Dan Uggla (2B - Marlins) - I’ve said it before, but I don’t think Uggla gets nearly the credit he deserves. He has four straight 30+ HR seasons, three straight of 90+ RBI (he will hit 100 RBI this season), and consistently posts .800+ OPS. He is posting his best FPI of his career this year at 0.70 (compared to 0.62, 0.57, 0.66, and 0.60 dating back to 2006). He’s also having an awesome September that should keep his performance fresh in the minds of fantasy drafters. He should be climbing up draft boards again in 2011 as one of the top-tier fantasy 2B.
Adam LaRoche (1B - Diamondbacks) - After a couple of months of notoriously hot 2nd-half hitting for LaRoche, his September has been terrible. He’s hitting just .197 with 1 HR, 8 RBI, and a .237 OBP. Of course, that 1 HR came last night in a 2-for-4 performance which added a double and a 2 RBI. If you look back to August, his 9 HR that month seemed to come in bunches. Perhaps last night’s dinger will put him back on the HR track and his next “bunch” of HR will come this week.
Randy Wolf (SP - Brewers) - Wolf is finishing strong. He has four straight quality starts in all of his outings in September including 3 W’s, a 1.21 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, and a K/9 of 7.3 in 29.2 IP. Looking ahead, he is a two-start pitcher in the final fantasy week of the season with scheduled starts against the Mets (in NY) and against the Reds on the final day of the season in Cincy. The outing against the Mets will be favorable in a pitcher-friendly park and the heavy-hitters for the Reds will mostly be benched on the last day of the season as they rest for the playoffs. Might not be a bad option if you’re looking for some extra innings next week.
Johnny Cueto (SP - Reds) - Ouch. This is not what fantasy owners needed during the crunch-time playoff run. Cueto lasted just 1.1 IP after allowing 8 hits, 8 ER, and 3 BB in easily his worst outing of the season. It was a surprise too, as Cueto has posted 5 straight QS heading into last night’s game against the Brewers. He’ll get one more start against Houston on Tuesday before the regular season ends, but that’s a risky start at this point as the Reds will have a quick hook to save his arm for the playoffs. Heading into 2011, Cueto will continue to be an upside pitcher with lots of potential but with inconsistent performances week to week.
Casey McGehee (3B - Brewers) - Its been and up and down season for McGehee and his owners, but with 5 RBI in the last two games, he is now one RBI short of 100 for the year. While it certainly seems like McGehee had a better first half, his FPI is actually equal between a 0.60 pre-All Star and 0.61 post ASG. His AB/HR comparison is 25.0 vs. 26.6, his ISO is .182 vs. .180, OPS is 0.797 vs. 0.798, and he actually has a better batting average by about 20 points of .274 vs. .293. In the end, fantasy owners cheaply acquired a 0.60+ FPI third baseman for cheap and at a position where fantasy talent is limited, he will have decent value in 12-team mixed leagues in 2011.
