Welcome back to
our exclusive weekly player hot and cold feature. I recommend you use
the information in this column like I do to identify players who might
be worth picking up this week, as well as ones to consider benching or
moving.
Consider this the
ultimate in short-term gratification. We’re not looking at histories of
contact rates or command or anything other than what has occurred over
the last week in the ten standard fantasy scoring categories, whether
good or bad.
I will be calling
out names that may have eluded your notice that either could still be
available on your waiver wire in a mixed league or perhaps stashed on
someone’s bench in an AL
or NL-only league. Anyone is fair game to be called out on ice, as that
information can help guide your line-up selection choices.
Fire
Catcher
Nick Hundley, SD
.429 BA, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 0 SB, 3 R
Michael Barrett remains out, but Josh Bard
has returned from his trip to the disabled list. Though Hundley is
hitting just .230 with 15 RBI in his first 113 major league at-bats, it
is better than Bard’s .210 average and 13 RBI in 157 at-bats.
First Base
Martin Prado, Atl
.386 BA, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 0 SB, 5 R
The second baseman is getting time at first with Casey Kotchman
on the restricted list and is making the best of it, with numbers more
than suitable for the position. I am disappointed about Prado only
because I held onto him almost all season long in NL Tout Wars before
giving up on him a few weeks ago. He’s long gone now.
Second Base
Joaquin Arias, Tex
.323 BA, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 SB, 4 R
With Ian Kinsler out, an opportunity opened for the 23-year-old. While
Arias has excelled, his time in the sun may only last for another week
if Kinsler returns as expected next weekend.
Shortstop
Emmanuel Burriss, SF
.375 BA, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 3 R
The other Manny has a .275 average and a dozen stolen bases in his first 207 MLB at-bats. His keystone partner, Eugenio Velez has 12 steals, too, in 182 at-bats. Both project nicely over a full season.
Third Base
Chase Headley, SD
.286 BA, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 1 SB, 2 R
Now playing left field regularly, Headley has quietly had his best
month yet in August with a .295 average, 13 RBI and two steals. His 13
runs scored equaled his total for June and July combined.
Outfield
Chris Dickerson, Cin
.333 BA, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 1 SB, 7 R
Given a chance to play with the trade of Adam Dunn, the former 16th-round
pick in 2003 has been surprisingly solid. Dickerson is hitting .328
with four home runs and 10 RBI in 61 at-bats. Most of those games have
been on the road, so it will be interesting to watch him at Great
American Launching Pad.
Elijah Dukes, Was
.364 BA, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 1 SB, 4 R
I hope you didn’t do what I did in the NFBC with Dukes–give up on him
when he hit the disabled list again. Now, he’s on fire and on someone
else’s roster! Maybe he’s still out there in your league.
Jay Payton, Bal
.500 BA, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 2 SB, 4 R
The 35-year-old takes a brief detour in his ongoing late-career
decline. Payton’s 91 at-bats in August is almost double any previous
month this season. While he has a .286 average and 15 runs scored, he
has no August home runs and just 5 RBI. Look for help elsewhere.
Starters
Brandon Backe, Hou
2 W, 13.2 IP, 3.29 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 10 K
Don’t be fooled. Since the break, Backe has been just awful, with an
ERA at 7. Opposing hitters are teeing off at a .301 clip against him
and his 1.62 second-half WHIP is even worse than his 1.56 pre-break
mark.
Zach Miner, Det
2 W, 13 IP, 0.69 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 5 K
I don’t want to take anything away from Miner’s nice week, during which
he allowed just 1 run in 13 innings, yet I would be remiss if I did not
point out that both outings were against the Kansas City Royals.
Obviously, that isn’t going to happen again anytime soon.
Jesse Litsch, Tor
1 W, 12.2 IP, 2.13 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 6 K
Since missing over 3 weeks, the Blue Jays starter has allowed just 3
runs in 3 starts. The numbers won’t be spectacular, but you might get
some late-season wins help here, as the Jays have been playing well
lately.
