Fantasy Baseball: Dan Uggla, Jon Lester Are Monday's Top Performers

Last Night Rewind

• Dan Uggla hit his 30th home run of the season, marking the fourth straight year in which he has hit at least 30 home runs. He is hitting .281 this season and has driven in 92 runs, tying a career high. His average seems high considering he hit .243 last season and just .260 before that, but he has hit above .280 before. It might not be normal, but it's not out of the question for him to duplicate this even next season.
• Jon Lester put together another solid outing against the Mariners, this time going eight innings and allowing just one run on three hits while striking out 12. The lefty has won six of his last seven starts and is 3-0 in September. He improved his road record to 10-3 and lowered his ERA in those starts to 2.49.
• Sticking with Boston, rookie Ryan Kalish hit another home run last night. He now has four this season to go with 20 RBI. While his overall numbers show just a .252 average, he is hitting .313 this month with two home runs and 12 RBI. Kalish is not going anywhere, and his performance this month will go a long way toward determining Boston's offseason plans.
• Josh Johnson is officially done for the season, as the Marlins have chosen to shut him down rather than rush him back. Johnson had his back examined after he was forced to end a bullpen session early. With the Marlins basically out of the race, this is the safe move. Johnson should not have issues heading into the spring.
• Jay Bruce returned to the lineup for the Reds last night, playing in his first game since the end of August. He returned by hitting two home runs and recording three hits overall while driving in four. Bruce has six home runs in his last five games and has raised his average to nearly .280 on the year. He is oddly still available in 10 percent of leagues.

Tuesday Notes

• Unfortunately, even though Nick Swisher is 6-for-13 with three home runs against Matt Garza, his knee injury likely precludes him from taking a spot in the lineup. Alex Rodriguez, though, has a .412 average in 17 at-bats. Robinson Cano checks in at better than .300 as well. Look to avoid the 2-for-16 of Mark Teixeira and the 1-for-11 of Brett Gardner. Curtis Granderson struggles as well.
• Jair Jurrjens is still 6-1 at home despite getting knocked around in his last outing. He continues to be worth putting on the mound and that last outing should be only a blip. Surprisingly, Willie Harris is 6-for-12 against him and Ryan Zimmerman has good numbers as well. No one else on the roster should have owners worried.
• John Danks is 2-1 in five starts against the Twins, but he does have a 4.24 ERA against them this season. Danks pitches much better at home, where he has allowed hitters to put up only a .218 average against him this season. Michael Cuddyer is at .467 against Danks, and most other Twins are above .300. Only Nick Punto is a real red flag, but Jason Kubel is only hitting .265 with one home run in 34 at-bats.
• Barry Zito is 0-2 in five starts against the Dodgers this season. He has given up 13 runs in his last 13.2 innings over three starts. Andre Ethier and James Loney have struggled against Zito, as they both are hitting under .200 against the lefty. Otherwise, any Dodgers you would have in your lineup are good to go in this one.
• Some things surprise me, like how Danks has faced the Twins five times but Adam Wainwright has drawn the Cubs just once. Wainwright is 11-2 at home with a 1.52 ERA, but he has lost four out of his last five starts overall. Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome are both hitting under .200, but the rest of your Cubs are good to go here.
• Cole Hamels is 2-0 this month and has not allowed an earned run in any of his last three outings. The percentages certainly might say he is due to surrender at least one this time out, but this roll is worth riding. Uggla is just 5-for-35 against Hamels and only the 4-for-13 of Cameron Maybin cracks .300 against the Philly starter.
• Jon Garland is 0-2 against the Rockies this season. He has allowed 15 hits and six runs in 10.2 innings. Carlos Gonzalez is 9-for-15 against Garland and Melvin Mora is 11-for-33. Both are good starts here, especially with Garland pitching on the road.
• On the other side of this one, Jason Hammel is 3-0 and he is 7-1 at home on the season. Adrian Gonzalez is just 4-for-22 against him while Miguel Tejada is only 3-for-15. Look to use Nick Hundley, as he will likely be behind the plate given his 6-for-12 mark. Matt Stairs is 5-for-8 with two home runs as well.
• Spot Starts: Bud Norris, Luke French, Hammel

Wednesday Notes

• James Shields is 2-0 this season against the Yankees, allowing just eight earned runs over 26 innings of work. He has struck out 28 batters in that stretch. Cano and Jeter are both worth starting, but the rest of the New York lineup has struggled against Shields. Granderson is 2-for-26 while Teixeira is 4-for-28. In fact, the .261 of Jorge Posada is the next best number available.
• Matt Diaz is 8-for-19 against John Lannan, and he is joined in hitting him well by Nate McLouth and Derrek Lee, who are both above .300. Martin Prado is just 4-for-18. Lannan is 5-2 in his last seven outings and has posted a 5-3 road record this year.
• Since rejoining the rotation on August 9th, Carlos Zambrano has not allowed more than two earned runs in any start. Randy Winn is 7-for-15 against Zambrano, while Skip Schumaker and Felipe Lopez check in at better than .330 against him. Pedro Feliz is just 3-for-19 while Yadier Molina is only 7-for-34.
• Brad Bergesen has been lit up by the Blue Jays this year. In three starts, he is 0-2 with a 9.77 ERA. In 15.2 innings against them, he has surrendered 27 hits and five home runs that have accounted for 17 earned runs. Not a bad way for Kyle Drabek to ease his way into the majors, as he has a better shot for a win than not.
• Dave Bush is 0-2 in four starts against Houston this year and you can couple that with a 3-5 road record. In both cases, his ERA is north of 4.00 and batters hit better than .285 against him. Check out Chris Johnson in this one, who is 7-for-9 against Bush. Hunter Pence, Geoff Blum, and Michael Bourn are all solid here. Avoid the 5-for-26 of Carlos Lee.
• Spot Starts: Jorge De La Rosa, Drabek, J.A. Happ