2014 Fantasy Baseball: 5 Shrewd Plays For Aug. 12

The latter half of July wasn't very friendly to this slugger, but he seems to have found his groove once again. Jhonny Peralta is batting a robust .393 over his last eight games, and has a great matchup on Tuesday to help keep that momentum going. The St. Louis Cardinals will square off with starter Jarred Cosart, and the right-hander has been pounded to the tune of a 7.90 ERA over his last five outings.

It's been a pretty terrible season for this slugger, but he appears to be revving up for a strong finish. Trumbo has posted an excellent .343 average so far in nine August contests, plus has chipped in a HR and nine RBIs already this month. The matchup on Tuesday is a delectable one as the D-backs will face starter T.J. House. Trumbo has been far better vs. lefties this season, and House is allowing right-handers to bat a lofty .321 on the year.

It doesn't look like Kipnis is going to rediscover his power stroke any time soon, but he is swinging the bat pretty well lately. The talented second baseman is batting a solid .326 over his last 11 games, and has turned that into nine runs scored. The Indians will square off with Josh Collmenter and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday. Collmenter has struggled vs. lefties this season, as he's allowed them to bat an even .300 to this point.

It's never a bad idea to insert the best player in baseball into your daily fantasy baseball lineup, but it's an exquisite idea to do so on Tuesday. The Angels will face one of the worst pitchers in baseball this season in Jerome Williams, and Trout may just have a field day at the plate. Williams has posted a dreadful 6.71 ERA on the season, and that number sits at a ghastly 9.40 over his last 20.1 innings of work.

Few pitchers have been as dominant as this southpaw in 2014 as Sale has now posted a 10-2 record to go along with a sparkling 2.14 ERA. His 10.18 K's per nine innings ranks fifth among all starters in baseball, and he makes for a fantastic play on Tuesday. The Sox will take on the San Francisco Giants, and to go along with an awful 5-12 record over their last 17 played, the team has only plated 2.94 runs per contest over that span.