Rich Harden
Sure it was the Giants, but that didn’t make Harden’s NL/Chicago debut any less impressive. Okay, maybe it did (check out the lineup Bruce Bochy had to roll out there Saturday). Anyway, Harden shined for the Cubs Saturday, logging just 5 1/3 scoreless innings primarily due to the Giants inability to make contact. Harden struck out 10 and walked three, leaving after throwing 96 pitches (66 for strikes). You know what Harden means to the Mets as they battle for the NL Central title (he means a lot) but you also know the risks (his arm). We can debate Harden/Zambrano vs. Sabathia/Sheets (I like the latter) until we’re blue in the face. Harden lowered his ERA to 2.19 and his 11.1 K/9 is far and away best among big league starters. Enjoy the ride and hold your breath here.
Manny Corpas
As I mentioned in A Closer Look this week, the Rockies have put Brian Fuentes on the trade block and he’s widely expected to be dealt this month. Corpas of course flamed out this year in his second year as the Rockies’ closer, losing his job early and finishing May with a 6.59 ERA. Since then however, he’s at 3.50, earning his way back into Clint Hurdle’s good graces. Corpas will take over as closer when/if Fuentes is dealt. Doesn’t quite seem right given Taylor Buchholz’s 1.83 ERA, but Buchholz having allowed runs in three of his last five appearances might have something to do with it. Go ahead and grab Corpas if he’s still hanging out there on the waiver wire.
Justin Upton
Manager Bob Melvin said Saturday that he expects Justin Upton to return right after the break from a left oblique strain suffered Saturday. The injury came at a bad time for Upton, who appeared to be turning things around in July, batting .304/.360/.609 in six games after a dismal June (.123/.305/.215) and a .216 May. Upton reached his high-water mark on May 5 as he went 2-for-4 to raise his line to .348/.405/.557 but since then he’s been brutal, striking out 40 times in May and going all of June with just a single home run. Still, Upton for all his talent has to be near the top of second half sleeper s now that the hype has died down some. Even with all his struggles, he’s still on pace for 20+ homers and around 85 walks.
Jayson Werth
With Geoff Jenkins hitting a miserable .240/.293/.385 as the left-handed half of the RF platoon, Werth has a golden opportunity to steal time against RHP. Jenkins has just 12 points of OPS on Werth vs. RHP and is four years younger and far cheaper than Jenkins, so one would think more time for Werth could be on the way. Overall, Werth is batting .272/.359/.483 and from 2005-2007 had a .350 OBP vs. LHP. Put Victorino and Werth 1-2 in that lineup every day and I’ll take my chances with perhaps the league’s most devastating 3-4-5 hitters behind them. If you look at Werth’s career on a 162-game basis, he’s averaged .262-19-79 with 14 SB and would likely fare even better hitting in front of Rollins, Howard, and Utley.
Jimmy Rollins
Rollins has moved down to the three-hole Saturday and after a 1-for-4 game is 4-for-22 batting third this year. The fantasy implications here are pretty obvious: more RBI opportunities hitting behind Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth and better pitches to hit with Howard and Utley behind him. Utley though was out of the lineup Saturday, so don’t expect to see Rollins anywhere but in the leadoff slot too often. At this point, Rollins’ MVP season a year ago is looking like this career pinnacle. He’s dropped from 30 homers to six, 94 RBI to 30, and is 26 points off last year’s .296 AVG. He is running though, so fantasy owners got that going for them (22 steals), but after being mentioned in the Hanley Ramirez/Jose Reyes troika of shortstops, Rollins has dropped off just as much as Ramirez has separated himself as fantasy’s top player.
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