Barry Zito - Zito tossed his third straight quality start and ninth straight outing giving up three runs or less in beating the Rockies last night 5-3. Zito is showing his best velocity since 2005 and his best control since 2004 this season, so it stands to reason that he's putting up some solid numbers, but he's also had the benefit of a BABIP that is about 45 points lower than you'd expect. Aside from the BABIP, there isn't much that makes you think that Zito will suddenly fall apart again next week, month, or year, although as Drew mentioned previously he still does have a rather high number of blowups, so his value isn't consistently applied. He's a reasonable back-end starter in all formats at present, and at this point in his career I can't expect much more than that going forward.
Chris Coghlan - Coghlan has reached base in thirteen straight after a single and a walk yesterday, boosting his OBP back to .372, which is much more in line with his minor league performances. Coghlan has stolen as many as 34 bases in the minors, and he's at an age where a bit more power might develop shortly, so although he is more of a 10/10 player that hits for a decent AVG at present, there may even be a bit more potential here going forward. I like him quite a bit in keeper formats.
Matt Maloney - Maloney's K rates have always been solid enough to justify his inclusion on sleeper lists, but even in the mid-minors he allowed a few too many homers, so the eight in just over twenty innings at the big league level isn't that much of a surprise. The Reds have been looking for pitching for about thirty years now, so Maloney will likely keep getting shots, and the cutter and sinker he's been working on seemed pretty solid after the first two innings yesterday. I would consider him in deeper leagues as a bench or minor league option just on the basis of the excellent K numbers throughout his career, in hopes that he can manage to boost his GB% over the next season or two. It isn't likely that he'll figure it out in enough time for 2009, of course.
Matt Kemp - The 24 year old is enjoying the current road trip, tallying his third straight multi-hit game yesterday with a single and a homer. Kemp has shown a consistent ability to maintain a BABIP well above expected, and his contact rate has improved a touch in each of his four seasons. He still seems to be underrated to me, as it's pretty clear that he is on track to become a perennial MVP candidate, but it doesn't seem that he is valued as such just yet. I think he's one of the best players in the game
Milton Bradley - Bradley reached base four times for the second straight game (and the third game in five) yesterday as the Cubs might just be getting hot at the right time. Even in this down power year for Bradley his OBP is still nosing back up to .400, and if he can keep it there that would make three seasons in a row at that lofty mark. In my mind, he's been a perpetually underrated player between the injuries and the perhaps misguided focus on his temperment, so he's always a target as far as I'm concerned, but much more so if your league values OBP over AVG.
