Jason Bartlett - A pair of singles and a double cap off a scintillating August for Bartlett, as his triple slash stats for the month read 343/435/535. You can put me in the seemingly small camp that believes that a sizable portion of this year's gains are for real with Tampa's SS. His BABIP of .399 is gaudy to be sure, but with a LD% of 26.3 it's only a bit "hit-lucky". His plate discipline has returned, and the increase in K's and concurrent decrease in contact rate merely illustrate to me that, in conjunction with the sizable decrease in GB%, that he's stopped being a slap hitter. He's making a conscious effort to drive the ball, and while he isn't likely to put up an OPS of .927 again, holding on to half of his gains this season still makes him a pretty useful commodity, and that's basically what I expect to see.
Alex Avila - A couple more hits for Avila yesterday as the 22 year old backstop continues to impress. He just completed 164 professional games with 41 doubles and 16 homers, which for a catcher is some pretty fair production at any age, let alone right out of college. Yesterday was his first game action in six days, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him play enough down the stretch to make him a palatable option in deeper leagues, and keeper leaguers should definitely be aware of him for 2010 and beyond.
Taylor Teagarden - With Jarrod Saltamacchia very possibly done for the year, Taylor Teagarden's value remains intact. Teagarden isn't ever going to hit for average, but a .238 ISO for the month of August illustrates what he does have to offer: power. He has 55 homers in 954 professional AB's, and since catchers typically take a bit longer to mature as hitters, I'd even say that there might be a little bit more there going forward. He is only going to play about 60-70% of the time with Pudge Rodriguez on board, but that's enough to give him second catcher value in just about all formats.
Andy Marte - Andy Marte is still only 25 after suffering a Mount Everest-like rise and fall in terms of public opinion, so while his 282/338/465 August may not seem like much it is most certainly a step forward. At 1B the bar is significantly higher, so he isn't lineup-worthy (or even roster-worthy in shallow formats) just yet, but he has improved just about every single rate stat thus far this year, so there is reason for optimism. Keeping an eye on him would certainly be warranted.
Andrew Bailey - I'd give him two campfires if I could. Bailey converted his 16th straight save last night against the Royals, and he is now unscored upon (and hasn't issued a walk) in his last 12 appearances. He just finished a 7-7 August with a 0.00 ERA, so apparently he was right in brushing off his latest knee tweak. He is rapidly positioning himself as one of the best young closers in the game.
