Omar Infante (2B - Braves) - Just another multi-hit game for Omar Infante who now has four this month to bring his season average to .342. This isn’t just a hot streak for Infante. He has been doing this all season, with monthly averages of .317, .306, .429, .344, and .353 dating back to May. Infante is a great fantasy utility player, holding positing eligibility at 2B, SS, 3B, and OF in most leagues, yet his average ownership % didn’t exceed 50% until Week 21 (just a few weeks ago) according to ESPN and CBS. He’s still surprisingly unowned in about 20% of all leagues and certainly deserves the claim simply for roster flexibility and average help.
Gaby Sanchez (1B - Marlins) - Other than that clothesline on Nyjer Morgan, Gaby Sanchez hasn’t been hitting much of anything lately. He hit his first HR in 12 games yesterday, but he’s only hitting .179 for September (5-for-28) with a .281 OBP. Sanchez had one really good month and the rest have been ok (especially for a fantasy 1B). He’s good for about 4 HR a month and his average has steadily declined from .309 in the beginning of July to its current level of .279. Decent NL-only option down the stretch, but not much else unless he can start swinging a hot bat again like he did back in June.
Ryan Braun (OF - Brewers) - Braun looks like he’s determined to finish strong, but my guess is that this season’s performance will drop him out of the 1st round in fantasy drafts for 2011. Looking at his 4-year career, this is the worst season to date. His FPI is 0.71, similar to the 0.72 in 2008, but down from his 0.88 and 0.81 in 2007 and 2009. His ISO is sub-.200 for the first time. His AB/HR is over 20.0 for the first time as well with a 27.0 compared to his previous 3 years of 13.3, 16.5, and 19.8. That helps yield a career-low OPS of .844, down from 1.004, .888, and .937. We still have a few weeks away for him to go on a tear, but he just hit his first HR of the month last night. It will be interesting to see if he can turn this trend around in 2011, but his fantasy value will certainly drop after this year’s performance.
Juan Gutierrez (RP - Diamondbacks) - There’s little question of who has emerged as the go-to guy in the 9th for Arizona. Juan Gutierrez converted his 8th save of the year on Wednesday and his 4th in his last 5 opportunities. He has given up just 1 ER since the beginning of August in 11.1 IP with 8 hits, 3 BB, and 6 K. He’s a cheap source of saves and deserves the claim if you need help in the reliever department. He’s still a risky option as he can implode at any given moment and put up a big nuimber. Despite a solid month or so, he is still posting a 5.47 ERA.
Mark Reynolds (3B - Diamondbacks) - After leaving Sunday’s game with a bone bruise in his right hand and sitting out the last two days, Reynolds was back in action on Wednesday night and looks safe to start moving forward. Reynolds took a slight step back this season, posting a .797 OPS this year compared to last year’s .892. But his AB/HR is still very close at 14.2 in 2010 compared to 2009’s 13.1. When you talk HR’s with Reynolds, you also talk about K’s. While he “only” has 187 K’s this season compared to last year’s 223, he is actually striking out at a greater rate this year. Last year, he average a K for every 2.97 PA and this year he is at 2.90.
