Colby Rasmus has already hit six home-runs in June so far and it’s only the 17th. Rasmus also hit six in April on a similar 30% HR/FB ratio. More importantly, Colby Rasmus has tempered his free swinging ways after posting a 33.8% and 39.3% K-Rate in April and May respectively. Rasmus has went 13 straight games without a multiple strike-out performance and posted an 18.6% strikeout rate in June. Rasmus’ K-Rate still sits at 32.8% which may make stat-savvy owners more likely to give him up at a discounted price. If you think Rasmus has turned the corner, now’s the time to grab him. He’s still due for some regression but the skill-set is definitely there.
Brett Myers has an ERA of 3.18 despite a relatively average .322 BABIP and 74.6% LOB-Rate. Myers is striking out 9.15 hitters-per-9 and sporting a 1.16 WHIP in June. Shockingly, Myers has yet to go fewer than 6 Innings all year. Myers has posted a quality start in 9 of his 13 chances this year.
After posting ERAs of 4.97 and 5.03 in the previous two months, Javier Vazquez is posting a 3.31 ERA in June thus far. Hitters have been hitting a mere .157 (on a .158 BABIP) during the same time span. After a couple months where Vazquez posted 4.50+ BB/9, he’s finally settled down to the 2.14 BB/9 region in June. Vazquez has always posted terrific K:BB numbers and may have finally turned the corner. Vazquez won’t be the sub-3.00 ERA pitcher that he was for the Braves last year, but he’s still very talented and a terrific buy at this point.
Josh Hamilton is quietly putting together MVP-type numbers after catching fire in June. Hamilton’s tied with Carlos Pena for the league lead in HR since June 1st with 7. Hamilton’s slow start to the season has been overshadowed by his ascent up the leader boards. Hamilton’s currently 5th in HR, 8th in RBI, 11th in RBI and 13th in batting average.
Jonny Gomes is holding his own against righties. Primarily a platoon slugger, Gomes now has a slash-line of .285/.324/.485 with six of his nine homers against righties. Against lefties, Gomes is almost a must start with only an 18.6% K-Rate, 13.7% BB-Rate and a 1.082 OPS. Considering that Gomes only has a 9.7 HR/FB against lefties, he should be in for a homer-binge at some point soon.
