Salvador Perez, C, KC
Perez hit his 4th HR of the season against the Twins on Monday as he is trying to shake off one of the worst slumps of his career. The veteran catcher has reached 20 HR's in each of the past 8 full seasons, but he is well behind that pace this season. This was his 2nd HR in 4 games however, so perhaps not all hope is lost. Perez is still hitting the ball as hard as usual and still hitting plenty of fly balls. Still, he entered Monday with a HR/FB of 4.7% - he has a career mark of 13.8% and he hasn't finished a season below 11.8% in over a decade. Perez owns a .226 BA and .357 SLG at the moment, but his xBA and xSLG stand at .296 and .531 respectively. All signs indicate that we should be seeing a much better Salvador in the months ahead.
Kevin Gausman, SP, TOR
Gausman was dominant against the Rangers on Monday, allowing 1 ER in 8 IP, while striking out 6 without a BB. Incredibly, this was his 4th straight start without walking a batter, and he has struck out 24 in 26 IP in that span. He is still not striking out batters like he did in his heyday, but his SwStr% is 2% higher than last year, and his control has been elite, which has led him to a solid 3.68 ER and 3.50 xFIP. He shouldn't be considered an ace anymore, but he seems to be bouncing back from a rough 2024 and is once again a reliable fantasy starter.
Daniel Palencia, RP, CHC
Palencia pitched a scoreless 9th against the Rockies on Monday, giving him his 3rd save of the season, all of which have come within the last week. With Ryan Pressley struggling to open the season and Porter Hidge currently on the IL, Palencia appears to be the acting closer for the Cubs. He owns a strong 1.93 ERA through 18.2 IP, although his peripherals are rather ordinary. Hodge is not progressing from his injury as quickly as the team was hoping, so Palencia could have some time as the team's closer. He's not a great bet to remain the Cubs' closer for the rest of the season, as Pressley has been pitching better lately and Hodge is still expected to come back at some point. For the short term though, Palencia seems poised to pick up some saves.
Jackson Chourio, OF, MIL
Chourio went 1-4 with a HR against the Red Sox on Monday, giving him 8 round-trippers for the season. The long ball ends a 14-game HR drought for Chourio who has hit just 2 HR's in 24 games so far this month. He has still managed to be productive from a fantasy perspective with 8 HR's and 9 SB's through 54 games, but that has come with an awful .273 OBP and 90 wRC+. Chourio's walk rate is a miniscule 3.3% and his 40.8% O-Swing% is the 6th highest in the league. On the bright side, he has walked 4 times in the last 7 games after walking just 4 times in the first 47 games of the season. Chourio remains a top fantasy option due to his power/speed combo and his spot at or near the top of the Brewers lineup, even if his overall game is still a work in progress.
Adrian Houser, SP, CWS
Houser pitched 6 shutout innings against the Mets on Monday, striking out 6 and walking 1. That's two starts for Houser this season and each have resulted in 6 scoreless innings. It's a great start for sure, although his 8:4 K:BB across 12 IP is nothing extraordinary. Houser was awful for the Mets last season, posting a 5.84 ERA and 45:32 K:BB across 69.1 IP. To his credit, he does get a lot of groundballs, but that's not going to be enough to maintain relevance for fantasy owners.
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