With week nine of the MLB season upon us some of us are starting to separate ourselves from the bottom dwellers while others are fighting to stay in playoff contention.  Regardless of where you are here at eDraft we have you covered with players worth starting this week to either help you separate yourself further from the bottom feeders or bring you back within playoff contention.  Without further ado here are the players worth starting this week on your fantasy team.

Pitcher

Wade Miley, Arizona Diamondbacks: After proving to be a reliable pitcher the past two seasons, Miley is off to a rough start in the 2014 season.  He had back to back seasons with an ERA in the low to mid 3’s but is sporting an ERA of  4.85 this season.  Regardless of how he has pitched of late this week is a good two start week for Miley.  His first start is going to be against the lowest scoring offense in baseball in the form of the Padres.  This should be a more than dominant start followed up by a start against the Reds offense that has extremely underperformed to this point in the season.  They currently rank 28th in runs scored and are not much better in batting average where they rank 24th.  Now they are without their best hitter in Joey Votto who is on the disabled list, which should lead to consecutive solid starts from Miley this week.

Catcher

Devin Mesoraco, Cincinnati Reds: Fresh off the disabled list it is time to pick this catcher up if he still available in your league.  Mesoraco has the capability to be one of the best hitting catchers in all of baseball if he manages to stay healthy.  According to our FantasyVA metrics Mesoraco has a positive projected value of 5.37 for 2014 and has actually performed better than that to this point in the year.  Despite only having 69 at bats Mesoraco has five homeruns and an impressive 18 RBI to go along with a .400 batting average.  This week he has three games against the Dodgers which is not the most favorable of matchups but the Reds follow that up with a four game series against the leagues worst pitching staff pitching staff in the Arizona Diamondbacks.  They have already given up a league worst 257 runs and Mesoraco should be able to rake against this pitching staff.

First Base

Adam LaRoche, Washington Nationals: Finally off the disabled list, LaRoche made his first start since getting injured on Sunday.  Before the injury LaRoche was having a fantastic season batting over .300 with five homeruns 18 RBI and 15 runs scored.  Due to his injury LaRoche saw his own percentage drop all the way down to 60 percent.  If he is available in your league be sure to pick him up.  He has a relatively easy schedule this upcoming week with series against the Marlins and the Rangers who have both given up over 200 runs.  

Second Base

Kolten Wong, St. Louis Cardinals: The brief stint where Wong was sent back down to the minors seemed to be just the wake up call he needed.  Wong has been the hottest hitter in the Cardinals lineup since getting called up by batting .385 with four steals five runs scored and four RBI in only seven games.  The two hole should prove to be a fruitful spot for Wong in the lineup where he can score a plethora of runs, even if the Cardinals lineup has not been as prolific as last season.

Third Base

Lonnie Chisenhall, Cleveland Indians: Not a guy known for his bat through the first three years of his career Chisenhall has turned the corner in 2014.  He is batting a whopping .382 and has recorded an RBI in six straight games, to go along with six runs scored and two homeruns during that span.  During this same stretch Chisenhall is batting .500 and brings his hot bat into a series against the White Sox who are on the verge of overtaking the Diamondbacks as the team with the most runs given up in baseball.  You would be crazy not to start Chisenhall against such a lackluster offense.  Following that series is a series against the Rockies who like the White Sox have a great offense followed by a subpar pitching staff.  With an own percentage of only 10 percent Chisenhall is probably available in your league and is a must pickup and start this week.

Shortstop

J.J. Hardy, Baltimore Orioles: Always known as bit of a slow start it is still extremely shocking to see the Hardy has no homeruns this year.  He has always been one of the more powerful shortstops in the game as evidenced by the 25 homeruns he hit last season but Hardy has at least made up for it with a batting average that is well above his norm at .295.  He is riding a seven game hitting streak that has consisted of five multi hit games and carries his hot bat into a series against the Brewers.  While the Brewers have had one of the best pitching staffs in baseball Hardy is so hot at the plate it is hard to imagine cooling off too much in one series.  The best reason to start Hardy this week is the series that follows the Brewers which is the Diamondbacks.  The Diamondbacks are in a tight race with the White Sox as the worst pitching team in all of baseball making Hardy a great start this week.

Outfield

Adam Eaton, Chicago White Sox: Eaton has been red hot since coming off of the disabled list and has raised his batting average all the way to .292 and has shown that his hamstrings are one hundred percent healed with his two steals since coming back.  He’s not a powerful batter but runs are going to be easy for him to come by with his speed at the top of one of the most potent lineups in baseball.  First up for the White Sox is a series against the Indians who have been dreadful pitching this year, giving up 244 runs, good for third most runs given up in baseball.  While the next series is not nearly as enticing against the Padres and their stingy pitching staff Eaton has a strong on base percentage and can steal bases making him beneficial even if he is not scoring runs.