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Freddy Sanchez has seven hits in his first fifteen at bats, which is good for a .467 batting average. He has scored three runs, smacked a home run, and collected three RBI. That begs the question, is he just a fast starter or is he for real?
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Sanchez’s career monthy numbers look like this:
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• April:  .281 batting average, .745 OPS
• May:  .314, .768
• June:  .289, .725
• July:  .263, .658
• August:  .333, .854
• September:  .305, .755

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His career batting average is .299 and his career OPS is .752. The past three years his numbers have been:
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• April:  .272, .704
• May:  .296, .749
• June:  .255, .658
• July:  .239, .570
• August:  .329, .826
• September:  .316, .775

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He is just a steady producer. He won’t know  your socks off, but he can certainly hit for average. He’s not a guy that gets out of the gates quick and then fades. He historically has had a little dip in July before finishing strong.
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His main concern is his durability. Sanchez played in 111 games in each of the past two years. He played in 145 and 147 in his previous two seasons. He’ll never be the player he was in 2006 when he broke on the scene hitting .344 with 85 runs and 85 RBI, but he’s a solid middle infield option and backup second baseman. He’s not going to continue to hit .400+, but he’s a strong be to finish the month with a batting average north of .300.

New York Mets ace Johan Santana joins the long line of injured Mets players.  Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, David Wright, the list goes on.  It’s staggering.  Now their ace is gone for the year.  Where does that leave you as your fantasy team winds down?  In a big hole, that’s where.  If you are fantasy team is unlike the Mets and still in the chase, you’ve got to find a way to somehow replace the lost production.  Obviously, you aren’t getting someone to slide in without missing a beat.  Here are some options guys who have pitched well the past month:

Derek Holland, Texas Rangers – 4 Wins, 28 Ks, 1.85 ERA, 0.91 WHIP
Ownership:  63% Yahoo! Plus, 25% Yahoo! Public, 7.6% ESPN, 62% CBS

Barry Zito, San Francisco Giants – 2 Wins, 28 Ks, 2.08 ERA, 1.18 WHIP
Ownership:  61% Yahoo! Plus, 26% Yahoo! Public, 12.2% ESPN, 67% CBS

Tommy Hunter, Texas Rangers – 4 Wins, 26 Ks, 3.38 ERA, 1.18 WHIP
Ownership:  76% Yahoo! Plus, 37% Yahoo! Public, 11% ESPN, 69% CBS

Bronson Arroyo, Cincinnati Reds – 1 Win, 21 Ks, 2.23 ERA, 1.08 WHIP
Ownership:  44% Yahoo! Plus, 24% Yahoo! Public, 23.2% ESPN, 71% CBS

Ross Ohlendorf, Pittsburgh Pirates – 3 Wins, 20 Ks, 2.56 ERA, 1.26 WHIP
Ownership:  24% Yahoo! Plus, 10% Yahoo! Public, 3.9% ESPN, 39% CBS

San Francisco Second Baseman Freddy Sanchez also landed on the DL because of a strained shoulder that has kept him out of action for seven games.  The move was made retroactive to August 18th, meaning he’s eligible to come off the DL next Wednesday, September 2nd.  Sanchez isn’t nearly the loss that Johan is, but there are options (with 2B eligibility) to plug in while he’s out.  Past month’s stats listed.

Howie Kendrick, Los Angeles Angels – .317, 12 Runs, 3 HRs, 17 RBIs, 1 SB
Ownership:  49% Yahoo! Plus, 48% Yahoo! Public, 69.7% ESPN, 42% CBS

Mark Ellis, Oakland A’s – .364, 18 Runs, 2 HRs, 22 RBIs, 2 SBs
Ownership:  25% Yahoo! Plus, 15% Yahoo! Public, 8.2% ESPN, 21% CBS

Eugenio Velez, San Francisco Giants – .300, 19 Runs, 3 HRs, 16 RBIs, 3 SBs
Ownership: 14% Yahoo! Plus, 4% Yahoo! Public, 2.9% ESPN, 8% CBS

Chris Coghlan, Florida Marlins – .366, 16 Runs, 2 HRs, 14 RBIs, 1 SB
Ownership:  57% Yahoo! Plus, 24% Yahoo! Public, 17.4% ESPN, 56% CBS

Ronnie Belliard, Washington Nationals – .387, 15 Runs, 3 HRs, 13 RBIs, 2 SBs
Ownership:  3% Yahoo! Plus, 2% Yahoo! Public, 1.3% ESPN, 2% CBS

