Spencer Torkelson (1B - DET) - In a meaningless 9-1 game and on his 147th AB of the season, Torkelson finally hit HR #1 to extend his hitting streak to 7 games. It was (not surprisingly) his hardest-hit ball of the year, and it gives him 4 2B and a HR in this recent hot streak. Just FYI: Torkelson's HR by month in 2023: 2,2,7,4,9,7. That in and of itself means very little, and his EV being down over 3 mph on average carries more weight with me. Still, his contact rates are slightly improved, the weather in the northeast and midwest has been typically awful for most of this season so far, and the quality of contact data hasn't been THAT bad. I've been losing patience with him myself, but an 8-25 (.320) week with 4 2B and a HR has been keeping my finger off of the abort button for now. He has a fairly easy week on tap as far as opposing pitchers too (SSanchez, Weathers, Rogers, RNelson, Gallen, Montgomery). If you're feeling frisky, slotting him in on a somewhat easy week and in the middle of a minor heater doesn't seem crazy at all to me.
Eddie Rosario (OF - WAS) - After looking he was a half-step away from release, Rosario has caught fire since the calendar turned to May. He homered again on Sunday to extend his hitting streak to 7 games, and he has 4 HR and 4 SB over that stretch. It's fortuitious timing for the 32 year old, as the Nationals are entering a stretch where they face 10 RHP in their next 12 G, so Rosario will likely keep playing almost every day. He's been more patient than any other year of his career to this point, and the 37% LD rate in May (and this hot streak) lead me to believe that we actually could see one of Rosario's better years if the Nationals remain committed to him. That's the kicker here, because this is a team clearly not going anywhere yet, and Rosario turned 32 at the end of last season. Until they decide to go full-on youth movement, I think Rosario has value in weeks where they're facing 4 or more RHP.
Willie Calhoun (OF - LAA) - Every time that I see Willie Calhoun getting consistent playing time, my eyes light up in hopes that he can rekindle the 2017-19 version of himself. Calhoun is an excellent contact hitter with at least average power, but he just hasn't put it together at the big-league level for any length of time. He's had 3 seasons in his career where he's been on a better than 30 HR/150 G pace, and his contact rate for his career is better than 85%. A double and a homer on Sunday now see him hitting 333/361/606 through 9 games with the Angels, and as weak as their lineup is he's been immediately inserted into the cleanup spot. I still think that there's potential here, and I'd be very interested in deeper and AL-only formats already.
Alek Manoah (SP - TOR) - Well, that was.....something. Manoah's velocity was up significantly on Sunday against the Twins, and he actually pitched very well until allowing a 3-run HR in the 7th. He missed a lot of bats, generating 15 swinging strikes in just 78 pitches, and the control was much better too. Still quite a bit of hard contact allowed, but with TB and DET coming up next (both bottom-half offenses) I could be tempted in deeper formats to gamble on him recovering some of his old form here. One start is nothing, but two is a trend.....we'll see Saturday.
David Fry (C/1B/OF - CLE) - Fry homered and walked twice in the 7-0 win over the White Sox on Sunday, and he's now hit in 8 straight starts and reached base in 14 straight. Guys like Fry, who are essentially average across the board, can become valuable with changes in playing time. He's usually about a twice a week starter for Cleveland, but Fry started 4 times this week, only 1 of which was at C. He's hitting 309/437/515 for the year after Sunday's performance, and he has gotten playing time at C, 1B, 3B, and OF. The EV is slightly above average, the LD rate is above average, and he's made huge strides in chase rate and contact rate so far this year. He's 28, and his entire batch of minor league data would lead you to believe that he's an average- contact hitter with average to average+ power. With the positional flexibility that he has, that has value in most formats.
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