Jed Lowrie - Lowrie has come off the DL well, hitting in eight straight games in which he received an at-bat to the tune of 300/364/467. We talk a lot about the obvious skills like speed, power, contact ability, etc., but the ability to stay on the field is also a skill, and an important one in the world of fantasy where you can only build your counting stats by actually playing. Lowrie has always had trouble staying healthy, and this year has been no exception. An ankle injury that would have cost a normal player a few weeks ending up resulting in a nerve issue for Lowrie. That's fine, things happen, but here's where Lowrie's natural inability to heal comes in, as the original 4-6 week estimate for the injury ended up being a nine-week hiatus. You can almost always rest assured that Lowrie will take roughly twice as long to heal from anything as a normal person, which is something he can't control at all....that's just his physical ability level. It's a shame, because Lowrie, for me, is pretty clearly one of the better shortstops in the NL. He doesn't have much speed anymore after a few leg injuries and he's basically average defensively, but he makes contact well, is very patient at the plate, and has impressive power for a middle infielder. I will be happy to gamble on him once again in 2013, but as always, a backup plan for the inevitable missed time is a must.
Peter Kozma - Kozma homered again last night, as he's become the latest Cardinal to completely outperform all prior performances here in 2012, although the phenomenon was mostly limited to pitchers outside of Yadier Molina prior to Kozma's first 18 games. Kozma has a bit of power and speed to go along with a bit of patience, so he seems like the kind of player for which I would be a supporter, but he's more of a 10-15 HR and an 8-12 SB guy than anything, and a career minor league AVG of just .235 likely won't continue to translate well to the MLB level. If you're desperate for any sort of production from your middle infield for the last 9 days of the season be my guest, but I wouldn't bank on much from a guy that looks like a future reserve IF to me.
Jenrry Mejia - Mejia was much better in his second MLB start of the year, going five scoreless innings against the Pirates to pick up his first big league win, walking two and striking out four. Mejia's performances have been predictably spotty coming off of TJ surgery before last season, but I see enough signs here that I'd be optimistic for 2013. His velocity is still terrific, his control seems to be coming back nicely, and most importantly the ridiculous GB rates are still there. The Mets seem committed to using Mejia in the bullpen next season, unfortunately, but a lot can change between now and April. I would treat Mejia as a sleeper in standard-sized formats for 2013, and those in deeper leagues would do well to grab him as a late-game reserve in hopes of a move to the rotation.
Scott Moore - Moore is heating back up after sitting out a few games with a groin strain, going 10-21 with 3 doubles, 2 homers, and 4 walks over the last ten days. He's started the past three games, so it looks like he's picked the playing time back up that he lost with a slump in late August. With "quad-A" labeled players like Moore, the question is always: "has he done enough to earn a spot for next year?" Inevitably the answer is no for guys like Moore, Bryan LaHair, Xavier Paul, Travis Snider, and numerous other guys that are seemingly one slump away from losing their tenuous grasp on playing time. I firmly believe that Moore is a 2nd-division starter with the bat, but he's pretty poor in the field and strikes out a lot, two things that managers don't tolerate well. When he's playing he's worth a flyer in deeper leagues, which is the case for the last week of the year. Come spring, his situation will have to be scrutinized again, as the soon-to-be 29 year old won't have too many chances left.
Jean Segura - Segura singled and tripled yesterday to continue his excellent September, as the 22 year old is now hitting 345/419/455 on the month. He's been stealing bases with a touch more frequency as we've moved through the year, and judging from his minor league numbers there's likely a bit more power to be found here as well. think Segura has quite a bit of upside, particularly in terms of speed, and I'd definitely be looking at him as a bit of a sleeper come spring.
