Corners Report: Fourth Of July Six Pack

The Fourth of July and all its heat, loud parades, boring fireworks, and overpopulated spaces is now gone, as are likely at least a third of your fantasy league mates. Paying attention all season kinda guarantees a top half finish.

Keep the grind, there’s always guys to pick up, stream, drop, etc. Josh Bell, for example, is in his annual hot streak. You miss that unless you

A. Read Razzball. It’s literally got a daily rundown and every position covered.

B. Subscribe to Razzball, then you get these cool features that let you see for yourself the hot and cold trends.

Dang, I just put pressure on myself! Here’s a six pack in honor of what many downed on the holiday weekend:

Kyle Stowers: Stowers is on a heater for the surprising Miami Marlins. On the season, he’s a bit mid: .247 with 11 dingers. In the last week, it’s been electric, smashing three homers with 10 runs and 7 RBI. He’s worth a pickup for now.

Why just for now? Stowers’ profile suggests a streaky nature. He’s still at a 30% strikeout rate, my general cap for who I’ll roster. The whiff rate is also high, partly due a high bat speed. When he hits and is locked in, the results look great. Just don’t hesitate to move on if my fears of regression come to pass.

Kyle Karros: Unlike his father Erik, Karros the Younger is a doubles power type of bat. Well, upon a quick Google, Dad didn’t really get to 30 HR until year four, so this kinda tracks?

The younger Karros is toiling in obscurity that is Colorado, and you may have missed his .364/.449/.662 in the last 30 days. He’s been a great asset for everything besides HR. He’s a good swing decision/sweet spot ball striker, not a power guy.

My old friend had a theory at one point that you needed at least one Colorado player to win your hitting categories. With Karros playing like this and prospect Charlie Condon soon to follow, this could be proven right again. Optimism in Colorado?

Rafael Devers, notorious slow starter? His four HR last week portend success, and his projected finish is 30 HR, 87 RBI, 79 R. Devers is maintaining a decent walk rate while cutting down on his strikeouts. Positive developments, these are. The Giants slugger is still ranked 23 among 1B, so there’s work to be done. But I’ve talked bad about him for so long, had to make it up to him somehow!

Josh Naylor signed with Seattle. Tried to warn you guys, Seattle kills hitters! Yet many kept ranking him top 5 because stolen bases from the league’s slowest player are bankable going forward. Well here we are. 29th rated at first base, even worse than my preseason rank of 12 (but to be fair I ranked him where I knew I’d have zero shares). .251 with just 8 HR. Gotta be a sell low here.

Michael Busch was a flash in the pan last year? Sitting at .238 with just 11 HR, this is a disappointment for managers who wanted the top ten bat from last year by WRC+. Normally, I would point out his elite walk rate and preach patience. I’m not, though, and traded him to my friendly neighborhood Cub fan. Why not?

1. He’s hitting lefties much better, but not good. The problem is he’s not raking against righties as he did. Not good.

2. Slooooooowwww baaaaaaat speeeeeeeeed. It’s coming back to get him. Being in the seventh percentile for this usually isn’t what you want your power bat to do. He’s actually overperforming his batting average projections too.

The Busch isn’t burning. Feel free to divest yourself of assets.

Brooks Lee is the third basiest 3B of all the 3B. He’s ranked tenth at the position on the season, despite not being good at average, runs, RBI, or power. Just by going out there daily, he’s top ten at third. If I’m struggling with injuries, I just plug him in and run with it. Don’t be excited. No, sit down. Just do it then and enjoy low average production.

Keep pounding everyone! Fantasy baseball is the most rewarding win there is if you can get it. You can’t fake your way into that one. Thanks for reading and have a great week!