We are beginning to see a drastic change in the game of baseball. Home runs have been flying over the course of the past two weeks. Several players are on insanely hot streaks, and it feels as though a handful of them are hitting bombs every day. Whether it be the lack of foreign substances for pitchers or the weather heating up, offenses begin to fire on all cylinders.

It was a sight to see when Hector Santiago became the first pitcher to be ejected for what the umpires believed was a foreign substance inside his glove. Santiago is the first pitcher, but he definitely won’t be the last.

All in all, it’s great to see these offensive players explode, and this leads me into the 10 burning questions that I had from the previous week!

As always, you can find my previous article here, and if anyone has any questions or wants me to answer their question in this weekly article, please reach out to my Twitter @TravisCain_.

These rankings and statistics are up to date as of June 28th via Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR) and average draft position (ADP) from FantasyPros.

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1. Was Jake Cronenworth one of the best value picks on draft day?

Cronenworth had a tremendous rookie season last year. Never truly regarded as a top prospect, Cronenworth finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, posting a 129 OPS+. Many believed this was fluky and could not envision Cronenworth repeating similar success. Cronenworth was going towards the ends of drafts and, in some cases, even undrafted. However, Cronenworth is posting eerily similar numbers to what he put up last year, albeit in a larger sample size. Cronenworth’s 3.4 WAR is among the best in baseball too. He is the real deal and was a steal in all fantasy baseball formats.

2. Can Rafael Devers lead the league in RBIs?

Since his breakout season in 2019, Devers seems to do nothing but produce. He is responsible for one of the best offenses in all of baseball. An offense many thought would be on the decline this season. Devers continue to produce game-in and game-out. His 64 RBIs trail only Vladimir Guerrero Jr. And yes, RBIs aren’t the best statistic in the world, but they are a great sign of production. Devers just produces runs at the plate, and it is an incredible sight to see. He is relatively slept on in both fantasy and real baseball. I think it’s time we wake up and appreciate the kind of offensive seasons he is putting together.

3. Does Jordan Romano have the reigns to the Blue Jays closer role?

Rightfully so, many were very high on Romano after news came out that Kirby Yates was going to miss the entire season. Romano was expected to be the full-time closer on a contender. However, the closer role was never clear, and Julian Merryweather ended up getting a majority of the closing opportunities. Even Rafael Dolis go ample amounts of save opportunities. Now, due to injury, Romano appears to have firmly grasped the closing role. His stuff has always been top-notch, so the idea of him becoming a closer was a salivating proposition. Congrats if you were able to scoop him off waivers. Romano appears to have the gig on lock even with Merryweather and Dolis’ imminent returns.

4. Will Joey Gallo remain on the Texas Rangers for the entirety of the season?

The gold glover is coming off a monstrous week at the plate. Gallo is slugging over .800 in his last seven games and seems to be boosting his (potential) trade value. I do believe the Rangers want to trade him and cash in on his remaining value. Which team he goes to remains to be seen. But when Gallo is on, he is on. Gallo is one of the hardest players to analyze because he hits home runs at a high rate, walks at a high rate, and plays gold glove caliber defense in right field, but also strikes out a ton and chases at an alarming rate. It’ll be interesting to see where he ends up.

5. What has gotten into Jonathan Schoop?

Can you believe Schoop is only 29 years old? It seems as though he’s been in the majors for 10 years! Maybe it’s because Schoop has been a model of consistency. The 29-year-old is slugging over .700 in his past 30 games. He, along with the aforementioned Gallo, appears destined to be traded before the deadline. Schoop’s value has increased dramatically from the beginning of the season, and he is looking like one of the best waiver wire pickups of 2021. Schoop is one of the most underrated players of the past few years, and it’s good to see him continue to produce at a high level. Let’s see if he can keep it up.

6. When will Mookie Betts catch fire?

It’s been an up and down season for the all-world right fielder. Injuries have plagued Betts’ season, and he just hasn’t been able to get into much of a rhythm. That being said, his OPS is still above .800, and he’s playing elite defense. Many players would take this kind of season, but Betts was a top-five pick in most fantasy baseball formats. He hasn’t quite lived up to the hype this season, but expect Betts to catch fire here soon. He’s due.

7. Is Sandy Alcantara the most underrated pitcher in baseball?

Alcantara is having a downright stellar season for the Miami Marlins. Despite his rough outing on Sunday, Alcantara is on his way to another all-star appearance. His metrics are up there with all of the elites, and yet, he hardly gets any recognition for his marvelous performances. Despite giving up two home runs to the Nationals, Alcantara still leads the league in the lowest barrel rate. That’s right. He limits his opponents to the lowest barrel rate in all of baseball. He also has one of the highest average pitch velocities in the game. Alcantara deserves much more recognition than he’s being given, and hopefully, he can start getting more run support, too.

8. Will Chris Bassitt be an all-star this season?

Another incredibly underrated pitcher, Chris Bassitt, is a huge reason for the Oakland Athletics’ success this season. Although the 32-year-old has yet to pitch over 144 innings in a season, Bassitt appears to be well on his way to crushing those totals this season. He is posting a career-best SO/9 and also has a tremendous FIP of 3.36. All signs point to Bassitt not slowing down, and he is looking like a great asset to have in fantasy baseball. Continue riding the hot hand.

9. Was Trevor Bauer affected by the new foreign substance policy?

I hate to bring such a strong correlation to the new policy, but Trevor Bauer may have been affected the most by the new rules. MLB has been cracking down on pitchers and their usage of foreign substances. Some pitchers have been affected more than others. Bauer’s spin rate dramatically decreased once the new rules were implemented. It’s hard to argue against the rules affecting his game. He’s also not pitching as well as we’re accustomed to. Bauer has given up at least two runs in five of his last six starts. Don’t get me wrong, Bauer is still a tremendous pitcher, but it appears he has been affected by this change. Let’s see how he does for the remainder of the year.

10. Is Yuli Gurriel the new Victor Martinez?

I pose this question because Victor Martinez was still an all-world hitter even in his age 35 and 37 seasons. Now, Gurriel is similarly great numbers as Martinez did in his Detroit Tigers days. Gurriel has never posted an OPS+ above 127. Right now, he has an OPS+ of 152, and his OPS currently sits above .900. Gurriel appears to be aging like a fine wine. Because of his struggles in 2020, he came at such a huge discount on draft day. He even has the rare statistic of more walks than strikeouts. I fully expect him to reach his first all-star game and continue to hit in one of the most potent offenses in baseball. Hold onto him with confidence.

All statistics were taken from FanGraphs, MLB.com, and Baseball-Reference.

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Travis Cain is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Travis, check out his archive and follow him @TravisCain_.