Ryan Howard - Howard is streaky and can go hot or cold at the drop of a hat. But his current hot streak is surely helping fantasy owners get over that playoff hump. During his current 10-game hitting streak, Ry-Ho is hitting .341 with 5 HR and 11 RBI. Of course, 2 of those dingers and 4 of those ribbies came in yesterday's game against the Nats, but that's anecdotal. He's on a tear right now and fantasy owners (and Philly fans) can only hope that he doesn't slow-down anytime soon. To give his full season perspective, however, his FPI has gone from 0.90 in his rookie year, to 0.77 last season, all the way down to 0.59 this year. His HR/AB has also gradually slowed from 10.0, to 11.3, to its current level of 13.7.
Lastings Milledge - It sure did take awhile (well, a long-time in the eyes of fantasy owners), but Lastings Milledge is really starting to show his potential. Since August 1st, the Nats outfielder is hitting .333, with 6 HR, 19 RBI, 7-for-9 in SB, and 67 TB. That's going for a 0.88 FPI, .961 OPS, and a HR/AB of about 20.0. We all knew he had this kind of talent locked-away somewhere and it was getting increasingly frustrating for everyone who recognized he simply wasn't tapping-in that potential. A full-season's worth of this could be on the horizon as he gets comfortable in Washington. Something to think about during the long off-season when you begin preparing for the '09 drafts. Lots of upside here.
Oliver Perez - Well, it counts as a quality start and he did earn the W, but you hate to see the 5 walks on the boxscore for Oliver Perez. Ollie lasted 6.2 IP and gave up 5 hits in addition to all of those walks, 2 ER, and hurled a total of 117 pitches (mostly because of all of those deep counts). He is now 5 for his last 6 in quality starts, but I'd feel more comfortable about his ongoing value if he could keep his control in-check. Either way, his quality start % in August is quite the improvement from his volatile first half of the season and it couldn't come at a better time for fantasy owners and Mets fans.
Adrian Gonzalez - Where have you gone Adrian Gonzalez? While his FPI from first to second half has remained relatively consistent from 0.64 to 0.62, his power numbers are way down. Averaging a homerun for every 16.8 AB pre-all start break, he has since posted a 26.8. He's also slumping a bit, in general, at the plate with just one multi-hit game in his last 14 and, of course no homeruns since August 9th.
Ryan Zimmerman - Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to nine straight games with a HR in the 7th inning against the Phillies. During that span he's 15-for-36 and his showing that those shoulder injuries that kept him out of the lineup for much of the season are way behind him. He'll continue to be an ongoing injury risk as he re-proves himself as a viable fantasy 3B, but average and power are sure making up for it at this point. He now has 3 HR in his last 8 games after not hitting one prior since May 17th.
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