John Lackey (SP—Angels) John Lackey walked away with a tough luck no-decision on Saturday as he scattered 6 hits, allowed 1 ER over 9 innings, walking none and striking out 4. Lackey has put together a solid season albeit not spectacular. Over his last two games he as only allowed 1 ER over 17 innings, but Lackey has had several missteps along the way, not always producing such dominating performances as we have seen of late. Of his 22 starts only 14 have been quality starts for 64%. But he has very strong peripheral numbers with a K/9 of 7.5 and a BB/9 of 2.6 and he doesn’t hurt himself by giving up the long ball. With the acquisition of Scott Kazmir, the Angels have buffered themselves should Lackey leave the team in his walk year. Lackey will no doubt command big dollars in the offseason, despite having been plagued with injuries of late. He will more than likely wind up with a large payroll, big market team that could potentially raise his fantasy value even higher. Look for good things from Lackey in 2010 even though is value may be somewhat over-inflated by the pending big contract. He is still a solid pitcher who will produce solid numbers at the end of the season.
Gavin Floyd (SP—White Sox ) Gavin Floyd was dominant on Saturday, pitching 8 innings and only allowed 3 hits. He struck out a career high 11 batters against the hard-hitting Red Sox and his one blemish was an 8th inning home run to Jason Bay. Floyd’s 2008 campaign was really his breakout year when he went 17-8. In 2009, Floyd has improved upon his 2008 season in just about every pitching category despite having a poorer record. His K/9 improved from 6.3 to 7.6 and his BB/9 has dropped from 3.1 to 2.8. He is even giving up fewer home runs per 9 innings dropping from 1.3 to 1.0. Floyd has become a solid pitcher and should be high on fantasy owner’s radar for 2010. He hasn’t gotten the notoriety as some other pitchers which should work to your advantage on draft day next season. In fact, Floyd has very similar statistics to John Lackey yet Lackey will no doubt be regarding higher in the draft so look for good value with Floyd next season as he could be a real steal for your fantasy dollar.
Phil Hughes (RP/SP—Yankees) With Mariano Rivera still unavailable, the Yankees turned closing duties over to Phil Hughes and he delivered 1.1 innings of work, striking out 3 and allowing no base runners. Hughes’ value has elevated with his move to the bullpen as he has been stellar in that role. The contrast is remarkable since as a starter he had a 5.45 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and had given up 6 home runs in 34.2 innings. As a reliever, he has produced a 1.14 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and has only allowed 1 home run in 39.1 innings. As a reliever he is averaging better than 11 strikeouts per 9 innings. While Rivera is out, Hughes is invaluable as his replacement as the Yankees will provide Hughes with many save opportunities. But with Rivera due back Sunday, this has been a very short term assignment. Although he may not be a source for saves, Hughes has solid value in leagues that track holds. For 2010, it will be interesting to see if the Yankees consider Hughes for the 5th spot in the rotation based upon his recent bullpen success or if they will leave him in the bullpen where he has thrived. Much of Hughes’ value for 2010 will be based these decisions, but he could be a real gem depending on the outcome of that decision.
Derek Jeter (SS—Yankees) Derek Jeter was back in the lineup on Saturday against the Blue Jays and promptly pick up right where he left off going 2 for 5 with a walk. He is now batting .330 on the season and still looks as good a hitter as ever as he is not only hitting for average but also for power with 17 home runs. He has also been able to improve the speed part of his game over recent years as he has 23 stolen bases on the season. Just when one would expect to see some degradation of skills, Jeter continues to be one of the one of the best shortstops in the game and should never be counted out. In 2010, Jeter will be 36 and while it would be easy to predict some slowing down, Jeter will more than likely continue to play superb baseball as he is probably a safe bet to provide excellence at a soft position. And while many have ranked shortstops like Rollins and Reyes ahead of Jeter in recent years, Jeter has regained his position within the top 3 and certainly the best in the AL.
Melvin Mora (3B—Orioles) Melvin Mora had a productive day on Saturday going 3-4 with 3 RBI and hit his 7th home run of the year. Despite the strong production on Saturday, Mora has been floating in the fantasy limbo land of being not being all that good and not being all that bad. The biggest issue with Mora is that after average 20 home runs over the past 7 seasons, he has pretty much laid an egg in the power department. The lack of power would be OK if there were other measurable offensive benefits to Mora’s season, but his lack of average (.265), OBP (.320) and speed (3 SB) leaves one wondering why the Orioles are continuing to play him much less any fantasy owner. With an RC/27 of 3.6, it speaks volumes to lack of production Mora has had this season. In 2010, Mora will be 38 and he may start to be fading out of the Orioles plans and should be fading out of any fantasy owners plans for next year as well.
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