Jesse Winker (OF-CIN) left Sunday's game against the Phillies after aggravating his intercostal strain and was further evaluated on Monday. The examination revealed that the issue isn't a long-term one, but the club placed Winker on the 10-day IL so he could recover. The injury is a bit of a blow to his fantasy owners, as Winker was hitting .307 with 24 homers, 71 RBI, and 70 runs scored across 481 plate appearances in 2021. As usual, the lefty was drawing his fair share of walks (11%) and not striking out much (16%) while making lots of loud contact (47% hard-hit rate per Statcast). Winker has laced lots of liners (25%) and lofted flyballs to the tune of a 33% clip, leaving him with a 42% groundball rate. Moreover, he used the whole field, as evidenced by a 40% pull rate, 25% opposite field rate, and 35% centerfield rate. Pair those batted ball metrics with a healthy 82% contact rate and it's easy to see how Winker was hitting for both average and power.
Jose Barrero (SS-CIN) was recalled from Triple-A on Monday. The 23 year-old scuffled in his first taste of MLB action last year, batting just .194 with no homers, 2 RBI, 4 runs scored, and 1 stolen base across 68 plate appearances; he fanned at a 38% clip. But he's put together a strong 2021 campaign, batting .300 with 6 dingers, 28 RBI, 31 runs scored, and 8 steals across 180 Double-A plate appearances and .305 with 11 longballs, 34 RBI, 28 runs scored, and 7 steals over 181 Triple-A plate appearances. Although his hit tool rates as below average (even if he did bat over .300 in the minors this year), scouts grade both his power and speed as plus tools. So, he's worth watching in case he ends up getting regular playing time for the Reds.
Francisco Lindor (SS-NYM) could return from the IL (oblique) when the Mets begin a homestand next week. He has been on the shelf since mid-July and was not exactly a fantasy asset before he suffered that injury. Through 364 plate appearances, the 27 year-old was batting .228 with 11 dingers, 36 RBI, 49 runs scored, and 8 stolen bases. To his credit, though, Lindor was heating up when he suffered the injury, as he hit .333 with a pair of dingers, 10 RBI, 9 runs scored, and 2 steals across just 48 plate appearances in July. Although his 17% strikeout rate (14% career) is a touch high for him, his batted ball metrics are pretty much in line with his career norms, so fantasy owners should expect a healthy Lindor to produce.
Huascar Ynoa (SP-ATL) is expected to return from the IL (hand) to start against the Marlins in Miami on Tuesday. The 23 year-old flamethrower severely injured his hand back in May when he punched a bench following a rough outing, which is unfortunate for his fantasy owners because he was seemingly in the midst of a breakout campaign. Ynoa posted a 3.02 ERA, 10.1 K/9, and 2.2 BB/9 across 44.2 innings (8 starts, 1 relief appearance). A 3.18 xFIP confirmed that his ERA was no fluke, as the youngster piled up some punchouts, issued a modest number of free passes, and induced a healthy percentage of grounders (47%). But it's worth noting that opposing hitters have mustered plenty of hard contact against him (48% per Statcast) and he did struggle in his recent minor-league rehab starts. At any rate, fantasy owners need to be aware of his upcoming return - rostering him is a must, but (understandably) nervous owners may want to leave him on the bench for this first start to see how he fares.
Garrett Mitchell (OF-MIL) has had an up-and-down first season of professional baseball. Taken in the first round of the 2020 draft, Mitchell started the 2021 campaign in High-A, where he blistered the ball to the tune of a .359 average to go with 5 homers, 20 RBI, 33 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases across just 119 plate appearances. He has scuffled a bit, though, following his promotion to Double-A, where he is now hitting just .214 with 3 dingers, 10 RBI, 15 runs scored, and 2 stolen bases through 98 plate appearances. His strikeout rate has actually improved from 25% to 22% since the move to Double-A and he's shown a discerning eye at both levels (23% walk rate in High-A, 13% in Double-A). Mitchell is an interesting prospect for fantasy purposes based on his combination of plus speed and raw power, but his hit tool currently grades as below average with a potential to reach average. And as his homer output shows, his raw power does not - yet, at least - fully translate to game action. Fantasy owners should keep an eye on how he progresses next season, especially since speed is in short supply in today's game.
This is just a small sample our daily analysis, join our member area for over 80 daily player updates sent to your inbox every morning and track your team online. Click here for details: http://www.insiderbaseball.com/baseballsample.htm Click here to register: http://www.fantistics.com/salesbaseball.php3
