.jpg)
In the midst of the Cardinals recent struggles, Matt Carpenter ’s turned his season around. He launched his fifth home run over his last seven games in a loss to the Brewers on the road but has hit safely in 12 of his last 15 games resulting in a .306 average (19-for-62) in them. More importantly for fantasy owners, Carpenter’s flashing the power which made him a bounceback target in drafts. His four doubles and six home runs the last 15 games makes his paces adjust to 42 doubles along with 29 home runs in 151 games. Whether or not Carpenter maintains the gains remains to be seen, here’s his monthly chart courtesy of Statcast illustrating his hard hit percentage improvement since the start of the season:
Whether or not Carpenter started the season healthy remains open for debate, but he’s on a hot streak with power and shows no signs of slowing down with his homer off of southpaw Brent Suter last night. The buy low window may have expired, but the 2016 version of Matt Carpenter appears to be back.
That Just Happened
While waiting for the breakout of Ketel Marte , who thought it would be power? Marte’s stolen two bases this year but hit his sixth home run with two RBI in Pittsburgh on Thursday night. He’s 24 for his last 72 (.333) with seven doubles, three triples, five home runs, 19 RBI and six walks over his last 22 games.
In a game of pitchers headed in opposite directions, Brent Suter outdueled Carlos Martínez in Miller Park. Suter’s won six of his last seven starts with a 3.13 ERA in them. He also recorded 14 swinging strikes and 14 called strikes among his 89 pitches resulting in five strikeouts in seven strong innings. Martinez lost his second of four starts off of the disabled list generating only nine swinging strikes and 13 called of his 91 pitches in four innings. Since his return from injury, Martinez possesses a 8.08 ERA with 20 walks against 18 strikeouts. No bueno.
What’s more frustrating than Kyle Hendricks getting pulled after 5.2 innings? Seeing his replacement serve up a grand slam to Jesse Winker . Life comes at you fast. As for Winker, it’s the first grand slam of his career and the sixth for the Reds this year. Winker’s hit three of his four home runs in June with a .192 isolated power. Fueling this, Winker’s hitting more line drives and fly balls with a 47.7 hard hit percentage this month.
Teammate José Peraza ’s also hot extending his personal on-base streak to 21 games with a single in three at-bats. Peraza’s moved back to leadoff hitting .333 (27-for-81) during his streak with seven runs and seven RBI so far in June.
Lorenzo Cain left yesterday’s game early due to hamstring tightness, but went 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and his 16th stolen base prior to his exit. Cain suggested he would be in the lineup on Friday so his owners can breathe a collective sigh of relief. Cain’s currently pacing towards 103 runs, 18 home runs and 35 stolen bases in 153 with a .294/.352/.443 slash line. He’s criminally underdrafted each year.
It appears the resurgence by Jason Heyward could be for real. He racked up four more hits in five at-bats and his 18th hit to the opposite field last night. Last year, Heyward accrued 23 opposite field hits all season. He’s hitting .370 (30-for-81) his last 19 games but mostly providing average and runs hitting second for the Cubs. There’s still value in fantasy, especially in these oft overlooked categories.
Could Kole Calhoun be a steal on waivers this weekend? Calhoun started the year with a .167/.195/.211 slash line through his first 29 games, landed on the disabled list to work on his swing hitting .145 but has hit safely his first three games back with the Angels. Calhoun hit his third home run and stole his fourth base in the Angels win over the Blue Jays. He’s four for 10 since rejoining the team with two home runs and three RBI. A career .261 hitter entering the season with 63 home runs the previous three seasons could be in a line for positive migration to the mean going forward. It’s pennies to find out. Speculate.
It’s easy to miss some production by the Blue Jays due to their struggles to win games. But Randal Grichuk and Kendrys Morales have been hitting the ball well of late. Grichuk hit his eight home run last night and sixth over his last 15 games with 15 RBI. Morales recorded his eight multi-hit game of his last nine starts going 18 for his last 42 (.429) with five doubles, three home runs and six RBI.
Anthony Rendón ’s underperformed based on his statistics to this point compared to his investment on draft day. But, he’s percolating. Rendon hit his seventh home run against the Orioles and he’s slashing .282/.357/.480 on the year. His line drive percentage is up almost eight percentage points, his hard hit rate also is up by five points but his home run per fly ball percentage lags by just under three percent. A power spike could be in the offing soon for Rendon. But will he steal any bases?
Last, but not least, Madison Bumgarner turned in a vintage performance striking out eight Padres in eight shutout innings giving up three hits and two walks. It’s also the fourth time of his career he’s delivered a shutout start while recording the game winning RBI. Not to be outdone, Mark Melancon notched his first save, one year and one day since his last, allowing a hit with a strikeout. To be fair, Sam Dyson worked in the three previous games, but this bullpen could be fluid going forward.
Burning Questions
With Arizona streaking, Shelby Miller will make his season debut on Monday, can Robbie Ray be far behind?
Jeff Samardzija hit 95 MPH on the radar during his rehab start last night. Will he, Johnny Cueto and Clayton Kershaw all rejoin their staffs with the National League West race heating up?
Can Shane Bieber translate his strong strikeout to walk ratio to wins for the Indians going forward? He starts tonight versus the Tigers at home.
Feeling lucky about Wade LeBlanc repeating his strong outing against Boston in Fenway? He’s been surging and Boston struggles versus southpaws.
Be sure to check back on Fantasy Alarm for the latest updates in the Closing Bell with Howard Bender later tonight.