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Welcome back to baseball. The first day back from the All-Star break belonged to the hitters, at least as far as fantasy baseball stats go.
Three guys went deep twice on Friday and guess what, all of them made the list. As a matter of fact, that’s where we start.
Daily Fantasy Baseball Stats MVP
Jason Kipnis — Cleveland Indians
A slightly lower daily batting average than a few of the guys below him, but the extra RBI should be a bit more valuable to fantasy teams.
It hasn’t been a great first half for Kipnis, as his power has been virtually non-existent. Still, if he can hit a few more bombs for the rest of the year, he can still justify the faith that a lot of owners had in him before the season.
Daily Fantasy Baseball Stats Honorable Mentions
1. Anthony Rizzo — Chicago Cubs
It’s not exactly Rizzo’s first action since Sunday. Since his name is not Derek Jeter or Adam Wainwright, you may not know that, but he actually did play in the All-Star Game.
It’s good to see Rizzo pick up right where he left off. The guy is on pace to right around 40 homers this year, and games like this are the reason why — he’s had a few of them. The Cubs are too far out of it to think it’s possible this year, but this youngster might have an NL MVP in his near future.
2. Jacoby Ellsbury — New York Yankees
These are the kind of games fantasy players look for from Jacoby and while he’s not having a terrible year, he hasn’t had many of them this season.
Still, we have half of the season to go, so maybe this game can get him going to a strong second half.
3. Brayan Pena — Cincinnati Reds
Pena would probably be a bit higher if he was owned in a few more leagues.
Having said that, keep an eye on Pena if you’re lacking a first baseman, or catcher. He’s eligible at both positions and while Joey Votto is out, Pena should get plenty of at-bats.