Fantasy baseball sizzlers, fizzlers: Ryon Healy heating up as summer approaches
As we arrive at the doorstep of summer, injuries to a pair of veterans in Detroit and San Francisco have opened the door to more playing time for their backups. Meanwhile, three proven sluggers have fallen on hard times -- and in one case, fallen all the way down to the low minors.
Sizzlers
1B Ryon Healy, Seattle Mariners: Healy was beginning to heat up when he hurt himself in the weight room, leading to a stint on the disabled list. Now healthy, he returned with a solid .400 average last week to go with four homers — including his second two-homer game of the season — and six RBI.
2B/OF Alen Hanson, San Francisco Giants: With Evan Longoria nursing a fractured hand, the versatile Hanson — he has played second, third and the outfield — should get more playing time. Hanson has assembled a solid .293 average with five homers, and three swipes and could be of particular value to a speed-challenged fantasy squad.
C/1B John Hicks, Detroit Tigers: Versatility seems to be the name of the game, and with 13 appearances behind the plate, you can use Hicks as a backstop in this year of awful catchers. He’s hit .353 with a homer and three RBI his last 10 games and should be a full-timer with Miguel Cabrera out for the year.
SP Jose Urena, Florida Marlins: Urena had an 0-7 record and 4.69 ERA on Memorial Day, but has won two of his last three decisions and lowered his ERA by 0.65 since. In his last four starts, he's thrown 25 frames with 17 strikeouts, a 2.88 ERA and 1.04 WHIP.
SP Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers: Peralta, who caused a stir in his MLB debut with 13 strikeouts in 5 2/3 one-hit innings last month, made a second less stellar start and was sent back to the minors. But after allowing just five earned runs in four outings at Class AAA Colorado Springs, he's back for Tuesday's game vs. Pittsburgh and possibly a second start over the weekend.
Fizzlers
OF Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals: He may have the most potential and even be the most feared hitter in the game, but Harper will have to do better than the .146 he's hit with one homer and three RBI since the beginning of June. Fantasy owners may soon have to do the unthinkable and consider benching Harper until he snaps out of his slump.
SP Patrick Corbin, Arizona Diamondbacks: The right-hander began the season stellar enough, but over his last four starts hitters have caught up. Corbin is 1-2 over 23 2/3 innings with a 6.46 ERA and 1.47 WHIP.
SP Jake Odorizzi, Minnesota Twins: Odorizzi's numbers have gotten increasingly worse month-to-month from the 3.94 ERA he logged in April to the 5.40 ERA and 1.67 WHIP thus far in June. His last win was on May 8.
1B Edwin Encarnacion, Cleveland Indians: Encarnacion is a sort of three true outcomes guy, but over the past week, he wasn’t even that, hitting .087 with one RBI, five whiffs, and just a pair of hits over 23 at-bats.
3B Miguel Sano, Minnesota Twins: An All-Star last year, Sano has struggled so badly (.203, 40.5% strikeout rate) the Twins relegated him to High-A Fort Myers last week to rework his swing and regain his confidence. Be cautiously optimistic and reserve Sano assuming he will be back, refreshed and ready to go at Target Field around the break.
Find Lawr’s work at Creativesports2.com and listen to The Tout Wars Hour with Lawr, Justin Mason, and Todd Zola every Sunday on FNTSY from 2-4 PM, ET. Follow him on Twitter @lawrmichaels.