Drew Storen (RP - WAS) - Drew Storen received the call in the 9th inning to close out the game for the Nationals. It was the first save opportunity that the team has seen since removing Rafael Soriano from the role. With Tyler Clippard struggling and Storen's previous experience as the closer (before the team signed Soriano), Storen was the logical choice to step back into the closer role. On the year, Storen has an underwhelming 37/11 strikeout-to-walk ratio but pairs it with an impressive 1.34 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. The drop in strikeouts is surprising because his swinging strike rate is actually up to 10.4% and he's getting hitters to chase 5% more, pushing his chase rate up to 35.7%. I like his chances of holding onto the closer role for the rest of the year and I'd rank him in the top 15 closers going into 2015.
Adrian Gonzalez (1B - LAD) - The Dodger's 1st baseman had a big day at the plate on Sunday, smashing a 3-run homerun in back-to-back innings, leading the way in the team's rout over the Diamondbacks. The effort pushed his RBI count up to the century mark for the 5th consecutive year (he has had 99 RBI or more in every year since 2007). His ISO is now up to .195, his highest mark since 2011 with the Red Sox. His power has dropped pretty significantly since moving into the pitcher friendly Dodger Stadium but he remains a productive asset for fantasy teams. He's on the wrong side of 30 but he continues to hit the ball hard, evidenced by a line drive rate exceeding 21% for every year since 2011 (23.2% this year).
Matt Kemp (OF - LAD) - While Adrian Gonzalez provided the majority of offense for the Dodgers, Matt Kemp provided the other run with his 19th homerun on the season. Since the All-Star break, Kemp has hit .309 with 11 homeruns and 33 RBI. It's tough to say what has driven the big change for Kemp. Pre-All-Star break he actually had a higher LD rate (although both rates are above league average) but his BABIP remains in line with his batted ball detail. It will be interesting to see the moves that the Dodgers make in the off-season. Kemp could be an undervalued option going into 2015 since his season-long statistics don't look impressive.
Oscar Taveras (OF - STL) - Oscar Taveras had another nice day at the plate going 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Taveras has been slow to get going in St. Louis despite their management making every effort to give him regular playing time. He's not making quality contact with ball (just a 17% line drive rate) so consequently his batting average isn't very high. Fortunately, his approach at the plate has remained consistent with what we saw from him in the minor leagues (6% walk rate and 16% strikeout rate). Hopefully we will see the high batting average that we saw from him in the minors as well. Until then, he's a risky play in the stretch run of your fantasy leagues.
Cole Hamels (SP -PHI) - Cole Hamels has been largely overlooked this year, partially because he started the year on the disabled this and partially because he's playing for a poor Phillies team. Hamels put together another strong performance on Sunday giving up 3 runs over 6.1 innings while allowing 6 hits and walking just 3. He also added 7 strikeouts. Hamels has his highest groundball rate of his career at 45.7% and his K-BB% is a super solid 16.4%. The lefty hasn't shown the typical signs of age decline that we see from starting pitchers (drop in velocity, drop in chase rate or rise in contact rate) so things are looking up for him going into next season. Don't be surprised if the Phillies try to shop him this offseason, something that would actually help his value if he could latch on with a contending team.
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