Luis Castillo, New York Mets – .365, 15 Runs, 1 HR, 10 RBIs, 4 SBs
Ownership:  26% Yahoo! Plus, 11% Yahoo! Public, 11% ESPN, 27% CBS

Maicer Izturis, Los Angeles Angels – .286, 16 Runs, 3 HRs, 17 RBIs, 2 SBs
Ownership:  56% Yahoo! Plus, 28% Yahoo! Public, 5.6% ESPN, 28% CBS

Ryan Roberts, Arizona Diamondbacks – .341, 10 Runs, 4 HRs, 10 RBIs, 2 SBs
Ownership:  10% Yahoo! Plus, 2% Yahoo! Public, 1.3% ESPN, 6% CBS

Adam Kennedy, Oakland As – .276, 8 Runs, 3 HRs, 13 RBIs, 5 SBs
Ownership:  46% Yahoo! Plus, 21% Yahoo! Public, 8.2% ESPN, 44% CBS

Alexi Casilla, Minnesota Twins – .340, 14 Runs, 9 RBIs, 4 SBs
Ownership: 2% Yahoo! Plus, 3% Yahoo! Public, 0.9% ESPN, 4% CBS

Images courtesy of Icon SMI

Here is a list of guys who typically get off to slow starts.  If you draft them, be patient.  If you didn’t take them, they may good buy low candidates.

Ryan Howard - Howard is a beast so he probably isn’t going to come available, but don’t be discouraged by a slow start.  Last year year he hit .234 with 28 HRs and 84 RBI in 96 games before the All-Star break and .276 with 20 & 62 in the last 66 games.  For his career he hits 47 points higher after the break.

Ichiro Suzuki – Ichiro hit .252 in March & April last year and .323 the rest of the way.  His April swoon may seem uncharacteristic for Ichiro, but he is a .294 hitter in April and a .337 hitter thereafter.  If he struggles early, maybe you can surgically remove him from somebody’s team.

Bobby Abreu - You may assume a slow start is due to relocation, but remember he hit .269 with just 3 HRs in 28 April games last year.  Historically, April is his worst month.  He has a .282 average and 31 HRs and 154.  He has at least 40 HRs & 170 RBI in every other Month but September (35 & 163).  Plus, he hits .303 in the other months.  He could be primed to take off someone’s hands if he starts slow.

Derek Jeter – I don’t see a huge jump for Jeter, but I expect him to score 100 runs and collect 200 hits, which is something he didn’t do in ’08 (88 & 179).  His .300 is below his .316 career mark, and I expect that to increase to around .310.  I don’t see much movement for Jeter in HRs, RBI, or SBs.

 

Édgar Rentería – So Rentería moves on to his sixth team.  Say what you want about him, the guy can hit.  Like most Tigers, Rentería had a down year hitting .270 with 69 Runs, 136 Hits, and 22 Doubles.  His RBIs were at 55, but he only had 57 the year before in Atlanta while hitting a career high .332.  From 2002-2007 he averaged 90.7 Runs, 173.2 Hits, 37.7 Doubles, and hit .303.  I expect he’ll produce somewhere in between last year’s stats and those averages.  That would put him at .287, 80 R, 155 H, and 30 Doubles.

Khalil Greene – He’s not much of a hitter, but clearly a move to St. Louis from San Diego has to help the paltry .213, 30 R, 83 H, 15 2B, 10 HR, 35 RBI he produced in 2008.  I don’t expect him to reach his 2007 numbers (89 R, 155 H, 44 2B, 27 HR, 97 RBI), but something more in line with what he did from 2004-2006 when he averaged .257, 58 R, 29 2B, 15 HR, and 63.3 RBI.

Robinson Canó – Canó digressed in 2008 hitting a career low .271.  He’s traditionally a slow starter with April (.237) and May (.271) being his worst two months.  Though he did hit .307 after the All-Star break, he never quite recovered from the .151 he hit in April.  His average wasn’t the only thing that suffered though.  He stats were down across the board.  He’s too good of a hitter in too good of an Offense to struggle again next year.  Hopefully the World Baseball Classic well allow him to hit the ground running on Opening Day.  

Freddy Sánchez – After hitting .315 in his first three years with the Pirates, Sánchez saw his average drop to .271. In 2006 & 2007 he averaged 191.5 Hits, 47.5 Doubles, 83 RBI.  Last year he had 154, 26, and 52.

Images courtesy of Icon SMI