Travis D'Arnaud (C-Mets)
Travis D'Arnaud had 3 hits and 4 runs batted in today as he clubbed his 13th HR of the season. D'Arnaud is starting to look more like the prized prospect that made him a 1st round draft pick in the 2007 June Amateur Draft. He has 6 HR's, 12 runs batted in and a .475 slugging percentage in the last month. The Met's are so enthralled with his recent breakout that they are talking about moving him to another position to preserve his health. His .243 batting average is the result of a very unlucky .251 BABIP and he has hit close to .270 since returning from the Minors 52 games ago. D'Arnaud has a very good contact rate for a young player and he has managed to keep his K rate to 15%. Still available in 40% of CBS Leagues he could be a good investment for the remainder of the year and a great option in keeper leagues.
Rafael Soriano (CL-Nationals)
Rafael Soriano has hit a very tough stretch and tonight was no exception. He managed to blow the save and cost Stephen Strasburg a win as he gave up three runs in the 9th including a solo HR to the power challenged Ben Revere. Soriano gave way to Tyler Clippard who finished the 9th inning. Soriano has given up 5 runs in his last 4 starts and that is just not going to get it done for a team looking towards the playoffs. Since the All Star Break he has a 7.00 ERA with 5 blown saves. Storen pitched in the 7th with the Nats holding a 5-2 lead and Clippard bailed out Soriano to finish the 9th and pitched a scoreless 10th. Look for a change at closer for the stretch run with Clippard and Storen as obvious candidates.
Jarred Cosart (SP Miami)
Jarred Cosart pitched another outstanding game today and picked up his 13th win of the season. He has been a nice surprise for the Marlins who picked him up this season from the Astro's. Despite 10 wins and a 1.95 ERA the Astro's gave up on a 24 year old pitcher. The reasons are probably that he seems to be getting much better results than his actual pitching would support. He does not miss many bats as he has a swinging strike rate of 6.3%. While he possesses a nice 93 mph fastball there is nothing else in his arsenal that is more than an average pitch. After 5 straight strong start's Cosart will be a popular pick-up as he remains readily available in most leagues. Just be forewarned that he walks 3.34 batters / 9 innings and his xFIP is about 4.00. He is probably pitching the best that he can and you could be picking him up just in time to experience his downside.
Michael Morse (OF-SF):
Michael Morse could return to the Giants lineup next week after recovering from an oblique strain. It has been an interesting season for Morse who started 2014 on an absolute tear. After the first two months of the season, Morse was hitting .295 and had 11 HR's and 38 RBI's in a third of a season. He was sporting a .279 ISO and the Giant's fans had visions of 2011 when Morse hit 31 HR's and 95 RBI's while batting .303. Since that time the bottom has fallen out for Morse. He is batting .269 with only 5 HR's and 23 RBI's with almost 75 more plate appearances. His ISO literally dropped in half. The main culprit has been a rising K% that has totally disrupted his game. We need to recognize that Morse missed a big part of 2013 and his fast start was a very unlikely outcome. His success in 2011 came from a combination of controlling the strike zone and a bit of luck with a .344 BABIP. At 32 it is difficult to project which Mike Morse will emerge. Coming off the oblique injury I would reserve my judgment for the rest of this season.
Vance Worley (SP-Pirates)
Vance Worley was involved in a rain delayed game today and pitched 4.2 innings of 3 run ball (2 ER) giving up 5 hits while walking 4 and striking out 6. The bloom is certainly off the rose as Worley has had a 4.88 ERA and a 1-3 record during the 2nd half of August. Despite getting a lot of play in mixed leagues after a very fast start, Worley has never been more than a back of rotation flyer or matchup streamer and he has started to quickly descend to that level. He has an anemic 4.8% swinging strike rate and his arsenal is altogether average with an 89 mph fastball and no secondary offering that could be categorized as a very effective pitch. If you have to use Worley at this point in the season you are taking an unnecessary risk. There are better pitchers out there on the waiver wire.
@stevietheshu
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