DFS PLAYBOOK PRO – An exciting offering from the Alarm is the DFS Playbook Pro. I will be doing a daily breakdown of the hitters – Hitting Coach – while Howard Bender looks into the Pitchers (Pitching Coach). You can find the link to the Hitting and Pitching articles under the DFS Playbook pro tab at the top right of the screen.
OTHER LINKS TO BOOKMARK
BELTRE FINALLY MASHING
Adrian Beltre will not be the player he was drafted to be, no matter how hard he tries to make people forget his terrible start to the season. Beltre hit .205 in April with a .604 OPS. He was injured in the first half as well. Things were solid in August as he remember his boom stick on his way to batting .308 with a .874 OPS. He drove in 18 and scored 18 over 28 games. Things have improved even further in September as he’s hit .321 with a .884 OPS as he’s driven in 22 runners in 21 games. Not enough for ya? How about his last 11 games where he’s been crushing it: 51 plate appearances he’s hitting .467 with a .544 wOBA. He’s also driven in 17 runners while going deep three times with six doubles. Add it all up and he’s batting 279 with 16 homers, 67 RBIs and 74 runs scored. Not top shelf numbers at all, but this last two month push certainly will help to keep Beltre relevant when draft season 2016 arises.
CARPENTER BASHING BIG FLIES
Matt Carpenter is one of the best leadoff men in the game. He doesn’t have stolen base speed, only three thefts, but he knows how to take a walk and that has led to a .375 career OBP and a .364 mark this season. Because he’s always on base he’s always scoring runs. His total of 93 right now is actually a three year low. He’s got a shot at a 3rd straight season of 99 runs scored. He’s driven in 81 runs, two better than his career best. All that tells most of the story, but there are two points that I haven’t touched on that really speak to his value.
Carpenter is a career .287 hitter. This season he’s batting .268. What gives? His BABIP is down a bit at .316 (career .333) but that’s a bit strange given that his line drive rate is a massive 28 percent, and that his hard hit rate is 36 percent. Both numbers are better than his career rates (25.8 and 33.8). In fact, his line drive rate is second in baseball to the 28.7 percent mark of Brandon Belt. So how can Carpenter have such a low average given his massive line drive rate? Maybe some bad luck, but there’s also this; his fly ball rate is up to 42 percent, well above the 36 percent mark he started the season with. The extra fly balls have help to depress his average since fly balls are the least likely type of batted balls to produce a hit.
Second, Carpenter has been blasting the long ball. After posting a HR/F rate of six percent the last three years that number is up to 15.5 percent in 2015. The result is that he’s hit 26 big flies after hitting 25 home runs from 2012-14. It’s hard to envision Carpenter continuing to blast away like this in 2016, but he’s posted one hell of a season as a result of finding that power stroke.
OH CASHNER
Andrew Cashner has made 30-starts for the first time in his career. He’s an out away from hitting 180-innings for the first time. That might be the extent of the goodness with his effort this 
season. Cashner is 6-15, can’t blame that all on him of course, but it’s awful. Cashner has a 4.21 ERA, well above his 3.54 career rate. It’s way worse than the league average as well (3.97 league average). His WHIP is 1.42, and that’s way worse than the league average (1.30 league average). Yeah, it’s been bad for Cashner. It gets worse. His 3.21 BB/9 rate is above the league average (2.91 league average) and worse than his career norm (2.95). While his 1.53 GB/FB ratio is solid Cashner has seen his ground ball rate continue to dip the last four seasons: 59.3, 53.3, 52.5, 48.3 and 46.5 percent.
The good is that his K/9 rate is up to 7.91, by far his best as a starter. Oh, and he’s stayed healthy. That’s a huge key. The arm is something special, and his down ’15 will likely lead to him being undervalued next year.
PEARCE FINALLY HITTING
I wrote that about Steve Pearce in his preseason Player Profile. “I also have a hard time accepting that any player can double their HR/F and ISO and hold on to that success. Just doesn't happen, especially when the guy is 32. You would be wise to heed that warning that on draft day.” People told me I was stupid. A lot. With just a bit o’ time left in the season Pearce is batting .227 with 14 homers, 37 RBIs and 38 runs scored. However, a little bit of light in the darkness. Over his last eight games Pearce has four homers and nine RBIs. Hey, at least it’s something. He does qualify in the outfield, first base and likely second base, so take a look if you need a late season boost.
PEAVY BETTER THAN WE THOUGHT?
Jake Peavy is old, boring, and frequently hurt. He’s also allowed a total of three runs over his last three starts. He’s also walked three batters over his last four starts. He even has 12 strikeouts his last 12 innings. Add it all up and in four September starts Peavy is 3-0 with a 2.19 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and has 19 strikeouts versus three walks. Just like with Pearce, a strong finish has been his (Peavy has a 3.83 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and a 3.13 K/BB ratio).
WHO IS THIS COLBY LEWIS CAT?
Colby Lewis has won 17 games this season. Yeah, he has. Look it up. He has as many victories as Jake Odorizzi (eight) and Jose Quintana (nine). Lewis has a mere 4.36 ERA that ain’t great, but his 1.20 WHIP plays in all leagues. Since a disaster on July 5th, a run of 14 starts, he’s allowed three or fewer runs in 10 of those outings as his ERA is just 3.83 in that time. He’s also permitted a total of four runs, while walking just two batters, his last three times on the bump. Better than the ERA, his WHIP is 1.12 over 14 starts. That’s pretty darn great tis it not? Now his 5.79 K/9 rate in that time leaves a lot to be desired, but the point is that Lewis, despite the occasional blow up, is pitching well enough to be used in most formats.
INJURED OUTFIELDER
Wil Myers (wrist) was scratched from the lineup Wednesday but entered as a pinch hitter. He struck out. He’s hitting only .237 in September with 20 strikeouts in 59 at-bats. Another pretty much wasted season for the former minor league standout.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Thursday at 8 PM EDT and Friday at 9 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).