Lucas Giolito- P- CHW- Hot- Giolito's name has been coming up in trade rumors recently and he did nothing to reduce his value yesterday. Sure, it was against the Royals, but allowing 1 run on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 4 in 6 IP was solid. Giolito has thrown 5 quality starts in his 10 outings but has only given up more than 4 runs once. He's had excellent control with a 1.81 BB/9 and has struck out more than a batter per inning. Giolito has an ERA of 3.86. His value could go up or down In the event of a trade, depending on where he lands. Giolito has a 5.14 road ERA, but we're still talking small sample size.
Nick Pratto- 1B- Hot- Pratto went 2-for-3 with a walk yesterday and is now slashing .329/.417/.493 with 2 homers in 84 PAs. He has been helped greatly by a .512 BABIP (that's not a typo.) Pratto's xBA is .271, which isn't bad. He hit 24 homers between AAA and the majors in 2022 and 36 between AA and AAA in 2021, so the power is likely to come. Pratto also qualifies for OF as well as 1B.
Kevin Kiermaier- OF- TOR- Stats- Kiermaier is slashing .322/.379/.504 in his first season north of the border. The average has been helped greatly by a .387 BABIP. He has hit 3 homers in 133 PAs after collecting 7 in 221 PAs last season with Tampa Bay. Kiermaier also has 5 steals, almost as many as he had in 2022 (6.) Kiermaier has improved his plate discipline, with a BB% of 7.5% and K% of 18.8%, better than his 6.3% and 27.6%, respectively, last year. He has been close to the same in FV, but his Barrel% of 3.2% and HardHit% of 33.0% are drops from 2022, which is seen in his lower homer rate. Kiermaier has a Chase Rate of 28.2%, down from 32.8%, Contact rate of 76.5%, up from 71.0%, and SwStr% of 11.1%, down from 14.9%. His average will likely drop as regression sets in, but it won't drop anywhere near his .228 of 2022. Also, with improved plate discipline, his OBP shouldn't suffer greatly.
Patrick Corbin- P- WAS- Caution- Corbin picked up his 6th quality start in his last 7 outings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, walking none, and striking out 3 in 6 IP. He threw 49 of 74 pitches for strikes. Corbin got more swinging strikes than he has recently, with 11. Almost half of them (5) came in the first inning. The Tigers were hacking at a lot of pitches, hence the low number for 6 IP. Corbin got lucky, with a .250 BABIP for the game. His ERA for the season is at 4.47, with an xFIP of 4.23. Corbin has had favorable matchups, with only one of those quality starts coming against a teams in the top 14 in OPS. He is definitely a sell high candidate.
Ben Rortvedt- C- NYY- Rise Value- Rortvedt came over from Minnesota prior to the 2022 season but saw no MLB time primarily due to injuries. He got a late start this season but in 42 PAs at AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rortvedt slashed .324/.405/.622 with 3 homers. With Jose Trevino on the IL, Rortvedt was called up. In his 2023 MLB debut yesterday he went 2-for-4 with a double and 2 runs scored. Kyle Higashioka has an average at the Mendoza line so Rortvedt will likely get a chance to show what he can do.
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