With Major League Baseball on their All-Star break fantasy players have a chance to look at their teams and try to get ready for a second half run. There are always those guys you take with a high pick or spend some money on in your auction league that don’t work out for your team. Let’s look and see who’s been down; by position this 1st half of the baseball season. I always try to give players the benefit of the doubt if they got injured.
1st base David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox. Big Papa has struggled hitting just .231, He does have 15 home runs and has driven in 43 which are middle of the road at 1st base. Is it time to wonder if Ortiz’s age is finally catching up to him or if the Red Sox bad first half are affecting his numbers? It will be something to look for to see if Ortiz can bounce back and have a big 2nd half. I understand that in most leagues Ortiz is a DH, but in the leagues I’m in he’s a 1st baseman; so that’s how I ranked him.
2nd base Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners. When the Mariners signed Nelson Cruz in the off season everyone thought that Cano would be the player who benefited most from the signing. Cano is hitting .251 with 6 homers and 30 RBI’s. Cano was ranked in everyone’s pre-season Top 20 and these are nowhere close to the kind of numbers you want out of that kind of player.
3rd base has been the best position in the first half of baseball this season. This may be the first time I can’t look and say this guy or that guy have had bad 1st halves. Now there are some guys who’s numbers are down. Adrian Beltre, Anthony Rendon, David Wright or even Ryan Zimmerman who qualifies as a 3rd baseman haven’t come anywhere close to putting up the numbers they should. All 4 players have missed time with injuries and 3 of them are still on the disabled list. We’ll have to see if these players can get healthy and have big 2nd halves for their fantasy owners.
Shortstop Ian Desmond, Washington Nationals. If you use the strategy that a player in the last year of his contract will put on numbers then Desmond was your guy at shortstop. Desmond was a Top 25 pick this season and you’re getting a .211 average, 7 home runs, 24 RBI’s and 5 stolen bases. If your league scores for defense Desmond has even hurt fantasy owners there as he has made 20 errors this season; 2nd most among shortstops. Desmond will need a big bounce back 2nd half to be worth the spot where people picked him at.
Catcher Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians. While Santana hasn’t caught a game this season he does qualify at the position for this season. A few seasons ago Santana was a hot under the radar type of fantasy player, but since he’s surfaced his numbers haven’t matched up to his draft position. A .221 average with 10 home runs and 40 RBI’s aren’t the kind of numbers fantasy owners are looking for out of a catcher who actually doesn’t have to go through the grind of catching.
In my leagues the outfielders are position specific; so that’s how we’re handling it here.
Leftfield Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies. Gonzalez was hitting going into the All-Star break; so fantasy owners will have to see if he’ll continue to play more like the CarGo they thought they were getting when they drafted him. Gonzalez is hitting .259 with 13 home runs and 35 RBI’s. Gonzalez was a Top 40 players coming into the draft, but with the numbers he’s put up I’d be surprised if he would even be in the Top 200. Anyone would picked Gonzalez is hoping the hot streak he ended the 1st half on will continue.
Centerfield Leonys Martin, Texas Rangers. Now if you’re in a smaller fantasy league players like Martin aren’t even on your radar, but our leagues are 20 team leagues; so these type of players really matter. Martin was ranked in the Top 150 to start the year, but poor hitting led to him losing playing time and him hurting any fantasy owner that drafted him. A .222 batting average and 13 stolen bases is a lot less than fantasy owners were hoping for. Martin’s not a power guy; so you’re hoping for steals and extra base hits and sadly even with his speed Martin has 0 triples. If Martin is filling a hole in a bigger league for you it’s time to look else where if you haven’t already.
Rightfield Jay Bruce, Cincinnati Reds. I could’ve easily plugged Gonzalez into this spot, but decided to go with Bruce here instead. Just 2 seasons ago Bruce was a breakout fantasy player with a 30 home run 100 RBI season, but he hasn’t been anywhere close to that type of production since. A lot of fantasy players liked Bruce and he was a Top 150 player going into the season and while his average is up (.251) from last season with 13 home runs and 42 RBI’s he;s not looking like the player fantasy owners though they would be getting.
Starting Pitcher Jon Lester, Chicago Cubs. Lester was a Top 15 starting pitcher going into the season and a Top 50 player overall coming into the draft. Lester is 4-8 with an ERA of 3.59 and would be lucky to rank in the Top 300 fantasy wise right now. Lester does have 109 strikeouts and that ties him for 22nd among starting pitchers. While the Cubs have had a good 1st half Lester hasn’t benefited from it. Fantasy owners will have to hope that the Cubs continue to play well and that Lester will be the guy who’s getting the benefit of it in the 2nd half.
Closer Steve Cishek, Miami Marlins. Now there are two schools of thought when it comes to drafting a closer. You can go out and get the best ones or you can wait until later in the draft and try to find a guy. If you waited and thought Cishek would be your guy; sorry. After back to back seasons of 30 plus saves Cishek struggled in the 1st half of the season lost his closer spot and was even demoted to the minors for a short stint. Cishek is 2-6 with a 5.14 ERA and just 3 saves. If you’re in a league that scores Holds maybe Cishek can help you in the bullpen, but if you’re looking for saves out of him you might want to look somewhere else.
Tomorrow will look at some of the surprises from the 1st half.
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