2014 Fantasy Baseball: 5 Shrewd Plays For Aug. 7

After a wretchedly bad July at the dish, Starlin Castro has come out swinging in August with a .529 average over 17 at bats. Another date with the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field should help him stay hot. Yohan Flande will get the nod for Colorado, and terrible has been his middle name since joining the team in June. To go along with an 0-3 record in six appearances, Flande has posted a horrific 7.98 ERA at home.

Aramis Ramirez seems to have conquered his recent hitting woes, and is now batting a cool .481 with a HR and five RBIs over his last seven contests. A lovely matchup with the once great Jake Peavy is scheduled for Thursday, and more big things could be ahead. Peavy has posted a remarkably bad 1-11 record this season, and to go along with an elevated 4.73 ERA, he's already allowed a whopping 20 HRs this year.

The reigning NL Rookie of the Month has really come into his own of late, as he's posted a 6-1 record to go along with a dynamic 1.53 ERA over his last eight outings. The New York Mets will face the Washington Nationals Thursday afternoon, and Jacob deGrom should be in for another strong performance. The Nats have lost eight of their last 13 contests, and have scored four runs or fewer in 11 of those games.

There's been no slowing down this red-hot right fielder of late. Josh Harrison is batting a lofty .378 over his last nine games, and has surprisingly mashed five HRs over that stretch. He has a great matchup to exploit on Thursday, so a big day could be in the cards. The Pirates will host Jarred Cosart and the Miami Marlins. Cosart has posted poor numbers all season, but has been especially dreadful over his last five games with a 7.90 ERA.

The ever steady Robinson Cano has absolutely been on fire the past five weeks or so, and is now batting an exceptional .369 since June 29. He'll look to keep the train rolling when the M's host Scott Carroll and the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Cano has tormented right-handed pitchers to the tune of a .350 average this season, and Carroll has allowed lefties to bat .301 while allowing 20 extra-base hits in just 206 at bats against him.