Adalberto Mendez - Adalberto Mendez was an interesting choice for the Marlins to use as a starter in Game 1 of yesterday's twinbill, as the 28 year old has been primarily a reliver throughout his 8-year minor league career. Finally reaching the majors, Mendez proceeded to shut down the defending NL champs, allowing only a single and two walks over six innings of work while fanning six. Mendez has had awful control throughout his minor league career, but has actually made some positive strides this year at AAA by cutting the walks down to around 3.7 per nine. He's a flyball pitcher, something that might not hurt him in Florida much like it didn't hurt him in New Orleans....that home/road ERA disparity of 1.47 vs. 6.94 looks like something I could easily see recurring at the big league level. All in all he is an intriguing sleeper in NL-only leagues, although the flyball tendencies combined with the control issues would worry me enough to keep him a desperation choice only.
Daniel Espinosa - When Drew touched on Espinosa's potential for the stretch run, I don't think he expected all of it to show up in the first week. The Nationals SS had 11 total bases yesterday while filling in for fellow youngster Ian Desmond, cracking two homers (including a grand slam), a double, and a single while picking up 6 RBI's. Espinosa already has three doubles and three homers in his first 16 AB's, so needless to say he's off to a scorching start. With Desmond nursing a sore hammy and Adam Kennedy merely a placeholder, expect Espinosa to continue to get a decent amount of playing time for the last month in anticipation of a full-time role in 2011 at 2B. He is certainly a solid pickup in NL-only formats, and although he may not be starter-material just yet in mixed leagues he is absolutely worth a minor league slot as a borderline top-100 level prospect.
Vance Worley - 22 year old Vance Worley made his first MLB start yesterday in Game 1 of the doubleheader with Florida, and while Worley was outpitched by fellow rookie Analberto Mendez, he didn't embarrass himself by any stretch. Worley allowed six hits and two runs over five innings, walking one and striking out five, but was tagged with the loss as the Phillies only managed three hits in the 7-1 loss. The Phils have so many options for the back of their rotation right now that it's hard to see Worley getting much more of an opportunity this year, so even though he had a solid debut start I wouldn't expect him to offer any value the rest of the way. His 2011 value will depend on off-season player movement of course, but with his solid control, fair K rates, and modest difficulties with the long ball, I wouldn't rate him higher than a 5th-starter type for the Phillies.
Tommy Hanson - I'm not sure if Hanson is learning from Tim Hudson or what, but there has been an interesting shift in his peripherals since July or so. Hanson has cut his ERA by almost a run and a half since the break despite striking out far fewer men in the 2nd half, primarily on the strength of an opponents' AVG that has dropped by 63 points. His control has improved a bit as well, which helps, but mostly it is improved luck (or defense) that has helped his performance. Unfortunately, the Braves have scored between 0-2 runs in 5 of his last 9 starts, so wins have been tough to come by for the young righty. I still think Hanson is a fantastic young arm, and I'm not really worries about his workload....he's still 23 innings short of last year's total at this point, giving him about 43 more innings before the 10%+ increase would rear its head. Hanson, despite the one win since the break, should be expected to remain a frontline starter the rest of the way (and likely the rest of the decade with the usual caveats).
Dexter Fowler - I'm starting to get a bit intrigued about Fowler, who seems like he's been around forever but is still just 24 in his 7th year in the Rockie organization. Fowler seems to be gradually getting his K rate under control (although it is clearly still an issue) while maintaining his solid walk rate, his power is developing bit by bit, and with his speed and a bit of coaching some huge SB totals are possible down the road. He's playing every day right now for Colorado even though they're on the outskirts of the playoff race, so he's worth a 5th OF spot in NL-only leagues right now, but I definitely like him as a high-risk sleeper for next year.
