Corbin Burnes (SP - MIL) - Burnes' recent hot streak came to a very abrupt end on Monday, as a 6-run 1st inning resulted in this final line against Arizona: 5 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. His velo was actually up for the outing, but the familiar issues that have been periodically apparent were all there tonight: control regression, reduced GB rate, fewer missed bats. I have many notes on Burnes littered about my house like a hoarder from various radio shows this year, and I'll share some of them here: "control down, velo down, chase down, SS down"; "4 straight QS but not dominant at all"; "7/8 QS but stuff down and control down....only EV down is good"; "still solid but maybe not SP1 anymore?" Those little snapshots should give you an idea on my thinking here: I'm concerned. Not tremendously, but concerned nonetheless. I think it's very possible that he is not a top-12 SP in this current iteration, and that's obviously an issue given his cost. I'd be talking things up like "The D-Backs are a top-5 offense you know" while hoping that he can handle the Guardians and Pirates in his next two outings....that way we might all have options if we decide we still don't like what we see. There's not much worse for teams than when their star players aren't performing like stars, both in fantasy and reality.
Reese Olson (SP - DET) - I got to watch Olson for the first time Monday against a weak Royal offense, and my first thought after the outing was: "good ceiling, terrible floor". I'm always leery of guys that give up a lot of hard contact at AA and AAA for obvious reasons, and there was plenty of hard contact in Olson's 6 innings on Monday, as he posted an AVERAGE exit velocity allowed of over 95 mph. That being said, he throws a very easy-looking 95 and all three breaking pitches have promise. He generated 15 swinging strikes on 100 pitches in the outing, good for 8 K's, and he only allowed 7 baserunners in 6 innings despite all of the hard contact. The control was better than I had been led to believe, but the command is a major issue. He'll throw one slider that is completely nasty, and then toss up a cement mixer the next time he goes to it. His pre-ASB schedule is as follows: MIN (maaaaybe), @COL (lol), OAK (sure). I think his utility to your team would be determined by whether he would be a viable option for you for that next start against the Twins. If so, you bench him for Coors and then throw him back out there against the AAA's. If not, I think you take a wait and see approach with him. There is a potential MLB starter here for sure, but he's clearly not fully formed.
Triston Casas (1B - BOS) - Casas singled and homered on Monday for his 6th multi-hit game this month. I think we may need to get in on this soon. The season-long numbers don't look like much, but he's clearly looking much more comfortable at the plate over the past 3-4 weeks. He has excellent exit velocity for a 23-year old (38th out of 259 qualified in MLB), very good plate discipline, and the contact ability seems to be progressing as well. He's hitting 273/403/491 thus far in June, and with the whole Red Sox lineup heating up the R and RBI opportunities are increasing as well. I'm very interested in formats deeper than standard, and I do believe there's a good chance that he'll provide enough value to be a viable CI the rest of the way in standard formats as well.
Yainer Diaz (C - HOU) - Diaz has been the biggest beneficiary of the injury to Alvarez, and the 24 year old his another HR on Monday to give him 4 for the month of June. Diaz is slashing 333/347/688 in June with 5 2B, 4 HR, 6 R, and 8 RBI in just 13 G. Sure, there are contact issues here and no speed at all, but the batted ball data completely supports this level of power, and in fact suggests that his SLG should even be a bit higher. In 2-catcher formats he is a no-brainer right now, and if power is a need his utility may even go beyond that. Just to give you an idea of the ceiling, Diaz has 43 HRs in his last 183 G at all levels.
Tommy Pham (OF - NYM) - Every time I'm out, he pulls me back in! Pham has been playing just about every day for a few weeks now, and after another 2-4 on Monday he's hitting 327/353/694 for the month with 6 2B, 4 HR, 1 SB, 9 R and 14 RBI. The Mets are trying to juggle Pham, Canha, and Vogelbach through 2 spots, so the playing time isn't strictly every day, but Pham is a better plyer than Canha in almost every facet of the game so I'm hopeful that this recent playing time split (Pham playing over 75% of the time) will be maintained. In general he's doing the things that he's always done: make contact at a solid clip, show excellent plate discipline, provide well above average exit velocities, and steal some bases. His ceiling is far better than he's given credit for, which is mostly because the performances often have not matched the underlying data. That'll happen when you have a high GB rate, and Pham has definitely started elevating the ball more as he's gotten regular PT this past few weeks. It could just be a hot streak, but for a guy that has always been between above average and excellent in exit velo, chase rate, and speed, I feel like he is a gamble worth opting for. A solid pickup right now just on the basis of the hot streak, but he may end up being more than that.
