Adam LaRoche (1B - Diamondbacks) - He’s making us look smart, but it was an easy prediction. LaRoche is having a monster second half, just like he does every season. He’s hitting .328 since the All-Star break with 8 HR, 22 RBI, and a .969 OPS. For his career in the 2nd half, LaRoche is a completely different player, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. His career splits are AVG of .252 vs. .302, OPS of .776 vs. .911, and AB/HR of 24.8 vs. 17.6. Keep riding LaRoche’s hot bat with confidence through the end of the season.
Jay Bruce (OF - Reds) - Bruce was slumping big-time until his breakout last night. After finishing July with no HR and a measly .200/.245/.263, he continued his slump well into August, hitting just .238/.304/.333 with 1 HR heading into last night’s game. He broke-out in a big way against the D-Backs, going 4-for-5 with a HR, 2 RBI, a triple, and 3 runs scored. The whole season has been a big disappointment for the 23-year-old Bruce. He hasn’t lived up to the potential and the hype that accompanied his call-up a couple of years ago. He should drop in 2011 drops and will be a decent buy-low candidate. For now, he’s a low-end mixed-league option only for the remainder of the season.
Hong-Chih Kuo (RP - Dodgers) - No official save for Kuo on Wednesday, but he entered the game in the 9th inning with the game tied and pitched well, allowing a walk, no hits, no runs, and recording one strikeout. It was a nice bounceback from his previous outing when he allowed 3 ER in 1.1 IP. With Broxton temporarily out of the picture, Kuo is still the best candidate to get the majority of the saves.
Aaron Heilman (RP - Diamondbacks) - Let’s hope you didn’t get too comfortable with Heilman as the Diamondbacks closer. He gave up 4 ER and 5 hits on Wednesday, blowing his second save of the month and earning the loss to the Reds. Its been a rough month for Heilman as his ERA has bumped up to 3.90 from 3.31 to start the month. I can’t see the D-Backs sticking with him in the role as the primary closer, but until we see otherwise, he’ll be the guy. Another option would be Juan Gutierrez, but that’s not official by any means. Its just not very pretty down in Arizona right now.
RA Dickey (SP - Mets) - Dickey pitched another quality start on Wednesday, going 8.1 IP while scattering 9 hits and allowing 2 ER on 6 K’s. He has allowed 3 ER or less in 9 of his last 10 outings. Since July 1st, he’s 8-for-10 in QS and continues to put together a nice season. While last night’s game was on the road in Houston, Dickey has largely been much better at home this year. On the road, Dickey is posting a 3.12 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and a K/BB of 2.47. While his home K/BB is the same at 2.50, his ERA is 1.22 and WHIP is 0.99. Maybe its the Citi Field factor or just Dickey feeding off the rest of the Mets team who tend to play better at home this season. Either way, he has been a solid fantasy option all around.
