Brett Myers (RP – Phillies)
Just a reminder that Brett Myers is still on schedule to join the Phillies bullpen on September 1st. Myers has reportedly been throwing around 93-94 MPH in his rehab appearances. Before landing on the DL this season, Myers was averaging about 89 MPH on his fastball. This is quite a significant improvement, and it helps to make a compelling argument that he will be effective upon his return. Brad Lidge has been slightly better recently (last night not withstanding), but he still stinks overall. I would not be all that surprised to see Myers get an occasional save opportunity during the last month of the season. If you have room to speculate on saves on your roster, you might as well pull the trigger now.
Eric Young Jr. (OF – Rockies)
With Dexter Fowler heading to the DL, and Carlos Gonzalez recovering from an incident with a steak knife, Eric Young Jr. could find some consistent at bats in the very near-term. Young was never thought of as much of a major league prospect, but it is hard to argue with results. He has produced at every level in the minors, and that includes a .299 / .387 / .430 line at Triple-A this season. Overall, he does have a potential future as a major league regular, which would result in him being a fantasy stud. Young’s greatest fantasy asset is his speed, and he has ridiculous amounts of it (303 SB in 568 minor league games). To prove that he has not collected all of these steals against lower level opponents, Young has 58 SB in Triple-A this year. Young makes for an automatic pick-up in NL-only leagues for the next week or two for any owner in need of steals. We could be looking at a Julio Borbon-like impact.
Ronny Cedeno (SS – Pirates)
I, along with many others, have been very quick to dismiss Ronny Cedeno. Perhaps it is time to re-assess, as he has been an enigma year after year. The Cubs soured on Cedeno back in ’06 when he hit .245 / .271 / .339 in 151 games. It seems to me as though the Cubs were a little hasty in removing him from their future plans (as a rookie at age 23) after he posted what was admittedly a terrible hitting season by all accounts. In half a season at Triple-A at 22 years old, Cedeno torched the ball for a .355 / .403 / .518 line. Back at Triple-A at age 24, Cedeno once again made mince meat of the competition with a .359 / .422 / .537 line in 75 games played. For his career at Triple-A, Cedeno has a .357 / .413 / .528 line with 18 HR and 17 SB in 140 games played. Toss in the fact that he has a .65 EYE at this level, and you have yourself what amounts to a can’t miss future major league regular. Since his highly disappointing rookie season, Cedeno has yet to receive another everyday opportunity at the major league level. Granted, his performance in part-time duty has not warranted additional at bats, but the talent clearly exists. With a minor league system that is bereft of talent at SS, I would expect Cedeno to get every opportunity to claim the starting job for all of 2010 with the Pirates. Now, I am not projecting a star-turn from Cedeno next year, but I do think it is important that we re-adjust our expectations of the once promising, and quickly dismissed prospect.
Sean West (SP – Marlins)
Sean West was able to limit the punch-less Mets to 1 ER in 6 IP on Tuesday night. Before we delve into West, I think it is equally important to stress how utterly horrendous the lineup was that the Mets deployed (Angel Pagan, Luis Castillo, Gary Sheffield, Jeff Francoeur, Fernando Tatis, David Murphy, Omir Santos, Anderson Hernandez). I am pretty sure that both Jeff Suppan and Kip Wells would have spun quality starts against this motley crew. However, Sean West is loaded with potential, and looks to have made some strides since his most recent recall (4.95 K/9, 2.25 BB/9). After a 9.1 K/9 in Double-A this year, it is slightly disconcerting to not see him missing more bats, but the improved command has made up for this weak K rate. West is still quite green (only 64 IP above Single-A), so I do expect him to be unreliable for the remainder of the ’09 season. I would not feel comfortable starting him unless he is facing the Mets, in which case he is an automatic start in NL-only leagues.
Mat Latos (SP – Padres)
Mat Latos tossed a gem in what was a very impressive bounce-back start for the 21 year old. The fantastic start may trigger a rush to the waiver wires to add Latos; but, this would be a myopic move. Latos is on an innings limit this year, and that limit will likely only afford him one more start on the season. I’m not so sure that 1 start from a rookie who has been bombed 2 of his last 3 starts is worthy of a roster spot in fantasy leagues. Latos looked great last night and has a promising future in this league (especially while pitching at Petco), but he is best left in free agent pools with just 1 start remaining in ’09.
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