Yasiel Puig : Puig went yard Sunday and finished the day with a run, two RBI and that HR.  On the year, Puig has a pretty ugly line:  .215 with only 4 HR and only 12 RBI.  If you read that last sentence and are ready to give up... Hold your horses.  In the last week Puig has belted 4 homers, gotten on base often and even swiped a bag.  So, which Puig will show up the rest of the year?  The guy from this week or the guy who has a .215 year-long average?  I say it is this week’s version.  The .250ish BABIP will rise and take the average with it.  His hard-hit rate is consistent with his really good year last year and his line drive and oppo rates are actually up.  Moreover, his contact rate both in and out of the zone is up.  This is a really good player in his prime.  Buy while the year-long numbers depress the value.

Leury García : García went 2-4 with two RBI helping his team to a win Sunday.  With the injury to Nicky Delmonico (and with Avasail Garcia still on the shelf), there should be opportunity for Leury to play.  Is he the prospect Juan Soto is?  No.  Will he light the world on fire?  No.  Can he productive and a key add in a deep league?  I think so.  On the year, Leury is hitting .268 with two dingers and 7 swipes in just 112 AB.  If one engaged in hocus pocus extrapolation, that would be 12 HR and 37 SB over a full season.  He will not do that but there is good reason to think he will run (he stole 30 bases in just over half of a season in 2015 in AAA).  There is also good reason to think his average will be solid (he hit close to or over .300 in his last two AAA seasons).  This is exactly the type of cheap production guy that can put you over the top.

Yangervis Solarte : Solarte went yard Sunday – the 10th time this year he has done so.  Yep, Solarte is on pace to hit over 35 dingers.  Will he? Probably not.  Can he continue to hit, produce and give you major positional flexibility?  Indeed, he can.  On the year, Solarte is hitting .260 with 22 runs, 29 RBI and an OBP of around .325 to go with those 10 knocks.  Given that his contract rate is still very strong, the BABIP is deflated (despite higher hard-hit and line drive rates), and he has a track record of producing, I see no reason Solarte will fall off the shelf.  If his owner in your league thinks it is time to sell high, well then it is time for you to buy.

Andrew Benintendi :  Remember when the Red Sox OF was struggling.  Well, no more.  After his 3-5 game Sunday (with a dinger, run, and three RBI), the young outfielder has his average all the way to .285.  It will go higher.  This kid can flat out hit, his team will score a lot of runs, and he will continue to benefit from hitting in between Mookie Betts and J.D. Martínez .  There are few better places to hit in all of baseball outside of the Yankee lineup (but I am admittedly biased).  The window of buy low has probably closed but so what?  Pay the full price fare.  The ride will be worth it.

Ross Stripling : Last week we wrote: “Ross Stripling gave the Dodgers all they can ask for and more.  Saturday the Dodger hurler went 5 and 2/3 innings giving up 2 runs while striking out 7.  On the year, Stripling has a 2.20 ERA and is averaging almost 10K per 9 IP.  With the Dodgers rotation in shambles – Kershaw hurt; Ryu hurt; Hill often hurt; Wood often hurt; Maeda hardly an iron man; Beuhler a rookie – Stripling should be on your deep league radar.  In his two starts, he has 12 K and 2 BB in just over 10 IP (he is still being stretched out).  Few noticed that last year, Stripling had a K per 9, put up solid advanced metrics and pitched pretty well.  NL only players should pounce on Stripling and 15 team mixer owners should be very interested.”  Well, all the Dodger righty did was go out and toss 6 innings of 1 run ball, walking none and striking out 9.  Convinced yet?  If not, well I hope no one in your league is reading this!  I bid on Stripling all over this weekend! 

And now, the moment you have been waiting for -- Schultz says: “One of the gimmicks used by The Overlord above is to cut and paste a prior recommendation and (usually, but not always) tout his prescience. Although cynics may call it lazy journalism, Schultz likes to think of it as a nice self-imposed system of checks and balances. Schultz also likes to think that it's perfectly acceptable to engage in a little gimmick infringement from time to time. So, as Schultz wrote last week:

"A.J. Pollock  has caused many to forget his .315, 20 HR 39 SB season from 2015 simply because he hasn't looked like the same player since breaking his elbow before the start of the 2016 season. A slow recovery and groin injury didn't help Pollock regain his form in 2017 but now, he's as healthy as he's ever been. . . . The Overlord will pithily recite that injury-prone players get injured as if everyone that plays Major League Baseball is Matt Kemp . A nice corollary to that adage would be that quite often injured players heal.”

As if fate exists just to spite Schultz, within 24 hours of publishing, Pollock suffered a broken thumb and will likely be out through the All-Star Break. Hand injuries tend to linger and it's pretty hard to hit without using your hands. Nonetheless, don't forget about Pollock in the second half of the season.”

Response: “Gimmick infringement”!  I like it!  Well, I will admit things I get wrong too.  For example, so far, I have been dead wrong about Orlando Arcia .  I would not give up just yet but flirting with the Mendoza line is hardly what I had in mind when I rostered him and touted him in the pre-season.