Dunham Walk-Off Lifts Sizzling Somerset Past Phils

Elijah Dunham knows all about playing in Double-A Somerset. The veteran outfielder is in his third season playing parts of a season with the Somerset Patriots, the Yankees Double-A affiliate. On Monday night he carried the Patriots to a thrilling 7-6 victory over the Reading Fightin Phils at TD Bank Ballpark, when he crushed a pitch off the right-center field wall for a game-winning RBI double.

The victory was the third walk-off winner for the Patriots this season.

Moreover, Dunham extended his season-long hit streak to nine games, and season-long on-base streak to 14 games. Dunham has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games, over which he’s batting .333 with three homers 10 extra base hits, 13 RBI, and 11 runs scored.

The win was the sixth victory for Somerset in its last seven games. They are at .500 overall (38-38), and are in first place in the Eastern League for the second half with a record of 6-1.

Brock Selvidge got the start for Somerset, holding the Phils to four runs over 5.1 innings of work. He fanned eight batters and did not factor into the decision.

Earning the win was reliever Luis Velasquez, who surrendered a run on two hits over two innings of relief work.

MORE SOMERSET PATRIOTS

Up until this point in the year there have been a few early round fantasy baseball players that have struggled. Here we are going to look at the six best buy low options as we approach the midway point of the season.

Click HERE to see the top fantasy baseball players to sell high on right now.

Julio was widely taken as a top 3 selection in fantasy drafts, but has completely underperformed up to this point. Rodriguez did something similar last year after a slow start and really excelled towards the end of the year. Expecting that again, Julio could certainly be the most valuable fantasy piece in the trade market over the course of the summer if you’re able to get him for a good price. Julio offers power and speed upside hitting all five categories and if you’re able to get him before he goes on his hot streak, you can reap all of Julio’s benefits without paying his hefty first round price tag.

Lopez was drafted as a top 10-20 pitcher in drafts this past spring and has been abysmal through the first 2 months. Lopez has pitched to a 5.63 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP through 80 innings so far but taking a risk on him to turn it around may be worth it. Trading for Lopez may cost you a mid-level hitter but if you can get him for a player like Nico Hoerner, or Jurickson Profar it may be worth it. Guys get off to slow starts, but if you’re smart about your moves you can take advantage of players’ slowly starts and turn them into great value for your team.

Arozarena has been brutal through the first half of the season but has been an extremely consistent fantasy player over recent years. Arozarena has hit to a .191 average with 10 home runs and 26 RBIs through almost the midway point of the season with only 10 steals. Arozarena was likely taken in the fourth round of fantasy drafts this past spring and has certainly not returned that value up until this point. If you are looking for steals and average for the rest of the year, Arozarena may be able to return to form considering he’s a career .255 hitter and figures to end the year close to that number. That means that he will be returning great value in average the rest of the way. He’s already starting to turn his season around as he is hitting .275 in the month of June and has dropped his strikeout rate to 13 percent after it was 28 percent or more through the first 2 months of the year. If you take the chance and buy low in Arozarena it may just pay off over the final 3 months of the year.

Springer is on the list because he will probably be the cheapest player to get out of the 5 players listed. Springer, if healthy, is usually a fantasy stalwart but has been borderline droppable through the first 2 and a half months of the season. Springer has accumulated 5 homers, 15 RBIs, and a .194 average through the early portion of the year but could be in for a monster second half, giving the buy low buyer the potential for really great value. Age for Springer, unlike Machado, plays a much bigger role in his potential decline but trading for Springer would cost much less than it would if you traded for Machado.