What is up party people? September baseball is right around the corner which is make or break time for teams, both real and fantasy. Matt Wallner can help give you that final boost. His last month has been pretty dang good with 7 home runs while batting over .300. Those are pretty solid numbers, especially for a guy who is more than likely on your wire right now. The only real knocks on him so far are his strikeout rate (37%) and that he takes a seat against lefties. That obviously limits his ceiling but with so little time left in the season you really can’t complain too much. Best of luck to all on your championship push.
Aaron Judge – With just about a month left in the season he is right on pace to tie his own record. Should be a thrilling finish.
Miguel Amaya – Love what he’s done the past week and really the past couple weeks. Talent was a given but it took him a while to find his footing. He looks pretty locked in and could be just what you need at catcher for the stretch run.
Pete Crow-Armstrong – Over the past month or so PCA has really started to come alive. August has been good for him with his power starting to show without coming at the expense of his average. If you watched his 14 second inside the park home run you know that he’s fast, like super fast. With wheels like that, I would like to see more doubles but he has almost doubled (lol) his total in August and threw in some triples as well so those numbers could be on the rise as well. He’s the boost you need to close things out and I will be very interested in him next season.
Elly De La Cruz – From one speedster to another but so far the only place PCA is close to EDLC is a sprint around the bases. Elly may have just under twice as many at bats but he also has almost three times as many home runs and more than double the steals with a notably higher batting average. In fairness to PCA his average has looked a whole lot better recently and his strikeout rate hasn’t been as ugly as Elly’s.
Jhonkensy Noel – Power is great, as we hoped it would be from his 80 grade as a prospect. What’s been even better is his .254 average. We can more than live with that average when it’s paired with the kind of power he brings to that table. Eligibility at first, third, and outfield doesn’t hurt either.
Colt Keith – His breakout hasn’t been quite as emphatic as I had hoped for but he has been pretty dang good. After a pretty good July, August saw him falter but over his last seven games he has come back to life. Look for him to close out the season strong if you need to shore up your squad at second or third.
Connor Norby – Moving from the crowded infield in Baltimore to Miami has given him regular playing time and so far the early returns have been very promising. There’s definitely some upside here and it could be yours for the cost of the worst player on your bench.
Parker Meadows – To say he’s been a disappointment this season would be putting it very mildly. He wasn’t going to win you your league but he looked like he could be a key contributor in deeper leagues merely by virtue of seeing everyday at bats, ideally in the leadoff spot. No one expected him to win a batting title but it was a shock to see him bat under .100 while striking out almost half the time he came to the plate. That performance quickly got him demoted. Since the calendar flipped to August he looks like an entirely different hitter, betting over .320 during that stretch. I’d love for him to have found some better contact skills but it’s more likely that this is just making up for how awful his first month was. If he unlocks his power potential then you can more than live with a subpar average.
Jonny DeLuca – It’s been a good week but I think you’d have to be out of options to take a flyer on him at this stage. I will be keeping an eye on him to see if he can be something next season.
Spencer Horwitz – Batting average is a little on the low side but overall, I like what I’ve seen out of him. As he gets more at bats I expect that to rise and hopefully his power as well. I’m encouraged that even though his average is below his minor league numbers, his strikeout rate is right in line. He can help you out in deeper leagues and should be a solid piece next year.
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