This article was written by Jason Hunt over at Fake Teams
Mike Stanton had a huge night last night against the Nationals, going 5 for 5. He hit his 11th homerun of the season, scored 2 runs, and drove in 4 in the Marlins' victory. His batting average has been a bit of a drag, but look at his full-season pace: 81 runs scored, 34 homeruns, 109 runs batted in, and 12 stolen bases. While the speed seems unlikely, I think it is extremely possible for him to keep up this pace both this season and in the future.
Domonic Brown went 0-3 yesterday, and there is talk that he could be sent back to the minors whenShane Victorino returns from the disabled list on Friday. At this point, he's probably droppable in everything but keeper leagues and maybe NL only leagues.
Wandy Rodriguez struck out 9 in 7 innings in his start against the Braves yesterday. He's really turned it around of late, as he posted a 2.38 ERA in July with 34 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched, and has been even better in August. If for some reason he is still available in your league, go grab him. Just don't expect a lot of wins out of him and that poor Astros offense.
Josh Hamilton continued his push for the AL MVP award last night with a 3 hit game. He's now hitting .357 on the season, and has driven in 78 runs this season. To me, he's going to be a top 5 outfielder next season, even with the possibility of injury that remains with him.
Zack Greinke went 8 innings yesterday with only 1 earned run and 6 strikeouts, but got a no-decision against the Angels. He managed to lower his season ERA to 3.99, and hopefully this is a sign of things to come for Greinke.
Pablo Sandoval went 2 for 4 in the Giants victory yesterday. He's been hitting for a better average of late, hitting .314 in August. However, the power is still not there (.371 slugging percentage, no homeruns). He has been droppable for awhile at this point, but he could be worth a risk if you're in need of someone at 3B.
Jered Weaver also threw 8 innings of 1 run ball, but struck out 11 for the Angels. To me, I think he's going to start 2011 as a top 15 starter at worst, with a very decent chance of breaking into the top 10. He now has 182 strikeouts and a 2.87 ERA and 1.08 WHIP.
Colby Rasmus hit his 19th homerun of the season yesterday, and went 2 for 5 with 4 runs batted in. He's been a bit of streaky player this season, losing playing time at some points. Long term, I think he's going to be fine as long as you remember he's probably not going to provide a high batting average necessarily.
Bill Hall went 3 for 5 with 2 homeruns yesterday in the Red Sox victory. I did not realize that he had hit 15 homeruns this year, as he's been playing in place of the injured Dustin Pedroia primarily. Pedroia is sounding like he will be back sometime next week, but I'd probably hold onto Hall in deeper leagues since he qualifies all over the field.
John Danks had another great start last night, striking out 7 and allowing 1 earned run in 8 innings and the victory against the Twins. He's now won 12 games, posted a 3.19 ERA on the season, and has struck out 121 in 155 2/3 innings pitched.
Dan Hudson won his 3rd start with the Diamondbacks last night, striking out 9 and walking 1 in 7 innings. I think that at this point he should be owned in all leagues, and at least spot started.
