The baseball season is always filled with hot and cold stretches. When it comes to fantasy, it’s important not to pick up a player too late or risk missing the good stretch and enduring only the tough leveling out period that follows. The key to a good stretch is how sustainable the production is. In the case of someone like Bartolo Colon, we pretty much know it’s unsustainable. The same can be said for Jeremy Hefner‘s torrid streak. Let’s take a look at who’s streaking around the league and how sustainable those numbers are.
Grant Green (2%): We featured Grant Green a couple weeks ago as a top fantasy sleeper and now he’s been called up to the Bigs. Green, a top 100 prospect, currently owns a .318/.374/.500 line in Triple-A with 11 HR, 49 RBI, 61 R, and 39 XBH. He owns a career .305/.353/.468 line and has hit as many as 20 home runs and driven in 87. He’s a second baseman and potential like that can’t go overlooked.
Jeremy Hefner (16%): Even as someone who watches Mets games religiously, I have no idea if Jeremy Hefner is will be good or just solid. Either way, since May, Hefner has been untouchable, going 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA and 37 K/8 BB over 44 IP. He’s given up more than one earned run just once during that seven-game stretch – when he gave up two to Philadelphia. You can’t be hotter than Hefner right now and plenty of fantasy owners should ride out this wave.
Ricky Nolasco (32%): With Nolasco heading to the Dodgers, he no longer has the stigma of pitching for the worst team in baseball. Even with a terrible team around him, Nolasco has been very reliable, putting up a 3.68 ERA and 65 K/15 BB over his last 11 starts. He’s a low-4 ERA pitcher and his 3.85 present ERA is pretty close to his norm which makes him more appealing since there isn’t a leveling out period that follows as with Jeremy Hefner’s current streak.
Rajai Davis (32%): No one’s missing Melky Cabrera. Since sliding into the lineup, Davis owns a .300/.378/.450 line with a homer, three runs batted in, three doubles, eight steals, and 10 runs. He’ll continue to swipe a ton of bags and score plenty – if he can keep his average up that’s just icing on the cake.
Logan Morrison (18%): After hitting 23 home runs in 123 games in 2011, Morrison has been sidetracked by injury and hasn’t been able to repeat. He’s finally fully healthy and is on a nice five game stretch – .333 BA, three home runs, five runs batted in, four runs scored. The former #18 top prospect in the country has always had good pop and is still only 25 – he’s definitely worth a look.
Dan Straily (10%): Straily had a tough first five games which is still keeping his season ERA above 4.00 but he’s actually been playing really well. Over his last eight starts, he’s 4-0 with a 3.02 ERA, .206 BAA, and 32 K/11 BB. He’s finally hitting that potential we were all excited about coming into the season and is definitely worth a pick up.
Chris Archer (6%): His 4.17 ERA doesn’t scream “pick me up” but it’s really the result of limited innings rather than mediocre play. He has given up more than three earned runs just once this season – his first game this year. Since then, he’s gone 2-2 with a 3.31 ERA, .207 BAA, and 26 K. He walks a lot of people but he keeps the hits down, gets out of jams, and has kept the ball in the park since his first start against Cleveland.
Ike Davis (37%): Ike Davis killed it for a month after being sent down to Triple-A, putting up a .293/.424/.667 line with seven homers, seven doubles, 13 RBI, and 21 R. He’s added another two runs batted in and three runs scored in two games since he was recalled. Last season, Davis hit 20 homers in the second half and batted a passable .255 in the second half to turn his terrible season around, I definitely believe we see a similar resurgence this year.
Anthony Rendon (34%): Too many guys are home run hitters who fail to do much else. That’s why I like Rendon, he’s a doubles hitter who has enough pop to go deep while not sacrificing average to do it. The 23-year-old owns a .303/.353/.444 line in his rookie campaign with three home runs, 12 RBI, 19 R, and 11 doubles. It took just 79 minor league games for the 18th top prospect in the league to make it to the bigs – over which he put up 12 homers, 20 doubles, six triples, and 47 runs. He’s an excellent all-around player already and still has plenty of growth ahead of him.
Randall Delgado (4%): Delgado was the centerpiece of the trade that sent Justin Upton to Atlanta and the 23-year-old has not disappointed. He has given up more than two runs just once in five games, surrendering three to the Reds. In four starts, Delgado owns a 3.24 ERA and 22 K/4 BB. The former 42nd top prospect owned a 9.4 K/9 in the minors and currently has a 8.3/9 this season.