Reliever
Frank Francisco, Tex
1 SV, 0 BS, 0-0 W-L, 2.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 4 K
Someone has to be the closer for the Rangers, and the chair-slinger was
the name drawn from the hat. Despite a solid week, Francisco has two
losses and three blown saves in August, so beware.
Ice
Catcher
Ivan Rodriguez, NYY
.059 BA, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB, 0 R
2 weeks in a row here is never a good thing. Since becoming a Yankee,
Pudge has gone 10-for-55 (.182) with 1 home run and 1 RBI. Jose Molina could have done that and more.
First Base
Hank Blalock, Tex
.214 BA, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB, 2 R
Impressive rookie Chris Davis has been moved to third
base to enable the recently-returned Blalock to play at first. His
owners have to hope he will find his bat in the process. Since coming
back, Blalock is hitting just .197 with 1 home run in 66 at-bats.
Second Base
Brandon Phillips, Cin
.167 BA, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 3 R
Good news and bad. Phillips impressively cracked the 20-20 mark in home
runs and steals for the second consecutive season. Yet, playing for a
fifth-place team going nowhere, Phillips is hitting just .200 in August
with 1 stolen base.
Shortstop
Asdrubal Cabrera, Cle
.000 BA, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 SB, 2 R
With a nice .283 MLB debut last season in 159 at-bats, hopes were high
for Cabrera this year; however, it wasn’t to be, as the 22-year-old is
hitting just .216 on the season, though it was below .200 in the first
half. Cabrera does have 3 steals this month after just 1 in the prior
four months total.
Third Base
Joe Crede, CWS
.083 BA, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB, 1 R
The free agent-to-be isn’t enhancing his value with a lost 2008 campaign. First slowed by injury, then displaced by Juan Uribe,
Crede has just 65 at bats since July 1, during which time he is hitting
.169 with 2 home runs. Even Scott Boras may have a tough time selling
this to some general manager in the off-season.
Outfield
Hideki Matsui, NYY
.190 BA, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 3 R
Matsui returned from a knee injury without surgery but his bat seems to
still be under the weather. He is hitting just .171 in the 10 games
since being activated, but at least 3 of his hits went for extra bases.
Still…
Josh Hamilton, Tex
.111 BA, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 3 R
One of the great stories of the season, Hamilton is dealing with minor
injuries. He had his worst month in a number of categories in August
with a .247 average, four home runs and 12 RBI.
Jacoby Ellsbury, Bos
.148 BA, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB, 3 R
After 35 steals and a .272 average before the break, Ellsbury has
cooled considerably in the second half with just 6 swipes and an anemic
.227 average. Hello, Coco Crisp!
Starters
Edinson Volquez, Cin
1 W, 11.1 IP, 7.15 ERA, 1.76 WHIP, 11 K
The strikeouts are still there, but the results have been increasingly
spotty. In 8 post-break starts, Volquez has an ERA at 5 with a painful
1.59 WHIP. Sit him at home if you can, as he’s been just fine on the
road.
Jeremy Guthrie, Bal
0 W, 9.2 IP, 11.17 ERA, 2.17 WHIP, 9 K
Where did this come from? Guthrie had been very consistent with 4
straight 1-run starts and a 2-run outing before losing his control and
yielding 12 runs to the Yankees and Rays last week. Don’t overreact
yet, but do bench him if you can.
Jon Lester, Bos
0 W, 9 IP, 8.00 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 10 K
These numbers are skewed by a terrible outing at Toronto, but the Red
Sox de facto ace rebounded with a nice 6.7-inning, 1-run no decision
against the Yankees in his next turn. Keep him in there.
Reliever
Luis Ayala, NYM
2 SV, 1 BS, 0-0, 4 IP, 6.75 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 1 K
Neither Ayala nor Aaron Heilman seem to want the
closer’s role for the Metropolitans, as they and their Mets bullpen
mates are taking turns coughing up leads. Whether Ayala will prove to
be the least shaky of the options is anyone’s guess.
Brian Walton’s work can also be found daily at stlcardinals.scout.com.