Steve Pearce (1B-BAL): Pearce hit his 17th homer of what has been a tremendous season for the veteran slugger. Even though the O's fell to the Yankees, they have to feel at ease even after losing Chris Davis for the rest of the regular season. But should fantasy owners? In short: yes. Pearce has posted a .389 wOBA with a solid .50 EYE. While his contact and swinging strike rates are not at league average, they are typical for many sluggers in this day-and-age, while his chase rate is actually better than the typical rate. He does most of his damage at home and against lefties, but still performs well enough in all environments to be a must-start for those in standard leagues looking for power down the stretch. He is also a name to keep in mind for CI/utility for next spring, depending on where he falls.
Rougned Odor (2B-TEX): Odor went 1 for 3 with 2 RBI as the rising youngster hit out of the 3-hole for the depleted Rangers. They Rangers called him up after only 62 games at AA the past two seasons, electing for him to skip AAA. And while he has looked overmatched at times, he has acquitted himself quite well overall. While he'll need to improve upon his 36% chase rate and 4% BB-rate, his contact rate of 84% and swinging strike rate of 7% are actually better than league average. Odor could be the quintessential post-hype prospect in 2015 with the potential to deliver 15/15 with a .270 AVG.
Jose Quintana (SP-CHW): Quintana racked up an incredible 13 K's against the Twins in game 1 of the DH and picked up his 8th win. The lefty allowed only 1 earned run on 3 hits and 2 walks across 7 innings. While his numbers look solid across the board, he has been quite inconsistent this season. His underlying numbers, especially his swinging strike and chase rates are below league average, and his HR/FB rate of 4% looks unsustainable. I see him as more of a #4 mixed league starter but he will likely be drafted as a #3.
Avisail Garcia (OF-CHW): Garcia had a solid game 2, hitting his 5th homer as he continues to make up for lost time. The encouraging thing here is the improved walk rate, as Garcia has nearly doubled it. He is also posting an 18% HR/FB rate and should make for a great power source at the back of an OF down the stretch. I'm a bit concerned about the 40%+ chase rate and 17% swinging strike rate, not to mention the 67% contact rate. These marks aren't far off from his time in Detroit, so he clearly needs more seasoning. If he can show some improvement down the stretch and into spring, he could be a tremendous value play next year.
Norichika Aoki (OF-KC): While it has been a rough 2014 for Aoki, his first in the AL, he is putting up a solid September. The lefty went 2 for 4 with 1 run and 1 RBI and is garnering more consistent AB's as the Royals make their playoff push. While he makes for a solid play for those in need of steals and run, his power outage this season (1 HR) is alarming. His 1.5% HR/FB rate coupled with his 18% FB rate is quite concerning, and the sample size we have leads me to believe it's more than just a league change/adjustment period.
Check out our great membership packages! Follow us on Twitter @fantistics and @walterkuberski
