- Error
|
As the season pushes into its third month, most of the highly drafted players are returning acceptable value. Mark Teixeira and David Wright scorched the ball in May and now sit comfortably near the top rated players at their positions. Grady Sizemore, Josh Hamilton, and Jose Reyes are lagging because of injuries. These six hitters have played more or less every day and for the most part are forcing fantasy teams to succeed in spite of them.
BJ Upton Offending numbers: .204 avg, 2 HR, 9 RBI The batting average is barely over the Mendoza line and the power, which was anticipated after his shoulder healed, has dropped even farther. Watching him flip pitches over the Green Monster in the ALCS it is difficult to believe his HR/FB could be just 4.4%. At 11.8% his walk rate is down slightly but his strikeout percentage is an unsightly 32.3%. His Tropicana Field hit chart shows five of his six extra base hits are pulled while the vast majority of his fly outs are to center and right. It is probably time to wonder if his shoulder is fully healed. Reasons for hope: For a player with a top five speed score and a pop up rate of just 2.2% Upton's .290 BABIP seems to have room to grow. He has succeeded in 83% of his steal attempts so he should get the green light when he reaches. He continues to display some of the best pitch selection in baseball, offering at only 15.7% of pitches off the plate. Jimmy Rollins Offending numbers: .230 avg, 3 HR The 4.2% HR/FB may go up, but it is unlikely to explode. Counting on any more than 15 HR is wishful thinking. He has been thrown out four times in 13 steal attempts. Last year he attempted 50 steals and was only caught three times. His walk rate is below any number he posted in a full major league season. He is swinging more often, at both pitches inside and outside the strike zone. His manager agrees that Rollins is over anxious at the plate. Reasons for hope: His current .248 BABIP is far below his career .298 number. He has caught fire before, on May 19th 2005 he was hitting .231, but was at .284 by the end of July. He closed that season on a 36 game hit streak. Lance Berkman Offending numbers: .232 avg, 0 SB Berkman closed 2008 on a downward trend. His avg/obp/slg after the All Star Game were .259/.384/.436. Through 47 games in 2009 he sits at .232/.359/.464. The surprising speed he displayed last year has deserted him. While he is slightly less apt to chase pitches out of the zone this year, he is also letting strikes go by at a much increased rate. Overall he is offering at 39.6% of pitches, in 2006, '07, and '08 he was between 46.5% and 46.9%. One could assume early season wrist discomfort made him less aggressive. Reasons for hope: At .232 his ISO is at the same level it was in 2007 when he hit 34 HR. His BABIP is a very low .242. His career mark is .323. His average is up 46 points from the last game before he sat out due to the wrist. Matt Holliday Offending numbers: .275 avg, 24 R, 4 SB While Holliday's fly ball rate is up both his line drive rate and HR/FB are significantly down from his Coors Field days. Hit home hit chart is very similar to Upton's, more extra base hits to left but more fly outs to center and right. He is on pace to attempt half as many steals as he did last year. Reasons for hope: His BB/K is 0.77, which would be a career best. He has raised his average 50 points in the last 20 days. His avg/obp/slg line (.275/.368/.440) is not far off of what Miguel Cabrera did in the first half of 2008 (.284/.349/.489). Russell Martin Offending numbers: .266 avg, 0 HR Despite a low average Martin has a .333 BABIP, which is a career high number. His .052 ISO is the second lowest among qualified hitters. He is sandwiched between Emmanuel Burriss and Emilio Bonifacio. His K% of 20.2% is about a 5% jump over his career average. His contact rate on pitches outside the strike zone is down 7% from 2008. He has an extremely high GB/FB of 1.95 and this marks a three year increase in that number. Reasons for hope: Thus far Martin has played in 47 of LA's 53 games, including one as only a pinch hitter. Through 53 games in 2008 Martin appeared in all of them, twice as a pinch hitter and late replacement. The rest may help him avoid a dropoff in the second half, when he has historically produced at a lower rate. With seven steals so far he is maintaining his status as the best base stealing catcher. David Ortiz Offending numbers: .185 avg, 1 HR, 16 R, 18 RBI Probably the most analyzed hitter of the year. It is unnecessary to go into particular numbers, just about any that measure positive performance are down and any that measure negative performance are up. Hit charts show very few fly balls carrying deeply to right and most of his doubles are Green Monster aided. Visual evidence shows him cheating on pitches and unable to adjust if fooled on location or velocity. Reasons for hope: A BABIP of .248 coupled with a line drive rate of 22.4% is unusual. Due to the shift Ortiz will have difficulties posting a league average BABIP, but his current number has some upside. He displayed a more aggressive swing in Toronto and hit two balls very deep to center field. Are you willing to "buy low" on any of these batters? Trackback(0)
Comments (1)
  written by Alice21Duran, April 19, 2010
If you are willing to buy a car, you would have to get the loans. Furthermore, my sister usually uses a bank loan, which is the most firm.
Write comment
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
