Eric Young Jr.:
Young remains a staple atop the Rockies lineup despite posting just a .313 OBP this season at the major league level. Fantasy owners sure won’t complain though as Young continues to run recklessly whenever he does get on base. He picked up 8 SB’s in August and stole a base to start the month of September in Wednesday night’s contest. While his skills aren’t major league ready (18% K Rate, .050 ISO), his legs are very fantasy worthy. If steals is your focus, Young Jr. is about the only hitter in the NL that can keep pace with Michael Bourn from here on out. He’s swiped 13 bags in just over 100 AB’s this season which is a better pace than any base-stealer in the NL. There won’t be a lot of power and there will be batting average downside, but the steals will be aplenty.
Danny Espinosa:
Similar to Wilson Ramos’ call-up, manager Jim Riggleman indicated the Nats will also find some playing time for Danny Espinosa down the stretch. Espinosa is a bit of an unheralded MI prospect. He’s moved very quickly, posting a near .800 or .800+ OPS at every level thanks to a Slugging heavy triple slash line of .270/.365/.455. It’s not only the pop that’s been intriguing for Espinosa (40 HR’s in 275 Games), but the speed as he’s swiped 56 bases in that time as well. A middle infielder with a demonstrated power-speed combination is a rare commodity and while his high K Rate (21%) for a MI will cause some problems in the batting average category, similarly to Ian Desmond his power-speed combination will be a valuable fantasy commodity. I think Desmond will be a decent comp for an expectation for Espinosa next year when he figures to take over the 2B role. While playing time won’t be guaranteed, owners can dream on a similar upside to Ian Desmond’s .280-9-4-12-1 line when called up in September last season.
Corey Luebke:
Luebke will make his major league debut tonight at home against the Rockies. The 25 year old was the Padres sandwich round pick in the 2007 draft out of Ohio State. He went 10-1 in 17 starts across AA and AAA this year posting a 2.68 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. His skill-set is based more on command and finesse as more of the protoypical left-hander in the mold of Mark Buehrle, Tom Glavine. He only struck out 6.9 K/9 across the two levels, but limited BB’s to just 2.3 BB/9. It’s unclear if he’ll join the rotation for the rest of the season as the Padres have contention, young pitchers innings limits, and injured SP’s coming back to juggle, but as we’ve seen with just about every SD starter this year, they hold value in PETCO. NL Only leaguers should be adding on speculation as any SP pitching in PETCO is worthy of NL Only rostering and mixed leaguers will want to keep an eye on his first start tonight. I could see a string of starts with value similar to Mark Buehrle. Most young SP’s have adjustments they have to adapt to with command, but Luebke’s been strike-thrower throughout his minor league career and should adjust OK. He has a limited upside, but I think the floor is high enough that I’d consider him stream-able for mixed leaguers.
Brad Davis:
With John Baker undergoing Tommy John surgery on Friday, Ronny Paulino suspended for PED use, and Brett Hayes now out 2-4 weeks, the next contestant on who wants to be the Florida Marlins catcher is Brad Davis. Davis is a former 5th rd pick from the 2004 draft that has taken some time to work through the system. His bat has emerged at AAA this year as he’s flashed a little extra pop hitting .287/.354/.455 in 244 AB’s. Similar to John Baker his power is a bit more gap oriented than true HR power and his BB Rate is solid at about 10%. He strikes out a bit too much, nearing 20%, but he’s got the skills to be a solid backup catcher. With the playing time more assured going forward, NL Only leaguers looking for some counting stats should invest in Davis as he has little competition (Chris Hatcher, his backup in AAA New Orleans has been promoted) for the job.
Yunesky Maya:
Maya, the 28 year old Cuban defector the Nationals signed earlier this season, made his second start at AAA on Wednesday, allowing just 1 run over 5 2/3 innings. He’s made five starts so far in the minor league level and the results have been mixed, posting a combined 3.38 ERA and 1.32 WHIP supported by a 7.6 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 across 3 levels. Our own Lyle Logan has Maya tentatively penciled in to make his major league debut next Tuesday for the Nationals, so what can we expect from Maya going forward? Well, we have limited results to judge from at the professional level, but he’s shown some command issues along with some strikeout potential. In foreign play, specifically the WBC Maya showed average fastball velocity and a good slow curve. In 5 starts at the minor league level its difficult to gauge Maya’s upside, but there have to be some concerns over the high BB Rate. Upon promotion, he’d be given a rotation spot for the rest of the season as the Nationals are looking for more SP depth with the loss of Strasburg and the innings monitoring of Jordan Zimmermann. NL Only owners can roll the dice as there is some upside, but in general I’d exercise caution with Maya here as the command problems even at the lower levels would suggest some struggles initially with big league hitters.
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