There are two types of fantasy baseball players right now – those who own Eric Thames and those who do not. The former is a joyous, exuberant and festive group celebrating the 30-year old’s six home runs over the last five games while the latter are bitter, surly and resentful of every fantasy pundit who said the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) has over-inflated power numbers thanks to a massive number of hitter-friendly ballparks. That power won’t translate, the experts asserted. We’ve seen it with a number of Asian hitters like Hideki Matsui, Kosuke Fukudome, Hee-Seop Choi and, most recently, Byung-Ho Park who couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. Even Jung-Ho Kang, who was pretty successful with his 21-homer season last year, failed to produce the same power totals he put up in South Korea.

But Thames isn’t Asian. He was born in Santa Clara, California and went to Pepperdine University where his burgeoning power caught the eye of the Blue Jays organization. He wasn’t a big man, standing just six-feet tall, but he was strong and had quick hands which would help in generating power as he filled out. His time spent in the minors was filled with peaks and valleys and while there were moments where his power was in full view, his erratic plate discipline and penchant for the strikeout held him back. The Blue Jays eventually tired of his inability to take that next step and he bounced around to the Orioles and Mariners over the course of his final season in the United States. Things weren’t clicking for him and he wasn’t responding to his coaching, but he didn’t want to give up on his career in baseball. A move to Korea afforded him a professional contract and a fresh start.

To say that Thames found success in Korea is an understatement. While his strikeout rate still hovered around the 20-percent mark, he was absolutely mashing the ball. He smacked 37 home runs in his first season overseas and followed it up with 47 the next year and 40 the year after that. His pitch recognition and batter’s eye saw slight improvement, but what was most evident was his confidence. Thames became more aggressive at the plate when he needed to be, but also picked up the patience needed when the count fell out of his favor. If he could take these characteristics back to the States with him, then perhaps he could find success at the major league level finally.

Just a cursory glance at Thames’ numbers shows he’s not the same player he was when he left for Korea three years ago. The power is massive, the walk rate is solid and the strikeout rate sits only slightly worse than the league average. His 38.4-percent swing rate shows fantastic patience and his 21.8-percent swing rate on pitches outside the strike zone shows us he’s learned to stop chasing. Even better is the fact that he has just a 33.3-percent swing rate when he has two strikes on him which, again, shows that his three years in the KBO taught him to be a better hitter.

The one caveat we’ll have to mention here is the work against left-handed pitching. If you look back at his final season in the KBO, you’ll see that most of his damage was done against right-handed pitching. Thames saw 247 of his 436 at-bats against righties and he mashed 28 homers while batting .360 against them. His numbers against southpaws were nowhere near that good. That’s not to say he can’t hit lefties, but it’s definitely something to watch as he continues to carve out a full-time gig with the Brewers.

A start to the season like Thames is having is pure fantasy gold and everyone who doesn’t own him, whether they care to admit it or not, wishes they had him on their team. But we’ve witnessed months like this before and the real question is whether Thames is actually the real deal or if he’s the next Chris Shelton who, back in 2006, batted .326 with 10 home runs for the month of April only to find himself back in the minors by August and was never heard from again.

My gut tells me Thames will fare better than Shelton, but certainly won’t continue to hit at this torrid pace. If he can find even just a little success against lefties, then he should be a decent asset for the year as his numbers against right-handed pitching should keep him balanced. Just prepare for the drop-off because it is coming.

The savvy owners will start their sell-high campaigns soon enough, so be careful. He’ll be purported as the next big thing and they’ll be quick to dismiss any talk of lefty splits. While he could prove to be a solid fantasy asset, you cannot pay the current price which is likely set to Ruthian-like levels at the moment and that price tag isn’t being marked down until it’s too late. If you’re team is hungry for power, you’ll be tempted for sure. Just understand that you’re not buying what he’s done. You’re buying what he will do and, again, it won’t be at this level.

Other Thoughts

While there are some who are questioning whether Sam Dyson is actually hurt, it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is he is now on the 10-day DL and the Rangers are exploring other closer options. Manager Jeff Banister says he will give Matt Bush the first crack at the job, which obviously makes him an immediate add in any league format. However, there is some speculation that the team has its concerns over Bush’s ability to handle the pressure. For those not familiar with his story, it is littered with tales of alcoholism, assault arrests and, ultimately, a drunk driving incident that killed a 72-year old man and ended with the former first-round pleading with the five officers it took to subdue him to just kill him. He was sentenced to 51 months in prison where he would also be required to undergo treatment for anger issues and alcoholism. He’s obviously getting his chance to show he’s a changed person, but you can understand why the team is a little gun-shy here. Jeremy Jeffress will be on-hand to pick up any extra work and the team also recalled Keone Kela who could find his way into the mix should Bush struggle.

It would appear that Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman is enjoying his new home. There were many who were concerned as to how Sun Trust Park would play in its inaugural season and while we need a much greater sample size to determine whether it is hitter or pitcher-friendly, we can all agree that it is 100-percent Freddie-friendly. Again, the sample size is small, but through 16 plate appearances at home, Freeman is batting .583 with two home runs, three RBI, five runs scored and a 2.000 OPS. But Freddie isn’t the only one as the entire Braves team is lighting it up at home games as evidenced by their collective .366 wOBA and 135 wRC+ over 142 plate appearances.

Yasiel Puig may have lost his five-game hit streak yesterday, but he should still be in line for a strong week. Since the 2016 All Star break, Puig has posted a .980 slugging percentage and 1.472 OPS at home and then gets to go hit in Chase Field for the remainder of the week. His overall numbers at Chase aren’t particularly strong, but if we are to believe he is a changed man and has made the necessary adjustments to his hitting mechanics, this could be a golden opportunity to put those improvements on display.

We should be hearing at some point this morning whether Miguel Cabrera will be in the lineup or not as the slugger is dealing with a back issue. We’d obviously like to see him back as the Tigers remain on the road where Miggy has a .488 OBP and 1.241 OPS since the 2016 All Star break. He’s facing the Rays and the Twins this week, and while his numbers are just good at the Trop, his numbers are fantastic at Target Field.

Look for the Mets to pick up their dismal .267 wOBA and 69 wRC+ against right-handed pitching today as they face the Phillies’ Zach Eflin. Keep your eyes on Jay Bruce, Lucas Duda, Michael Conforto and Curtis Granderson as Eflin has allowed a slugging percentage of .804 and a 1.207 OPS to lefties since dating back to last July. He also doesn’t help his own cause very much as he’s also posted a 24.4-percent walk rate with runners in scoring position during that span.

You’ve got a good mix of strong starters and guys with a lot of potential. If you’re a streamer, you should definitely look into some of the team wOBAs against lefties and righties today. Not a lot of southpaws going tonight and the ones who are have some tough match-ups, but you can easily lay your focus on some of the righties to stream like Luis Severino and Chad Kuhl.

All night games tonight, so no rush to get those lineups locked in for the day. Take your time, check the news and check out our lineups page for sure. Good luck and I’ll see you in the money this year!