Gio Gonzalez continues to impress me every time he goes out to the mound. He threw 7 shutout innings against the Indians yesterday, striking out 7 and walking just 1 batter. I think that he's going to have to be in my top 40 at worst for next season, as he now has a 3.24 ERA, and 134 strikeouts in 161 innings pitched. The strikeouts are actually lower from where he was when he first came up, but the walks have steadily improved (with some blips of course), and I think that there's a lot of upside still.
Carlos Zambrano also had a very nice start against the Nationals, going 7 1/3 innings and striking out 7. I honestly have no idea where he should be ranked next year, and someone's going to get a very nice sleeper out of him as a result. His upside is a top-30 pitcher, but the odds of hitting that seem so slim as to make it practically impossible to see it happening.
Wade Davis returned from the disabled list yesterday, and it's safe to say that the Rays' fans may very well start demanding the return of Jeremy Hellickson. Davis had an ok start, but went 5 1/3 innings, gave up 2 earned runs, struck out 5, but walked 3 and allowed 6 hits. I don't think I'd necessarily start him in every start, but he could still be very useful.
Brennan Boesch had a good game yesterday, going 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 2 runs batted in. He's been in a huge slump of late, and it's good to see him have a good game. I want to see more though before it changes my opinion of him.
Further confusing the closer situation in Pittsburgh, Evan Meek got the save after Joel Hanrahan was brought in during the 7th inning to relieve the starter. I own Hanrahan in a couple of leagues, and I can't say I am actually all that concerned. It appears that the Pirates used him in the highest leverage situation they thought they might have, and he recorded the win as a result. Worth monitoring, but I think it is still Hanrahan.
Whatever value Javier Vazquez may have had is gone now that he's headed to the bullpen for the Yankees. If you haven't yet, he's droppable for pretty much anything in my opinion.
Hong-Chih Kuo recorded his 5th save of the season yesterday, and at this point I am not sure that Jonathan Broxton is going to get his job back before mid-September, if at all this season. The Dodgers continue to hold out a glimmer of hope that they can sneak into the playoff race, and allowing Jonathan Broxton to continue to blow games until he gets himself straightened out isn't going to happen. Once the Dodgers really concede (which seems like will be when Manny Ramirez is put on waivers), we might see Broxton again in a save situation.
Carlos Gonzalez just continues to add to his great season numbers, hitting his 26th homer of the season yesterday and driving in his 82nd RBI of the year. I honestly think that he could end up as a top-10 overall player to start out 2011.
Very quietly, Will Venable is having a pretty decent season. The batting average is not good (.238 after a 2 for 4 game last night), but he's hit 11 home runs, and stolen 25 bases. NL-only owners already knew the value he has provided most likely, but he still remains a play in deeper mixed leagues as well.