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.
Robinson Canó - Canó hit .246 before the break with 36 Runs and 38 RBI in 93 games and .307 with 34 R & RBIs in 66 games after the break. He was especially bad in April hitting .151. He always starts slow. For his career he hits .257 in April and May and .322 the rest of the month. This trend is probably too well known to exploit, but it’s worth a shot.
Ryan Zimmerman - Zimmerman started off March/April hitting .233. He hit .301 the rest of the way. Last year wasn’t atypical for Zimmerman. For his career he has hit .237 in March/April and .292 in the other months. Zimmerman is another one that you may actually be able to get if he starts slow again.
Freddy Sánchez – Freddy hit .226 with 37 Runs before the break in 87 games. In the last 58 games he hit .346 with 38 Runs. Historically April is his worst month with a .250 average, compared to .306 from May to September. He has 20 Runs and 23 RBI in his career compared to and average of 56 Runs and 39 RBI in the other months. He may be available on your waiver wire come May to give you a little shot in the arm in the Average and Runs department.
Jhonny Peralta - Before June Peralta his .233 with 19 RBI in 48 games (0.40 RBI per game). After June he hit .294 with 70 RBI in 106 games (0.66 RBI per game). In 85 career April games he’s hit .226 compared to .274 in other months.
Carlos Peña – Before June Peña hit .220 in 55 games. He hit .266 the rest of the way. Historically he has hit .229 before June and .262 in the other months.
Image courtesy of Icon SMI
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Here’s a look at Middle Infielders who should bounce back from 2008 seasons that didn’t meet their standards.
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.
Rafael Furcal – He only played in 36 games last year, so he will easily surpass his 2008 numbers. Assuming he stays healthy he should hit around .300 with 100 Runs, 175 Hits, 27 Doubles, 6 Triples, 10 HRs, 60 RBI, and 30 SBs. Furcal hit .357 and was one of the best players in the league in April so don’t expect to get him at a bargain.
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
