2014 Fantasy Baseball: 5 Shrewd Plays For July 12

Chicago's 3B is batting an excellent .323 on the season, but he's kicked it up a notch of late with an outstanding .370 average over his past 8 contests. He's also chipped in four HRs and eight RBIs over that span, and should be able to keep things rolling today against the Cleveland Indians. Indians starter Zach McAllster sports a horrific 5.89 ERA on the season, plus lefties have knocked him around, as they sport a .301 average against him.

Kipnis has done his best to turn around a disappointing season of late, as he's put together six multi-hit performances over his last 10 games. He has a nice matchup today vs. right-hander Scott Carroll, and I expect another solid game out of him. To go along with an ugly 4.52 ERA and 1.52 WHIP, left-handers are batting a lofty .303 against Carroll on the season.

Seemingly out of nowhere, this 26-year-old has turned into a stud for the Angles this season. He's been especially hot of late with a .395 average to go along with three HRs and 12 runs scored over his last nine games. He'll face Texas Rangers right-hander Miles Mikolas this evening, and a big game could be in the cards. Mikolas has only two starts to his credit this year, and has been battered around to the tune of a ghastly 12.46 ERA.

It's been a bit of an up and down season for this phenom, but he's flying high at the moment. Strasburg has only allowed three runs in his past two outings, and has an impressive 17 K's over those 14.2 innings. He'll take to the road to face the light-hitting Philadelphia Phillies today, who rank just 28th in the league in runs per game at home. In two starts vs. this team on the season, Strasburg owns a terrific 1.38 ERA with 16 strikeouts.

This slugger has really been cooking in July with a strong .375 average to go along with nine RBIs in 10 games. Matchups don't come much better for him than they do today either. The Braves will take on Edwin Jackson and the Chicago Cubs this afternoon. Lefties have clobbered Jackson this year as they're hitting .331 against him, and in 14 career at bats, Freeman is batting .500 vs. the right-hander with two HRs, a double and a triple.