has been increasing. That number has increased from 22.8% in 2018 to 24.0% in 2019 to 37.1% in last year's short season. That is a bad sign regarding hopes for Hoskins to regain his BB% to its former heights.
JT Brubaker- P- PIT- Hot- Brubaker tossed a quality start on Sunday, his second in his last 4 outings. He allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and walked no one while striking out 9. He has pitched well overall In those last 4 appearances, with a 2.82 ERA and 2.41 FIP in that span. Brubaker has exhibited solid control of late, striking out 21 in 22.1 IP while walking just 3. His 4.08 FIP is identical to what he had last year but in 2021 he has been a bit luckier than in the short 2020 season. Brubaker's ERA has dropped from 4.94 to 3.77. Brubaker's control has improved and has helped his results. In 2020 he had a BB/9 of 3.23 and he threw 62.8% of his pitches for strikes. This season Brubaker has a BB/9 of 1.88 and 66.2% of his pitches have been strikes. He has also improved his performance against LH hitters who are slashing .250/.308/.358 against him in 2021 after a .287/.379/.436 in 2020. Brubaker has thrown 93 pitches in one outing and not more than 89 in any other appearance. He is well positioned to have a strong finish to 2021, although being on the Pirates he will probably not help much with wins.
Jesus Aguilar- 1B- MIA- Cold- After starting the month of June hot, Aguilar has cooled off. He hasn't hit a homer since June 6 and is 4-for-17 over his last 5 game with 1 RBI and no runs scored. His Exit Velocity has been a whopping 96.0 and his HardHit% 61.5% in that small sample. Although his BABIP has been a solid .308, it appears that Aguilar has been experiencing some bad luck of late. His FB% is a solid 46.2%. It looks like he is primed to break out.
Tommy Edman- OF- STL- Stats- It's looking more and more than Edman's .304 average in his rookie season of 2019 was an outlier fueled by a .346 BABIP and small sample size (349 PAs.) What looks like it is for real is Edman's speed. He has stolen 13 bases in 312 PAs this season. That compares favorably with the 15 he stole in 2019. Edman's 86.6 Exit Velocity, 36.1% HardHit%, and 3.5% Barrel% are close to his career averages and don't scream "power hitter." With 4 homers so far he has a shot at double digit homers, but it is steals where his primary value lies in the current fantasy realm. It also helps that Edman is extremely versatile, being eligible in most leagues at all OF positions as well as 2B, 3B, and SS.
Brandon Belt- 1B- SF- Hot- Belt has been hot lately, and is riding a 7-game hitting streak in which he has hit 3 homers, scored 8 runs, and knocked in 6. He is 12-for-28 and has raised his season average from .216 to .253. While Belt has a K% of 28.1% during the streak that has actually improved his season number to 32.1%. He has 11 homers and so is likely to pass his career high of 18. Belt has retained the power he found in 2020, with his Exit Velocity of 89.4 just below last year's 90.7, his HardHIt% of 47.5% higher than his 46.9 in 2020 and his Barrel% of 15.8% also close to last year's 16.8%. That K% is well above his 20.1% mark of last season. Belt is still walking a lot, with a 14.5% BB%. In order to bring his average up he needs to cut his SwStr%, which has increased from 9.3% to 12.4% and improve contact, as his Caontact% has dropped from 87.1% to 73.0%. The very high K% is out of line with Belt's career, even looking at his power rise in the shortened 2020 season, when he hit 9 homers in 179PAs. How much more value he will provide for the rest of this season depends on whether his plate discipline improves.
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