Leo Nunez (RP-FLA) – In case you missed it, Nunez has been temporarily removed from the close position in favor of veteran reliever Clay Hensley. Nunez allowed runs in four consecutive appearances last month, culminating in an ugly BS/L in Atlanta on August 29. Since then, he’s recorded two scoreless appearances, and a handful more probably gets him his job back. For the year, Nunez has a 3.70 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, and solid peripherals – 9.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9. A .338 BABIP (pre-2010 career mark of .296) has hurt, but he does a pretty good job of keeping the ball on the ground and missing bats. That should make his current role as setup man to Hensley a temporary role.
J.A. Happ (SP-HOU) – It’s still surprising to me that the Astros couldn’t get a bit more for Roy Oswalt, but they are getting production out of Happ. Happ spun his sixth consecutive quality start for Houston on Sunday, allowing two runs on six hits over seven innings, including two walks and seven strikeouts. The strikeouts are a season-high, and though Happ did allow a pair of solo homers, he’s still allowed just five long balls in 63 innings on the year. Happ is 6-2 with a 2.86 ERA, though his 48:34 K:BB in 63 innings suggests those numbers are a bit of a mirage. Still, in his last four starts, that ratio much better at 21:7 in 28.1 innings, so start him with confidence in most formats. Just realize there’s going to be an occasional hiccup (see August 4).
Chris Young (OF-ARI) – Young was on my pre-season sleeper list as a guy who was coming off a very down year (.212/.311/.400), but who had had success in the past and was going to play the first five months of this season as a 26 year-old. Young is batting a career best .268/.346/.469 after going 0-for-2 with a pair of walks and his career-tying best 27 stolen bases. He probably won’t reach 30/30 this year with his current 23 home runs, but Young has made nice strides this year, increasing his EYE from a 0.38 career mark to 0.50 this year. His CT% is also up from last year’s dismal 69% to a more respectable 77% in 2010. Start him with confidence, and though he’s never going to win a batting title, a 30/30 season appears inevitable at some point.
Rickie Weeks (2B-MIL) – Weeks was 3-for-5 with his 76th RBI of the season on Sunday, an incredible number considering all but 14 of his 555 at-bats this season have come out of the leadoff slot. Weeks is batting .270/.365/.470 with 25 homers. I was hoping he’d finish strong in terms of stolen bases, but he’s swiped just two since July 23rd. Weeks swiped 25 bags in 118 games three years ago, but has just 30 steals in 301 games since, so perhaps at age 27, we’ve seen his peak in that category. It will be interesting to see how the Brewers handle Weeks this offseason. He’s scheduled for free agency after the 2011 season, and other year like this one would seemingly price him out of Milwaukee’s budget. The Brewers’ top prospect is Brett Lawrie, also a second baseman, but perhaps they extend Weeks’ deal and move Lawrie to another position. That would probably be the best move, though Weeks in center field and Lawrie at second base is another idea.
Ruben Tejada (SS-NYM) – Of course most Mets hitters had nice days on Sunday in an 18-5 win over the Piniella-less Cubs, but we’ll highlight TejAda in this one. The rookie was 2-for-4 with his first career home run and five RBI. Grand slam you might be thinking, but the homer was a solo shot. TejAda also notched a two-run single, sacrifice fly, and walked with the bases loaded. The recently-turned 21 year-old Tejada is still batting just .193/.285/.242 in 161 at-bats, but he’s now hit in three straight and his EYE sits at a respectable 0.52. There’s a good chance Tejada opens 2011 as the Mets’ everyday second baseman, but he did hit just .280/.329/.344 in 218 Triple-A at-bats, so some veteran competition wouldn’t be a surprise either.
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