Chris Young (OF-ARI) – Baseball is a funny game, so should it really be a shocker to see a guy enter a game hitting .181/.293/.344 proceed to hit three home runs and draw two walks? Yes, it was a surprise, but Young’s day against the Rockies in Coors Field on Sunday simply serves to reinforce to us that this is a guy with talent, youth (turned 26 this week), and a 32 HR/27 SB season under his belt. Young has killed many a fantasy team’s AVG category this season, but he wouldn’t be the first guy to experience success, failure that forces him to the minors, and redemption with another solid season (or several). Young is probably going to be undervalued in next year’s drafts, and while you’ll need to protect your AVG category by drafting high AVG guys to compensate for Young’s .240ish contribution, he’ll continue to help in the HR and SB categories.
Yorvit Torrealba (C-COL) – If you haven’t noticed, the Rockies have a new starting catcher. With Chris Iannetta batting just .223/.334/.449 (not awful numbers save the AVG), Torrealba has started all three games this weekend against the Diamondbacks. He went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBI Sunday, giving him a .285/.352/.375 line in 144 at-bats. If you need a #2 catcher in deeper leagues, Torrealba is worth a look, but the Rockies aren’t going to completely phase out Iannetta, especially if he has a strong game or two in the next week.
Ian Stewart (3B-COL) – Stewart is getting an extended audition for the 2010 starting third base job, and though only the Rockies know whether .235/.326/.480 gives him a leg up on Garrett Atkins or whomever they might choose to bring in as competition, Stewart has been hot recently. Sunday, Stewart hit his third homer in four games while going 2-for-2 with three walks and three runs scored. He’s struck out a whopping 111 times in 371 at-bats, but against Arizona in three games this weekend – just one strikeout in 12 plate appearances. Stewart is batting .393 with three homers in his last nine games, and a solid September should pretty much lock up the 3B job for 2010.
Garrett Anderson (OF-ATL) – Anderson is reportedly a great guy, but batting him third and playing him every day has been a serious drain on the Atlanta offense. Anderson was 0-for-5 on Sunday, dropping him to .281/.317/.425. Not the worst numbers in the world, but certainly subpar for a corner OF and especially subpar for a #3 hitter. Since the end of July, Anderson is batting just .244 with a meager six extra-base hits and 18:5 K:BB in 119 at-bats. Why he continues to play every day in favor of Ryan Church is mystifying. Sure, Church’s .740 OPS isn’t outstanding either, but Church offers better plate discipline and would upgrade the OF defense. Either way, don’t expect GA to lose too many at-bats no matter how bad he’s playing, as he’s the “proven vet”.
Francisco Cordero (RP-CIN) – We haven’t written much about Cordero this year, so it’s time. After striking out the side Sunday and gaining his 33rd save, Cordero tops a weekend in which he saves all three games in a sweep over the Braves, lowing his ERA to 2.16 as a result. Cordero has seen his K/9 drop this year from its usual 10+ to just 8.0 and while his walk rate is a bit better, it’s still below average at 4.2 BB/9. Fantasy owners though will take the 33 saves (two blown) and solid ERA and give up a few K’s any day. The Reds would likely be willing to move Cordero and the $23 million or so that he’s due through 2011, but at age 34, while he’s not the same guy who once struck out 80-90 guys a year, there’s still a bit left in the tank.
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