the Phillies. He was 3-for-4 with a dinger yesterday, bringing his September average to .361, OBP to .418, with 3 HR, and 11 RBI. Ibanez goes to extended streaks of hot and cold and fortuantely for fantasy owners, he’s ending the season on a hot one. Keep putting him out there - he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
2. Drew Stubbs (OF - Reds) - I wrote about Drew Stubbs on Thursday as a trending hot hitter who is gunning for a 20/30 season. He has added one to each column since that post with a SB on Thursday and a HR last night. That gives him 19/25 with a couple of weeks to go in the regular season. Stubbs has emerged as both a power and stolen base threat and should head into the 2011 drafts with plenty of upside and as a serviceable #3 OF with a nice combination of two sought after fantasy categories. Keep riding him through the playoffs as he will inevitably climb up draft boards by the winter with this strong finish.
3. Barry Enright (SP - Diamondbacks) - Enright was looking so good for awhile, but has since taken a big step back. After going 12 straight starts giving up 3 ER or less and posting a solid 2.45 ERA, he has since allowed 17 ER in 12.2 IP over his last 3 starts. That increases his ERA to 3.87. Last night, he allowed 6 ER in just 3.2 IP with 2 HR, 3 BB, and only 1 K. It really has been a tale of two pitchers when it comes to Enright. He had 8 QS over his last 9 starts after his first start in September and has since put up three atrocious starts. That makes him a very risky play against the Dodgers next weekend.
4. James McDonald (SP - Pirates) - McDonald’s didn’t pitch quite as well as he had been pitching heading into the weekend, but it was still a decent outing (and a non-QS). His final line was 2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, and 6 K’s in 5.0 IP. He’s averaging almost a K per inning, so he may be a decent option for his start against the Astros next week if you’re still chasing K’s.
5. Jordan Zimmerman (SP - Nationals) - Another short outing for Jordan Zimmerman against the red-hot Phillies on Saturday as he climbs back from Tommy John surgery. In 5 starts, he now has 20.0 IP under his belt as the Nats continue to be extra careful with one of their future top-of-the-rotation guys. Zimmerman will face the Braves next week, but is on limited pitch counts, making it tough to utilize him in any sort of fantasy format. For 2011, Zimmerman will be a solid sleeper as fantasy owners speculate on his upside after he is fully recovered.
