Mike Moustakas and A.J. Pierzynski: Last Ditch Effort

I’m not sure which would make for a better intro here:  From Rookie of the Year, John Candy flipping out and saying how this is for all the marbles, the whole magilla, the whole enchilada, etc. or from The Waterboy, Dan Fouts adamantly repeating, “last game of the year, can’t hold anything back.  Either way, I’m sure you get the gist of it.  There are eight games left in the regular season and if you can grab someone now who is hotter than someone you have in your lineup, it might be time to make a change.  You want to play the hot hand here and finish strong.  These guys may help if you’re in an AL-only or deep mixed league…

Mike Moustakas |3B|  Ownership:  ESPN – 17.3%  Yahoo – 19.0%

If you’re in a keeper league or a dynasty league, you can probably just skip ahead to the next guy.  Moustakas is not available.  However, if you’re in a re-draft league and are part of the 82.7% (81% if you play on Yahoo) that has Moustakas on their waiver wire, you might want to grab him for this stretch run.  He is heating up at the perfect time for you, hitting .524 with 3 HR and 7 RBI over the last week and looking to finish the season on a high note.  After a rough June and July, Moustakas had a decent August where he hit .283 and just seemed more comfortable at the plate.  Now here in September, he’s taking it to the next level.  He’s hitting for a higher average, dramatically reducing his K% and finally displaying the power we had hoped to see when he was first called up.  Well, better late than never.  So if your third baseman, corner infielder or utility player isn’t cutting it anymore, Moustakas should be worth a look.

A.J. Pierzynski  |C|  Ownership:  ESPN – 7.8%  Yahoo – 19.0%

Well, well, well….look who’s back from the dead.  After missing the second half of August, Pierzynski is back and he is hitting.  He’s currently on a 7 game hitting streak where he’s batting .414 with 2 home runs, 4 runs scored and 6 RBI and looks like he’s primed for a strong finish.   The BABIP and average have been low for the first half of September, so this looks like the expected upturn and based on his last few games, it’s going to be good.  There are very few catchers that are performing this strongly here at the end of the year, so you might want to make a switch.  And if you’re happy with your current catcher’s production, then double check that utility spot.  If Pierzynski is going to show the White Sox that he can be their primary backstop for another year, you’re going to want to use it to your advantage.