There have been many disappointments in fantasy baseball this year. However, there have also been many surprises that have helped save many owners' seasons. Three such surprises are in this article and could have been had by anyone off the waiver wire this year. As stated earlier, there have also been many disappointments, and one of the bigger names in category would be Derek Jeter. He had a sub-Jeter like year and hadn't exactly been helping fantasy owners (or the Yankees) too much. Until now. It's great how fast things can change in fantasy baseball. One week a player is doing nothing, then the next week they are on top of the world, and vice-versa. This week is the perfect example of that. This installment of
MLB Status Check consists of three categories. Three players are placed into each category that best demonstrates the type of week they had by fantasy standards. They deserve recognition and praise for their accomplishments, or lack thereof.
Lived up to the hype:
Derek Jeter (SS - New York Yankees) - It looks like the old Jeter is finally back. He was pretty bad before the All-Star break. He wasn't the worst, but he was bad by his standards. Now after the break he's hitting .50 points higher, and he's already hit nearly as many homeruns. Jeter is in a terrific position to steal bases and score runs. He's hitting behind Johnny Damon and in front of Bobby Abreu. When the Yankee order is clicking watch out because they'll put up great fantasy numbers. As of now Jeter is putting up great numbers and the team looks a lot different when Jeter is hitting the ball well. In his last six games he went 16-for-27. Yeah, Jeter's back.
13/23, 6 runs, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB, .565 AVG
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Adam Dunn (LF/RF - Arizona Diamondbacks) - Apparently Dunn waited until the D-Backs reached home until his power showed up. That was very thoughtful of him because it definitely gave the D-Backs fans something to cheer about. They now have the NL homerun leader in the middle of their talented offense. Dunn wasted no time once he got to his new home stadium. He hit homers in back-to-back days and he's been lights out by his standards. The average and RBI are there, but he's also hitting over .300. I know, stop the presses, Adam Dunn is sporting an average higher than .240! It's true though, and he looks completely locked in right now. Apparently the change of scenery was good for him because he's playing quite well. However, maybe it's the fact that he wants a big payday in the off-season. It doesn't seem like fantasy owners really care as long as he produces.
6/18, 7 runs, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB, .333 AVG
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Matt Holliday (LF - Colorado Rockies) - Holliday's power numbers weren't huge this week. He did hit some homeruns, but he wasn't exactly leading the fantasy world with them this week. However, he did steal some bases, and that alone makes Holliday more valuable. He's always capable of hitting a few homeruns a week, driving in runs, and sporting a solid average, but to steal multiple bases, that is very impressive for him since he's not exactly the fastest player. Holliday seems like he's trying to prove last year was no fluke. His average is actually higher than it was last year, barely, but his homerun total is a bit lower than last year. However, he was injured earlier in the year so he didn't get man at bats. On top of that he's also been hitting for great power since the All-Star break. In the first half of the season he had 14 homeruns, he already has 10 in the second half. He should probably get around 30, but it doesn't look like he'll reach the 36 of last year, or the 137 RBI. Oh well, he's still a solid fantasy player and he's already doubled his stolen base total from last year. Matt Holliday a terror on the base path, who'd have guessed?
7/22, 8 runs, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 SB, .318 AVG
Failed to live up to the hype:
Chase Utley (2B - Philadelphia Phillies) - It doesn't exactly look like Utley will be winning the NL MVP now. He had a terrific first half, but it seems that was mostly because of some nice streaks he had. He hit all of his homeruns in clusters, meaning there were also many games when he didn't exactly put up great numbers. It's possible that he's due for another streak because he hasn't exactly done much lately. To put it in perspective he had 25 homeruns before the break, but after the break he's only had five. His average is also nearly .40 points lower in the second half. This could all be due to the fact that nobody else is hitting, but perhaps nobody else is hitting because Utley isn't? The Phillies' offense is 1 of the best in the NL in terms of power, but they have underperformed as of late. Utley is the one who needs to step it up though. He was the table setter early on and when the Phillies are hot it's usually because Utley is tearing the cover off of the ball. He should rebound, but he's been pretty disappointing lately considering what he did in the first half.
