HITTERS
Tim Anderson is working on a 9-game hitting streak. Only once in those nine games has he failed to produce at least two hits (read that again). His average has skyrocketed from .276 to .321 as he’s hit .421 over his last 10 games. Not just singles coming off his bat either. Anderson has hit three homers in the last nine games while also swiping two bags. Meanwhile, 37 year old Jimmy Rollins is holding down the shortstop position for the White Sox with his atrocious .231/.289/.346 line. Rollins has some rope but it seems inevitable that the speedy Anderson will be starting at shortstop for the White Sox at some point this season.
Alex Bregman is batting .357 the last 10 games with four homers and 10 RBI. That run pushes his slash line up to .338/.434/.685. That’s some serious hitting for the 2015 first round pick. People seem to misunderstand who he is though. Note that he hit four homers in 66 games last season. Note that scouts think he’s a 15 homer guy, not the power hitter we’ve seen to this point (this is a big difference from the prevailing line of thought). Realize that Bregman has only 34 games above A-ball on his resume. Also note that while he has played third base the last week, that he’s a second baseman who is blocked by Jose Altuve in Houston and is only trying third base as a way to get his bat in the lineup. He might play third for the Astros this season, and soon, but the bat isn’t as impressive as it appears.
Byron Buxton has been en fuego the last 10 games batting .415 with three homers and three steals. Of course he missed time with another injury, they are seemingly becoming his calling card, but the dude is hitting and it cannot be long before we see him back up in the majors. That’s what any smart organization would do with the #1 outfield prospect in baseball who has a .340/.398/.621 slash line with six homers and four doubles in 25 games at Triple-A.
Jurickson Profar has been called up because of the suspension to Rougned Odor. It’s highly possible that Profar will end up being sent back down next week when the suspension of Odor is over, so be very cautious about adding Profar to your club. Jurickson is batting .284 with a .356 OBP in Triple-A, but he has no spot to play with Elvis Andrus also holding down third base. #Caution
A.J. Reed has returned from his hamstring issue. Over his last four games since the return he has three hits, one walk and five strikeouts. The mini-slump has dropped his average to .225 and his OPS to .757. Meanwhile, up in the bigs Tyler White has crashed hard with a .196/.293/.392 slash line in May as he’s driven in a total of four runs. There is a spot for Reed if he starts hitting, but calling him up now doesn’t seem like a good idea consider his struggles against the minor leaguers.
Trea Turner is batting .268 over his last 10 games with 10 strikeouts. That slump has dropped his slash line to .305/.389/.443. Turner has struck out 37 times in 44 games, a high total for a guy who will struggle to reach double-digit homers (he has three this season). Note that Turner has hit just 16 homers his last 229 games. Turner is an impressive 16-for-16 stealing bags this season, tremendous work, and that speed will allow him to produce fantasy value when he is called up (could be in 10 days, could be in July see this Daily Trends report). Turner is also on a pace for about 25 errors, not a great mark in the least.
CC Sabathia has looked good of late, but don’t expect him to turn back the clock. Lance McCullers has huge command issues. Jon Gray has been fantastic on the road. CHECK OUT THE VIDEO.
PITCHERS
Lucas Giolito looked strong in his last outing throwing seven innings of one run ball while striking out six. More importantly he threw strikes. After dealing with walks for most of the campaign, Lucas walked only one batter last time out and has walked just three men his last two outings. He still owns a poor 1.49 WHIP and an ugly 1.57 K/BB ratio, but things are at least moving in the right direction.
Tyler Glasnow has an impressive set of ratios – 2.16 ERA, 1.22 WHIP. He’s also punched out an impressive 63 batters in 50 innings. Likely most important is that he’s seemingly cleaned up his weakness – the walk. After walking five guys in 2-of-3 outings, Glasnow has walked a total of four batters the last two games while striking out 14 over 12 innings. He certainly looks ready for the bigs.
Blake Snell leads the International League with 63 strikeouts in 50 innings (he’s tied with Glasnow). Snell has struck out at least seven batters each of his last four outings during which time he’s walked a total of seven batters. One of the concerns I have, and so should you, is that Snell simply isn’t going deep into games. Only one time in nine outings has Snell lasted more than 5.1 innings. Once. Going deep into games is part of the maturation process and it would seem that Snell still has work to do. You could probably deduce that from his 3.88 ERA and 1.36 WHIP.
Jameson Taillon has walked a total of four batters his last four outings. He’s also struck out 25 time his last 19 innings. Jameson has also worked six innings in 6-straight outings. He certainly looks ready for the bigs
What are the expectations for Jun-ho Kang this season? Hernan Perez needs a chance to play full time for the Brewers. Bryce harper is not having a good May. CHECK OUT THE VIDEO.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).