Rich Hill
Hill allowed the only Reds hit of the day on Saturday, with Sean Marshall and Scott Eyre finishing off the team one-hitter. Hill walked one and struck out four and despite allowing 11 flyballs to just three groundouts, managed to keep the ball in the park. It didn't hurt that the bottom of the Cincinnati order featured Jorge Cantu, David Ross, and Jason Ellison (plus the pitcher's spot), but it was still an encouraging finish to a solid season for Hill, who wound up 11-8 with a 3.92 ERA and 185 strikeouts (8.5 K/9). Hill actually improved his G/F this year from 0.60 to 0.94, but he's probably always going to allow more than his share of longballs, and with the Cubs having one of the NL's weaker defensive outfields, that hurts Hill as well. At age 27, Hill is in his prime already, so don't expect much improvement in his numbers next year (excepting wins perhaps), but he should be a reliable starter for the next five years at least.
Matt Murton
With the division wrapped up the previous day, Lou Piniella rolled out his bench on Saturday. I follow baseball more than most, but I admit I'd never even heard of the Cubs' rightfielder on Saturday, some guy named Sam Fuld (Samuel Babson Fuld to be precise). I had heard of Matt Murton, however. He's the guy Lou Piniella seems to have in his doghouse all year, giving far too many of Murton's at-bats to the likes of Felix Pie (not ready) and the broken-down Cliff Floyd. Saturday, Murton went 2-for-4 with a double and home run off Aaron Harang and is now batting .283/.355/.442. Murton has 28 homers in 867 career at-bats, so the relative lack of power (for a corner OF) is what is holding him back, but his .366 career OBP certainly has some value. I think he'd be an excellent #2 hitter and with a full season of at-bats in Wrigley Field, could certainly approach 20 homers. He'll probably be the team's #4 OF next year if he's not traded, but Murton deserves better.
Rickie Weeks
Weeks is positioning himself for a strong 2008 season with a strong finish to this one. Fantasy owners expected much more than a .235 average from Weeks this year, but hand/wrist injuries have cut pretty deeply into his numbers, as has a mediocre 72.2% contact rate If Weeks can raise that to even 77-78% next year, he could easily hit in the .270s, as his BB/PA rate of 15.5% has his OBP at .374. Can you imagine Ryan Braun and Cecil Fielder's RBI totals with Weeks getting on base 42% of the time and staying healthy? Weeks' home run on Saturday was his 16th of the year and ninth this month, so it seems the wrist isn't hurting his power production. Chase Utley and Brandon Phillips will be 1/2 in the 2B hierarchy next year, but if you can wait a few round, Weeks is worth drafting simply for his 25 HR, 40 SB upside.
Eric Byrnes
A few months ago, if you told me that the Diamondbacks would give Byrnes a $30 million three-year extension, I wouldn't have believed it. With Carlos Quentin seemingly the team's LF of the future and Carlos Gonzalez tearing through the minor league system, the Diamondbacks didn't seem to have room for Byrnes, but now, that deal is looking like a steal. Byrnes stole his 50th base of the year Friday and the fact that he's been successful 87.7% of the time means he's actually adding value with his legs. Of more value however, is Byrnes' improving plate discipline. A 0.59 EYE (up from 0.39 last year) allowed Byrnes to post a career-best .354 OBP. Mix in 21 homers and 103 runs scored, and Byrnes has been not only a fantasy steal this year, but one of the league's better players and probably the team's MVP.
John Maine
Maine certainly knows how to close out a season. After allowing three runs over five innings (but striking out nine) against Florida in his last start, Maine took the hill against them again on Saturday and one-upped himself, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning before settling for this impressive line: 7 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 14 K. Those 14 strikeouts likely made the difference for several fantasy teams this week and they not only represented Maine's career-high, but it was the first double-digit strikeout game of his career. The Marlins were minus Josh Willingham and the backups entered the game early courtesy of the Mets' bats jumping all over Florida pitching, but it was still a great performance and one that could get Maine a start or two in the playoffs. It's been a great year for Maine - 15-10, 3.91, 180 strikeouts.
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