Studs:
Six home runs in the past six games. Incredible. Especially, for a guy who was batting .207 (62-299) before the All-Star break. Now, in 41 at-bats after the Midsummer Classic, Santana is batting .415 (17-41) and raised his season average to .232. However, Santana still has some work to do in order to boost his stats at home (.178) and against righties (.212).
The ability to hit for both power and average makes Bautista a great weapon in both the full-season and one-day fantasy leagues. When a southpaw is starting against Toronto, Joey Bats is in the must start tier. He’s 29-80 (.363) with eight home runs against lefties this season. Plus, it helps to have strong hitters like Melky Cabrera and Juan Francisco batting around Bautista, as well.
Santana had great back-to-back starts against the Marlins and Padres last week. In both outings he tallied double-digit strikeouts and allowed a combined one earned run. Luckily, for fantasy teams with Santana, he’s slated to pitch against San Diego again on Saturday. After that, he returns to Turner Field, where he is 7-2 with a 3.29 ERA this season, to face the Nationals.
Honorable mention: Melky Cabrera (TOR), Yoenis Cespedes (OAK), Jose Altuve (HOU), DJ LeMahieu (COL), and Jacob deGrom (NYM)
Duds:
Three-straight games without a hit and 11-straight games without a home run. McCutchen is struggling against lefties (.250) and in day games (.240). In the near future, his Pirates play in two early games: Wednesday (at San Francisco) and Sunday (at Arizona). Luckily, for him, Tim Lincecum and Trevor Cahill are the probable starters. Both pitchers are right-handed.
His recent struggles can be linked to a neck injury. On Monday, Crisp underwent an MRI to determine whether or not a trip on the disabled list is necessary. Teammate Craig Gentry is expected to miss two weeks as a result of a non-displaced fracture in his right hand. That means Billy Burns could see some playing time in the Bigs. This season, Burns has 51 stolen bases with Double-A Midland.
The veteran lefty has been knocked around in his past two starts by the Rangers and Yankees. In back-to-back outings, Buehrle’s allowed at least five earned runs and eight hits. Buehrle hasn’t recorded a win since June 1st. His next opponents on the docket are Boston and Baltimore.
Dishonorable mention: Jason Kipnis (CLE), Josh Hamilton (LAA), Todd Frazier (CIN), Jay Bruce (CIN), Rafael Soriano (WSH)
