Rey Fuentes - Rey Fuentes was called up and started yesterday in CF for the Padres, batting 7th and taking an 0-3 in his MLB debut. Fuentes is a burner with a great CF glove, but more importantly, he took major strides forward across the board on offense (improving from 218/301/302 in 2012 to 316/389/441 in 2013) while repeating the AA level this year. Fuentes took that a step further in 14 games at AAA, hitting a ridiculous 418/515/491 before getting the call to the majors. It really does look like something clicked for Fuentes this season, as the 22 year old set career bests in AVG, 2B, HR, and BB in just 107 games while cutting his K rate from 2012 by nearly a third. This is one season of positives against, really, three of disappointment for Fuentes, so I'm still a bit cautious here, but it certainly looks like there could be a ton of upside here. At the minimum, those in deeper dynasty leagues and those desperate for steals in single-season formats should be jumping on board, but he merits watching in all formats with the offensive potential that he's shown thus far in 2013.
Wilson Ramos - The trade of Kurt Suzuki back to Oakland removes another potential roadblock to Wilson Ramos' value. The 26 year old Ramos hits for a decent average and has excellent power that is underutilized by a lack of loft in his swing. His HR/FB rate has jumped to over 20% in limited time last year and this season, and I believe that there is some legitimate HR upside since he has, at times, hit the ball in the air much more than this. I absolutely think he should be starting in most formats as the everyday catcher for the Nationals down the stretch.
Cody Asche - Asche had a walk, a single, and a two-run triple in the 2-1 win over New York yesterday, extending his hitting streak to 8 games. He's reached base 9 times with 4 RBIs in the last 3 games, and is posting an impressive 22% LD rate thus far, leading you to believe that the AVG has some upside from here. I like Asche as a solid-average regular at 3B in deeper leagues, particularly in dynasty formats, but he could be helpful the rest of the way here in 2013 as well.
Mike Leake - Leake's struggles continued Monday, as he allowed five runs in 6 1/3 innings to the Cardinals, failing to post a quality start for the 4th time in his last 5 outings. Leake has had one of the league's easiest schedules this year, and as it has gotten more difficult his performances have gotten a bit more spotty. His FIP ERA is up over 4.00 now, and with the Rockies (on the road) and the Dodgers up next for him, I'm not all that enthused about starting him next week in most formats. After that, the schedule does get easier again, with the Cubs, Astros, and Mets on the mid-September slate for Leake. He's proven himself perfectly capable of succeeding against lesser offenses, like many back-end starters, so I would continue to treat him as such for the stretch run.
Brandon McCarthy - McCarthy claimed to have found a mechanical flaw after his last outing, and it's possible that he has fixed it....or it's possible that the flaw was facing offenses other than the San Diego Padres. McCarthy allowed five singles (only three of which left the infield) and one unearned run over seven innings against San Diego yesterday, picking up his first win since a late May start against, ahem, San Diego. With two starts apiece against the Giants and Dodgers along with one against the Rockies and Nationals, McCarthy and his 3.84 FIP ERA may actually be a decent play down the stretch in deeper leagues. His excellent control can be a big help depending on your scoring format, and he does have a halfway decent offense behind him. I think he's worth a flyer in formats of moderate depth or greater for next week.
