Justin Masterson, St. Louis Cardinals - The Cardinals announced that Justin Masterson has been removed from the rotation and will pitch for at least the foreseeable future out of the bullpen. Simply put, Masterson has been terrible since coming over from the Indians at the trade deadline posting a 2-3 record with a 7.90 ERA. He had lost two straight decisions and in his last start he didn't make it through the 5th against the Cubs. While he was able to keep his FIP down under four in half his starts, he was unable to keep the runs off the board allowing 5, 5, 0, 4, 5, and 5 in his six starts. He's worth dropping in all leagues as he won't get the ninth inning role for the Cards so there isn't much of a reason to continue hanging onto him if he is still on your roster. Michael Wacha will make the start Thursday in his place so be sure to activate him if you have him on your roster.
Jorge Soler, Chicago Cubs - Soler continued his assault on the National League with another hit and RBI taking his slash line to .500/.542/1.091 over his first week in the majors. Whoever says that there is a learning curve going from AAA to the majors obviously didn't let Soler know as he has picked up four multi-hit games in his first six contests and has three homers to go along with eight RBI. Right now, Soler is hitting almost exclusively fly balls at a 53.3% rate with 37.5% of those leaving the yard. While this is due to the fact he's only been in the league for a week, owners would love to see a large portion of those turn into line drives as that will lead to a better chance at him continuing this level of success over the course of the season. He won't hit .500 the rest of the way, but with how Soler is doing it's realistic he could it .300 the rest of the way with decent power an RBI number hitting in the heart of the order with Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro both possibly out for the season due to injury.
Juan Lagares, New York Mets - Lagares filled his stat line Tuesday tallying four hits, three runs, two RBI, and two steals in the Mets win. He is now triple slashing .282/.321/.389 with a 102 wRC+ hitting atop of the Mets lineup. While Lagares is known manly for his outstanding defense in centerfield, he's enjoying a nice season at the plate and could be a nice pickup for the last month of the season. He hit .268 in August with his most stolen bases of the season (3) so he's already running more this month than he has in any other month this season. While he can run, he doesn't that often so he may only be able to provide a nice average and runs scored but there are still worse options than a .282 hitter who will sprinkle on some steals every now and then.
Mat Latos, Cincinnati Reds - Latos got roughed up by the Orioles allowing five runs and 10 hits over just five innings picking up his 4th loss of the season . IN terms of oppeonents wOBA, Latos has been getting progressively worse throughout the season going for .216, .264, and .318 over June, July, and August. His first start in September didn't help that trend so it does bring up a little cause for concern. His strikeout rate has also been dropping down to 6.53 after routinely posting numbers in the 9's while with San Diego a few years back, which brings up another concern. Luckily, he does get the Mets next time out so there is a good chance he can right the ship but if he does struggle again it may be time to fully cut ties with the righty.
Andrew Heaney, Miami Marlins - Heaney was called back up to the majors Tuesday and there is a good chance that he will find himself getting slotted into the rotation as Brad Penny continues to be a batting practice pitcher. Heaney also could find himself getting a start this week if Henderson Alvarez is unable to make his next start, but regardless I believe the Penny will likely be getting removed from the rotation within the next week or so. Heaney was less than spectacular in his first stint with the Marlins (considering his high expctations) posting a 0-3 record with a 6.18 over four starts. His strikeout numbers took a huge dip in his jump to Miami, dropping from in the nine's to down around 5.5 per 9. He's someone I'd take a look at if he does in fact get to makes some starts down the stretch as I think he will as his second round in the bigs should go better than his first.
Josh Sperry - @jsperry1991
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