Jenrry Mejia - The 20 year old has been tearing up the minors since his demotion, but last night may have cemented his return to Flushing later in the week. Mejia took a no-hitter into the sixth against the Chiefs last night, finishing the evening with five hits and one run allowed over eight innings, tallying one walk and nine strikeouts. As usual, his GB:FB ratio was an excellent 3.33, the eight innings show that he's certainly stretched out enough to start in the bigs, and his minor league totals show a K/9 over 9.0 and a WHIP hovering just above 1.00. It looks like he's ready to take Pat Misch's spot this weekend against the Cubs, and I think he warrants a strong look for your lineup in most formats. Regardless of his performance the rest of the way in 2010, you have to be excited about his prospects for 2011. He has a very real chance to be the Mets' #2 starter by the 2nd half of next season.
Josh Thole - Thole tripled and walked last night to bring his average up to .308, and his OBP of .386 is excellent for a 23 year old catcher. Thole doesn't appear to be the sort of player that will ever develop much power, but he's managed BB:K ratios of close to 1.0 throughout his minor and major league time, and he has reasonable speed for a catcher as well. Someone like Mike LaValliere might be a reasonable comparable for him, and that should definitely be taken as good news for Met fans.
Jair Jurrjens - Jurrjens scuffled his way through 5 2/3 innings against the Mets last night to pick up his 6th win of the year despite allowing 12 baserunners. Interestingly enough, last night was Jurrjens' worst home start of the year (he's 6-0 at Turner Field), so clearly he's a top-tier starter at home this year. His road numbers are significantly poorer, but he's still usable in most formats. After bursting onto the scene in 2008, Jurrjens has seen some degradation in each of the past two years in both his HR rate and his contact rate, but since he's been able to maintain his K rate at an average to slightly above average level he's still sustained success. He's getting closer to the edge now, in my opinion, and he's someone that I would consider dealing for the right price this offseason...you can never be sure but I have a hunch that we've seen his best already.
J.A. Happ - At what point are we wrong about the sustainability of J.A. Happ's hot streak? Happ shut out the Cardinals last night in a blisteringly paced 2:00 game, giving up only two singles and a walk while fanning four on 114 pitches. Happ's control has been improving seemingly game by game during his 10 starts back from injury, and his K rate is basically the same as it was before. With five straight quality starts (3 of them over potential playoff teams), I'm not going to pound the table on imminent disaster. Obviously his BABIP and HR/FB rate have to normalize to some extent, but we're talking about a guy with a 3.14 ERA over 54 G (38 GS) at this point. Sure, he's more likely to have an ERA in the high-3.00's going forward, but he just as clearly has enough talent to be a member of your rotation in all formats....just more as a middle-to-back end starter than a front-liner.
Tim Stauffer - Tim Stauffer has been well nigh invisible this year for the Padres, but after three more shutout innings last night against the D-Backs the 28 year old righty has a 1.31 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, and a 3.17 K/BB over 48 innings (all but one game in relief). With Wade Leblanc and Kevin Correia staggering to the finish line for a division-leading club, there is a fair chance that Stauffer, who has been stretched out a bit in his last two appearances, will be getting some starts in September. He's a risk, but certainly someone to watch as a potential late-season add in NL-only formats.
