Anthony DeSclafani - DeSclafani has quietly been improving since the beginning of August, maintaining an ERA in the high 3.00's while cutting the walks and increasing the K totals. His strong outing Monday against the Pirates (7 1/3 IP, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K) was his 7th QS in the past 9, and his BB:K ratio is 6:41 in 43 IP since 8/1. He's gained enough of my confidence to recommend him in average matchups or easier down the stretch in all formats, and he's looking like a borderline SP5 heading into 2016.
Michael Conforto - Conforto homered again on Monday, giving him 2 doubles and 3 homers in the past six games. He's being protected from facing lefties most of the time, enabling him to maximize his rate-stat performance while downgrading his counting stats a touch. His hard contact rate of 43.6% is fantastic, and while we are still in small sample size territory, Conforto certainly looks like he's going to live up to the expectations of being an above-average bat in terms of both average and power. He should be owned in all formats, and looks like a solid OF4 going into 2016.
Aaron Altherr - Altherr was 1-2 with a triple on Monday as he continues to play nearly every day for the Phillies. Altherr appeared to make significant strides in his contact rate in the minors this season, and he's actually hit pretty well since coming up to the majors, posting a 259/318/517 line through his first 58 ABs. He also has 16 HR and 18 SB between AA, AAA, and the bigs this year, and that's probably the biggest reason to take a closer look at him. The power and speed combination is intriguing, and I think there is a reasonable chance that he could provide value in all formats as a starting OF already.
Patrick Corbin - Corbin was excellent again on Monday, shutting out the Giants over 6 innings while striking out 5. Corbin has been extremely solid since returning from injury, posting quality starts in 7 of his last 9 while showing a velocity bump and improved control. In fact, his xFIP ERA was down to 3.19 before Monday's outing, and he's striking out nearly a batter per inning with a swinging strike% of close to 10. He's been very impressive, and he certainly merits a rotation spot in all formats right now.
Dexter Fowler - Fowler doubled and homered on Monday, giving him 4 and 3 respectively over the past 9 games. He's showing the best power of his career, which has been helped by a newfound commitment to pulling the ball (44% pull vs. 38% last year), and the decline in AVG is more of a BABIP-related issue than anything else. I like Fowler's potential in Chicago....he's performing at a solid OF3 level right now, and should be expected to continue to do so for another few years at least.
