Justin Bour has hit seven homers in 35 games putting him on pace to better the 23 big flies he hit last season. He’s also on about the same RBI pace that led to 73 last season. All good there. However, his batting average is down .014 points to .248 and his .315 OBP is just a league average number. He still can’t hit lefties at all though with a career slash line of .214/.275/274 against them. It’s just not happening folks. He’s a platoon guy at first base which basically makes him nothing other than a corner infield option in mixed leagues, and preferably in a scenario where you can adjust your lineup daily.

Kris Bryant… we all know who he is, and there really is no need for an update as he’s an elite option at third base. Still, a few key points. (1) After stealing 13 bases last season on 17 attempts he’s only 1-for-3 this year. (2) He’s cut his strikeout rate substantially. As a rookie his K-rate (K/PA) was 30.6 percent, while this season the mark has dipped all the way down to 20.0 percent. Can’t say that 37 games represents a new level for him but his swinging strike rate also being down four percentage points to 12.7 certainly is an intriguing number when we discuss potential batting average growth.

Matt Duffy, the Giants one, went .295-12-77-77-12 last season in one of the biggest out of nowhere efforts in the game. This season he’s looked nothing like that guy. About the only positive to this point is an increase in his walk rate and the fact that he’s swiped four bases. The rest of his game is missing. The average is down to .239, his OBP is down .035 points (.299) and his SLG has vanished (it’s down to .340). Still, it’s hard to justify that lack of success given a 25 percent line drive rate. He’s looking like nothing other than a mixed league bench option at the moment.

John Jaso is getting on base with a .354 OBP, just seven points below his .361 career mark. He’s also batting .287 after hitting .286 last year. In an OBP league he can cover a corner infield spot, but in a mixed league just not much to see here. Over his last 105 games he’s hit only eight homers with 36 RBI and 38 runs scored. Come to think of it, he’s really only of use in an NL-only league. The average and on-base percentages are solid, but that’s really about it.

Jake Lamb is batting .254 in May with a .333 OBP dropping his season long numbers down to .268 and .354. Alas, he’s hitting .107 with a .586 OPS against lefties. He just cannot hit them. I based that off his 2+ years of failure against them that have led to a .158/.243/.274 slash line. Like Bour above, Lamb has his value limited to leagues in which he can be moved in and out of the lineup on a daily basis. Note that his overall numbers include a .257 average, 16 homers, 68 RBI and 71 runs scored in 614 at-bats. Compare that to Yangervis Solarte who went .270-14-63-63 last season in 526 at-bats. See what I mean?

Jay Bruce is having a great May and making his trade case for teams. Matt Wieters is picking it up and looks to be the player we thought he was. Brett Gardner has a chance to go 20/30 this season. See the video.

Brett Lawrie is exclusively playing second this season but he also qualifies at third after appearing in 109 games there last season. He was really good in April before falling on some hard times in May, at least that is the perception. Even though he’s hitting .228 in May, his OPS is only down .037 points from April leaving him with a .777 mark overall. That would be a 5-year best by the way. Lawrie is on pace for a career best in homers, RBI and runs as well. So let me ask you, what are you complaining about? Take a look at two things closely though. (1) He’s struck out 55 times seeing an explosion in his K-rate with a catastrophic 32.9 percent mark. (2) The only thing saving him, with all those strikeouts, is an unsustainable .368 BABIP. Now I see why there is concern.

Mike Napoli always strikes out but the 35.1 percent K-rate would be a career worst (27 percent for his career). Napoli always walks though, at least until this seasons that is. The result is a 0.25 BB/K ratio, about half his career 0.46 mark. But no one drafts Napoli for batting average, and his .241 mark is only twelve points off his career average. He’s owned for his ability to power the baseball. Napoli has a .460 SLG and his career mark is .481. Napoli has a .219 Isolated Power mark and his career level is .228. He’s fine there, in the power category as he’s on pace for 25 homers, a level he hasn’t reached since 2011. He could get there if he stays healthy.

Anthony Rendon is the worst hitter on pace to score 100 runs while stealing 20 bases in a loooong time. Read that again. He’s on a 100/20 pace even with as bad as he has been to this point. Consider that before you bail. Keep the faith here. Rendon has a 22 percent line drive rate and a 37 percent hard hit ball rate. He’s also sporting a 0.72 BB/K ratio (a career best). Those are all numbers of a .280+ hitter, not the schmo who is batting .237 at the moment. He’s not a power hitter, but a .280 guy with 15 steals and 90 runs, who qualifies at two spots, who doesn’t like that?

Mark Teixeira is 36 years old. He’s failed to hit .260 since 2009 folks. Hardly a shock he’s limping along at .203 in the batting average category. He hit 31 homers last season, his first effort over 24 homers in four years. He has only three homer thus far, and that is odd. Many issues here. (1) Tex has a mere 28 percent fly ball rate. The mark has never been below 35.5 percent in the previous 13 seasons. He has an 11.5 HR/FB ratio, another 14-year low. He’s also seen his Isolated Power mark dip to .098 after having been .182 or better every year of his career. The exit velocity this season is about the league average at 88.5 mph. Last year the mark was 90.2 mph. I’d be very nervous if I owned Tex.

Justin Turner has been a disaster hitting .233 with one homer and nine RBI. Can’t tell you he’s anything other than a DFS play at the moment. Turner is a career .288/.353/.424 hitter against righties, very good is he there. This season he’s been a mess against them with a .204/.286/.276 line. Things have gotten worse too as his May slash line stinks (.212/.311/.308). It’s just not happening folks.

 

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 6 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).