Not that long ago, Colby Rasmus was a big deal in the prospect community. Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus both tabbed him a Top 10 prospect for 2008 and 2009, and he forced his way into the St. Louis lineup at the tender age of 22.

It’s been a meandering story since then — a handful of homers, a bunch of strikeouts, a couple of team changes. But the dots might be connecting for a nifty career year at age 29.

Rasmus was a part-time roto factor last year, conking 25 homers in 137 games. A .238 average isn’t easy to digest, however, and he only stole a couple of bases. He was Houston’s star bat in the playoffs, hitting four more homers over six games (for about two weeks, he was the GIF king of Twitter, on and off the field).

Early in 2016, Rasmus is back in the swing of things. He’s already hit five home runs — witness these two beauties from Thursday’s loss at Texas — and he’s seeing the ball awfully well. Rasmus has already drawn 14 walks on the young season — a personal rate increase of 140 percent — and he’s also cut down on his strikeouts. Line drives are up, hard-hit rate is through the Minute Maid roof (far and away his career-best rate there). And heck, he’s even giving it a try on the bases, stealing one bag on two attempts.

If you look at the offensive component of WAR over the last year, Rasmus ranks a solid 19th among outfielders. Consider some of the players he slots ahead of: Lorenzo Cain, Dexter Fowler, Justin Upton, Starling Marte, Brett Gardner. Rasmus is no longer a shiny toy in the fantasy community, and it’s pushed him into the underrated pile. I’m not suggesting Rasmus will be a better fantasy player than this list of players, but at least he’s producing enough to be in the conversation.

Look, I get it — it’s early in the season. We’re not even out of April yet. But we have to keep our eyes peeled for what players values appear to be dynamically changing, and Rasmus could be one of those guys. This is what a breakout career year might look like through a few weeks. His modest Yahoo ownership (57 percent) is far too low. In shallower pools, see if you can get in on this.

View photos Two Jakes (Topps, The Quarry) More

• Jake Arrieta isn’t our lede today because there’s nothing actionable, or new, to say about him. He’s been a front-line starter for almost two years now. He’s off a Cy Young campaign and one of the most electric second halves we’ve ever seen. When Arrieta dominates a weak offense like the Reds, it’s not front-page news.

And when he throws his second no-hitter in less than a year, all we can do is nod, appreciate, and wish we had him on all of our teams. Here’s the tape. Enjoy that bounce in your step, Chicago (Patrick Kane’s overtime brilliance didn’t hurt, either.)

The 16-0 box score was good to most of the Cubs, but Addison Russell wasn’t invited to the party (0-for-6, down to .196). Here’s a case where it should pay to be patient. Russell hit the ball sharply in four of his Thursday at-bats, and his seasonal scan is filled with positive indicators. Walks are up, strikeouts are down, and line drives are significantly up. I doubt most Russell owners are panic-stricken — he was the type of buzzy March player who required a reach pick; thus the attachment might be stronger than usual for a middle-round selection — but in some pools, there could be a buy-low opportunity.

Story continues