Luis Garcia Jr (1B/2B - WAS) - Garcia single and doubled in the comeback 4-3 victory over the Giants on Monday, and he's now hitting 261/288/448 for the season after a very cold first month of the season. Garcia is in his 7th MLB season, which is pretty amazing for a 26 year old, but what might be even more amazing is that his exit velocity is up once again this year for the 6th straight time. Yes, his exit velocity has increased every single season that he's been in the majors. He also has very solid contact ability and has increased his launch angle for 3 straight years. He steals few bases even though the speed is below average as well, but man, the plate discipline is pretty hideous. 80%+ contact and 90+ exit velo is a very good combination, but I just can't help feeling there's another gear here if he can just curtail his aggressiveness a bit. Unlike a lot of players that I highlight, he's a millstone in an OBP-based format, but he's surprisingly solid in traditional Roto and points-based leagues. I think the ceiling is better here than many expect due to both age and the massive underperformance relative to the Statcast expected data for the past season-plus, in addition to the fact that the Nationals offense is the #1 run-scoring offense in MLB right now.
Dustin May (SP - STL) - May has posted QS in 7 of his last 10 outings, and really has only had the one blow-up this season (4/4 against Detroit). The K and GB rates have surge over the last several outings as well, and with his impressive stuff, every time he gets on a run like this I'm intrigued. To top it off, he gets 3 of the bottom 4 offense YTD in his next three outings (Mets, Padres, Royals). He's an excellent acquisition target before his Tuesday start in NY, or a waiver add in shallower formats. 25 K's in 18 innings over his past three starts is lofty territory for a guy that hasn't fanned a batter per inning at the big league level since his 5 starts in 2021.
Wade Meckler (OF - LAA) - Meckler has quickly become the primary LF for the Angels, hitting 340/392/553 over the past few weeks and moving up to the heart of the batting order in the process. The 26 year old doesn't have a ton of power or speed, with expectations of around 10/15 by my estimation over a full season, but he does possess a solid batting eye and very good contact ability, so there would appear to be a reasonable floor here. In fact, he has routinely posted OBPs in the .400 range throughout his minor league tenure, with very solid AVGs to go along with them. You could do far worse for a last OF right now, even in standard-sized formats.
Jack Flaherty (SP - DET) - Flaherty hasn't picked up a QS since Tax Day, but he's quietly been quite good over the past few weeks, going 15 2/3 innings and allowing 17 hits but only 6 runs over his past 3 starts, walking 4 and fanning 22. In fact, the control problems that plagued him throughout the early season appear to have abated, as he has walked just those 4 batters through his last 25 innings, and he has struck out 33 over that stretch. I had seen him dropped in many formats back in May, and if he's somehow still on the wire he is absolutely worth a pickup....that level of bat-missing is elite, although the very low GB rate lowers the floor a bit.
Andrew Vaughn (1B - MIL) - Vaughn singled, doubled, and homered on Monday and is now hitting 360/415/547 through 27 games. Sure, the data leans toward "a lot of this is luck" with the bat speed and EV down significantly since his return from the hamate injury, but he's offset that with further gains in chase rate and swinging strike rate, and I would expect the power to slowly return as is typically the case with that sort of injury. Vaughn is already knocking on the door of the top-18 at the position despite less than half as many games played as the rest of the field, and the chase rate, LD rate, and swinging strike rate are all quite a bit better than average while the EV is still above average despite the typical drop post-hand injury. I really like this kid's ability and, despite his sizable outperformance vs the Statcast expected data, think that he will likely finish the season as a top-12 player at the position.
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