Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
Welcome back to the weekly recap of the best and worst fantasy baseball players in the land. Now onto the good, and bad, stuff
The Good
Not surprisingly, Carl Crawford is the most valuable fantasy hitter this past week. Even if you remove the 6 steals he had in one game against the Red Sox, he still had 5 more this week giving him a total of 20 stolen bases already this season. Now that his legs are finally healthy, he should literally run away, pun intended, with the stolen base crown this season. Hitting .379 this past also helps as well. Fellow Ray, Evan Longoria continues his barrage on pitching. He hit .377 with 4 HR and 14 RBI this week. He leads the majors in RBI with 38 and is 2nd in the AL with 10 home runs. This superstar has certainly arrived. Is it possible that Justin Upton has started to put it together? He has great power potential which he showed off this week hitting 4 homers and driving in 7 runs. He's hitting .294 overall and has played very well. He's only owned in 63% of leagues, so he's a good play if he's available in your league. I say go get him. I think Jason Bay has been in this portion of the column very week so far this season. He continued his Yankee killer ways and hit .292 with 3 homers and 10 RBI this week with a 1.141 OPS. Aaron Hill rounds out the top 5 fantasy hitters this week. He is another player who finally looks like he's put it all together. He does have an injury plagued young career, but if he's stays healthy he should put up good numbers all year. He hit .353 this past week and hit another 3 home runs. That gives him a total of 8 homers this season. That is a bit surprising, considering his career high is 17. He's also driven in 28 RBI already this season.
The Bad:
Melvin Mora has been struggling all season, but this past week it's been even worse. He's only 4 for 28 (.145 average) this past week, but did hit a home run last night. He's only been back from the DL for a few weeks, but wasn't playing well even before the injury. He's a free agent in 65% of leagues, but I'd hold off on picking him up. Chase Utley has been hampered by a bone bruise on his left ankle. I am sure that injury has been a major factor in his recent struggles. He's only 2 for 12 this week and has missed a few games due to the injury. He needs to rest more to heal the ankle, so you may want to bench him for the time being. He'll return to his usual self within a week or two as long as it's just a bone bruise. What's up with Jimmy Rollins? He's in the midst of another bad week to add to his terrible season. He's just 6 for 27 (.222) this week and is hitting .211 on the season. He actually started turning his season around, but this week put him back in the dumps. The slow start to the 09' season comes on the heels of an awful 08' season in which he was banged up for the better part of the year. If I had to make a guess, he'll turn it around at some point in the season, but I've been wrong before. I was very big on Ian Stewart entering the fantasy season. I couldn't have been more wrong right now. He's played all over the diamond for the Rockies, but that shouldn't bother him that much. He does have 4 homer and 13 RBI on the season, which is not terrible. It's the .224 average that is disturbing. Over the past week, he's only hitting .167 while playing mostly at third base. I still have him on two of my teams, but he's coming perilously close to being released. Grady Sizemore is one of my favorite players, so I never like to see him struggle. As Chad mentioned in a previous article, I am not sure he'll ever hit for average, but has great pop and drives in runs. He's done none of these this past week hitting only .214 with 0 homers and only 4 RBI. He seems to be tired, but was given the night off on Thursday in the hopes of refreshing him. He'll be back up at the top of this article soon enough.
Under the Radar:
Now that Manny is gone for 50 games, it's time to pick up Juan Pierre. If you haven't already, he's most likely gone though. I wasn't able to land him in my NL only leagues, which is where he'll offer the most value. He's still a good hitter who will steal bases for you. If you're in a deep league and need outfield help, take a look at Franklin Gutierez. He's on fire this week (.423, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1.170 OPS) and is hitting .287 overall this season. The Mariners love him and don't be surprised to see him hit 20 homers this season. Willie Bloomquist has a 10 game hitting streak and has played himself into the lineup on a semi-regular basis. For those of you who don't know, he plays for the Royals and is eligible at both SS and OF. He hit .450 this week to raise his season average to .375. He's also only owned 3% of leagues and may not be a bad utility guy for your bench, especially if you happen to own Jimmy Rollins. In case you didn't realize it, Chone Figgins is having a pretty good season so far. He's hitting .280 overall, with 19 runs scored and 12 stolen bases. You may be able to trade for him on the cheap if you need steals. Last but not least is Chris Iannetta. After playing extremely well in the WBC, he's had an awful start to the season. He's started to turn himself around and make him relevant again in fantasy baseball. His average still may only be .196, but he did hit .250 with 3 homers, 6 RBI, 4 Runs and an OPS of 1.213. If you need a 2nd catcher, grab him because he will hit 20+ homers this year.
Have a great weekend!
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