Fantasy Baseball: Frozen Ropes

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

The Good

If you decided to drop Ian Stewart after an awful start, most people wouldn't give you crap about it. I have Ian Stewart on two of my teams, and have finally been rewarded for holding onto him. Despite his awful batting average to start the season, he was still hitting homers and driving in runs. That is why I kept him, and now he's the hottest fantasy player in the land. His .323 average, 4 home runs and 10 RBI this week show that he's finally settled in at the major league level. David Wright may still be struggling with power, but a .652 average this week is nothing to scoff at. His average is now up to .362 on the year. One must hope his homers and RBI will start to increase as well. My boy, Andre Eithier, has finally start to hit the ball. He's really struggled since the suspension of Manny Ramirez, but got hot once again will two straight walk off hits last weekend. For the week he's hit.429 with 4 HR & 7 RBI. The offense is operated very differently in Manny's absence and they need Eithier to continue his hot streak. Ryan Braun, a.k.a. The Hebrew Hammer, is having a quiet, but productive year. His .313 average, 13 HR & 42 RBI are very good for the 1st place Brew Crew. He's been on fire with 3 homers and 8 RBI this week. The Rays' super utility man, Ben Zobrist, rounds out the top five this week. With injuries to Jason Bartlett & Akinori Iwamura, Zobrist is finally getting plenty of playing time. He continues to pound the ball and has hit .450 this past week with another 2 home runs. That brings him up to 12 on the year

The Bad:

It seems like I've put him here the last 5 weeks so it's no surprise to see Vernon Wells struggling again. He's one of the most overrated players in the majors and has hit only .182 this past week. Alfonso Soriano has been a pain in my but all year long. He only hit .185 this He may have 14 home runs, but is only hitting only .236 on the season. Is BJ Upton ever going to hit this season? Good questions, and if you have him, trade him for as much as you can right now. He's only hitting .212 on the year and it looks like he'll not be healthy at all until next season. Despite hitting a home run in yesterday's game, Evan Longoria is only hitting .077 on the week. His production has been slowing down, but is still on pace for over 40 home runs and 140 RBI. I doubt he'll reach those numbers, but is having a great season nonetheless. Hanley Ramirez is another superstar struggling at the plate. He's only 4 for his last 25. It also hurts because he never walks so you can't even get extra stolen base numbers.

Under the Radar:

Over the past month, Mark Reynolds is the 6th ranked fantasy hitter. His stats are .282, 7, 22. His average is sure to go down, but he does hit for power. You may be able to get him on the cheap in the trade market. Adam Kennedy is owned in only 20% of Yahoo leagues and has been the 19th hottest fantasy player the past month. He's hit .342, 5, 20 and 6 stolen bases. He's eligible at both 2B & OF. He's a very good addition in many deep leagues. I picked him up last week and inserted him at 2B for the time being. Aaron Rowand is another under the radar guy who's tearing the cover off the ball the past month. A .377 average, 4 HR & 15 RBI are great for a guy only owned in 31% of leagues. Willy Aybar has been getting a lot more playing time of late. He's been helping himself out by hitting .375, 2, 6 this past week. He also has 5 homers and 17 RBI the past month. He also happens to be eligible at 1B, 2B & 3B. I believe that Jose Lopez has finally turned his season around. He hit .320, 3 & 7 this week. He's been struggling for some time, but has finally looked to turn the corner.

Well, I hoped this help. Until next week!

(Check out Chin Music on Monday by Chad Garner)

Tough Titan: Durand focused on making team

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Rookie guard Ryan Durand is wearing his Tennessee Titans garb with pride.

But his dad, a diehard New England Patriots fan, won't put on the Titans' team colors -- at least for now.

"My dad's got some stuff but he refuses to wear it until I make the team," Durand said. "He doesn't want to jinx me."

Durand's still got a long way to go in order to truly call himself a Titan, but so far so good.

"I'm going out there and showing them what I can do and I try to get better every day," said the hard-working Durand, who was drafted in the 7th round. "You have to be confident at all times, it's a huge part of football. You have to be confident in your abilities."

Durand, who wore jersey No. 75 in high school at St. Bernard's in Fitchburg and Syracuse University, is now wearing No. 77 in Tennessee.

"Seventy-seven is cool," he said. "It's definitely the least of my concerns."

Currently, Durand and the rest of the Titans are going through typical workouts -- 7:30 a.m. in weight room, 9:30 a.m. team running, then karate or yoga and finish with various meetings -- before Organized Team Activities (OTAs) begin on Tuesday for two more weeks. OTAs are on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. 

"It's not that bad, it's basically typical summer conditioning for football," Durand said. "It's pretty much what I'm used to."

It's also a nice little break from the grind of full-contact football.

"They try to get less contact in the NFL," Durand said. "There's a time and a place for hitting -- in college we used to bang a lot. Here, they try to save your body; I think it's smart."

After those two weeks of OTAs, Durand will be back home for four weeks, before reporting back to Tennessee on July 30 for the start of official training camp on July 31.

"It's not 24/7, I was up at 6:30 and we're done at 2," he said. "We have the afternoons to ourself."

Durand has spent some of his off time "cruising around Nashville" and studies up on his playbook for at least 30-45 minutes per day.

"I feel like I've got a pretty good grasp of the playbook," Durand said. "It has come pretty easy to me."

The only news on television concerning the Titans is about who will be the starting quarterback -- athletic youngster Vince Young or veteran Kerry Collins.

So who will start this season?

"I don't worry about that, I'm worrying about me," Durand said. "They'll make the right decision."

Durand's just concerned on working hard and giving himself the best shot possible to officially call himself a Tennessee Titan.