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Adam Eaton (+39%) was the most added player in fantasy baseball this past week. Up until recently, Eaton has been the fantasy baseball equivalent of a “salad guy” throughout most of his career. You know the type of person that I’m referring to. The kind who orders a salad as his main course for a meal at a restaurant, just like in the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry did that exact thing on a date and then spent the rest of the episode trying to man-up for his woman and make reparations for that questionable decision. There usually isn’t much substance to the salad guy, and I always find that person difficult to trust quite frankly. “Hey, here’s another 1-for-4 for you, and I even threw in a run this time. Maybe I’ll steal a base for you next week. Or not. Stay tuned!” That’s pre-2015 Eaton talking to his fantasy owners while munching on some lettuce. Smug bastard!

However, things have changed for Eaton this season, particularly in the second half. Maybe he finally traded in those salads for some delicious Chicago deep dish pizza over the all-star break. In 16 post-ASB games, he’s produced a .410/.532/.656 triple slash line with 3 homers, 18 runs, 7 RBI, and 5 steals. He’s finally going deep at the dish this year, hitting 9 of his 15 career homers while posting a career-high .155 ISO thus far. I’m not sure I’m entirely convinced that he’s turned over a new leaf (because he’s eaten so many over the years), but there’s nothing wrong with riding this schmotato while he’s hot.

Here are a couple of other significant adds and drops in fantasy baseball over the past week:

Colby Lewis – 40.6% owned (+13.7%)

Colby might as well change his name to Parker cause it seems like this guy can’t lose. Entering yesterday’s game against Houston, Lewis has been on quite a run over the past couple of months, logging 10 quality starts since the beginning of June while winning 7 out of 8 decisions in the process. Commanding the strike zone has been a key to his success, as Lewis is one of just 24 qualified MLB starting pitchers to produce a K/BB ratio of at least 4 this season (4.04). On the other hand, that plus control is necessary for a fly ball pitcher (46.5% FB% – 3rd highest among MLB SPs) with mediocre stuff (88.2 mph FBv – 87th out of 90 among SPs), because when he’s a bit off of his game, things can get ugly in a hurry (10 ER in 4 IP vs the Angels on July 5th; 9 ER in 2 2/3 IP at the Indians on May 27th). A soft-throwing, 36-year-old with a small margin of error could turn into a ratio-killer in a hurry. TRASH.

Tyler Clippard – 44.2% owned (-17.8%)

In non-holds leagues, Clippard’s fantasy value took a big hit since being traded out of his closing gig in Oakland  into a set-up role with the New York Mets. There were a few reasons to be concerned about Clippard even prior to this deal though. He’s easily thrown the most innings of any reliever since 2009 (496 IP), and that wear-and-tear has contributed to a velocity decline for the third straight season. Clippard has had trouble finding the plate as well, producing his highest walk rate since 2008 (4.89 BB/9) and the 7th highest in MLB out of 139 qualified RPs this season. However, a low hard-hit percentage (18.5% – 6th lowest among relievers) and solid strikeout (8.29 K/9) and strand rates (84.0% LOB%) have allowed him to continue to be effective. Jeurys Familia, the Mets incumbent closer, has been even more over-worked than Clippard (3rd most IP among relievers since the start of 2014), and allowed 5 earned runs over consecutive outings recently. Keep an eye on this situation, save vultures. If Clippard’s available, the time to stash is now. TREASURE.