Daily Fantasy Baseball: Positive Batted-Ball Regression Candidates for Week 14
Ian Happ, OF, Chicago Cubs
Ian Happ has certainly put his rough 2018 start behind him, rehabilitating his overall triple-slash line to a respectable if not exactly spectacular .241/.336/.432 after starting the season with a 45.5% strikeout rate in his first 99 plate appearances.
The month of June saw Happ's, ahem, "best" strikeout rate trends of the season, punching out at "only" a 34.5% clip while posting an excellent 19.0% walk rate. Yet he's hit a major cold snap in terms of power production, limping to a .074 isolated slugging (ISO) with just 3 hits for extra bases in 84 June plate appearances.
This seems like a major stroke of bad luck for Happ, who showed excellent skills metrics in terms of quality contact on the month, including 48.7% hard-hit rate and 25.6% line-drive rate. Happ's poor results may correct this week with the Cubs lining up against a very soft pitching schedule, including the likes of Mike Fiers, Tyler Mahle, and Matt Harvey. With Happ's FanDuel salary wallowing below $3,000, the sophomore slugger profiles as an excellent value play.