4/22, 1 run, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB, .182 AVG
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Prince Fielder (1B - Milwaukee Brewers) - It seems like Prince Fielder is really missing Ryan Braun because he just hasn't looked the same lately. Braun re-aggravated his rib injury and now Prince looks like he's basically trying to pick up the slack and do too much. He's had his chances to drive in runs too, but he didn't get the favored result. He did hit two sac flies, but his numbers would have looked so much better if he were able to hit some homeruns instead. Fielder has also been pretty bad in the field, but he isn't drafted for his fielding, he's drafted for his ability to hit the ball as far as he possibly can. He hasn't done that lately and fantasy owners must feel a bit disheartened. Prince is a big guy with so much power. Why settle for two sac flies?
3/23, 1 run, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB, .130 AVG
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Josh Beckett (SP - Boston Red Sox) - Beckett seems to always get some type of injury that makes people scratch their head. He used to be plagued by blister issues because of the way he threw his curveball. It seems like that is over with. However, now he's got a new issue to deal with: tingling fingers. After he was hammered by the Blue Jays he revealed that his ring and pinky fingers were both tingling. That doesn't exactly sound like a good sign. Apparently the analysis is a sore right elbow that caused the numbness. That doesn't sound like a good sign either. He's had his start pushed back and who knows what'll happen. Is it more serious than that? Will he need surgery, will he need rest, will he pitch the same? There are lots of questions that fantasy owners want answered. This seems like a case where owners will just have to be patient and hope for the best. Not Yankee owners though. Yankee owners are probably happy that they may wind up not having to face him the next time they play the Red Sox. Beckett has always had tremendous stuff, but his elbow definitely hurt him this week in terms of fantasy production. He was just awful.
0 wins, 1 loss, 2.1 IP, 3 K, 30.86 ERA, 3.86 WHIP
Keep an eye on:
Melvin Mora (3B - Baltimore Orioles) - When Mora is good he is good. This marks the second time in recent memory that Mora has put up insanely high numbers in a week. It seems that he likes to put his big numbers up in clusters, but some owners won't care because he has been insanely good when he does that. This week he literally did a little bit of everything. He hit for power, he drove in runs, he scored runs, he got a lot of hits, he had a high average, and he even stole a base. He literally did some of everything. His numbers were out of this world good when you examine them. He didn't just hit a few homeruns, a handful of RBI, and score a couple of runs. No, he hit a lot of homeruns, drove in two handfuls of RBI, and scored more runs than most players can dream about scoring in a week. He was the ultimate player this week and if he's somehow available please, pick him up. He's earned it.
15/30, 12 runs, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 1 SB, .500 AVG
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Carlos Quentin (LF/RF - Chicago White Sox) - Perhaps the D-Backs gave up on Quentin just a tad too early. He didn't exactly show them anything unique in the time he'd been there. In two seasons at the MLB level he hit 14 homeruns, 63 RBI, and a few extra base hits. His average was a bit disappointing and his overall numbers were alright, but not good enough for someone with so much talent. Apparently they decided to let him go for basically nothing and now it's coming back to bite them. Quentin is now being talked about as the possible AL MVP. He's not just putting up good numbers, he's putting up great numbers. .294 AVG, 35 HR, 97 RBI, and an OBP just under .400. He has been an unbelievable steal for the White Sox, one of the biggest in recent memories, and he has not disappointed fantasy owners. However, it still doesn't seem like he gets the recognition he deserves. He's in talks for AL MVP, yet he's not exactly a household name like A-Rod. Quentin deserves recognition for what he's done because he has been terrific this year. He hit a homer in two times in three games this week and put up some great overall numbers. If it hadn't been for Melvin Mora having such a great week then Carlos Quentin would have received that honor, hands down.
11/23, 10 runs, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 SB, .478 AVG
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Francisco Liriano (SP - Minnesota Twins) - Liriano was absolutely tearing up the minors leagues and he forced the Twins to call him back up since there was nothing left for him to accomplish down there. He has not disappointed so far. He has looked human at times, but he's also shown his ability to pitch out of jams and make smart pitches. He's still got life on his fastball and slider, but his a ability to go deep in games is still a bit up there. As of now it seems like the most he can do is go seven innings, but that's just fine for everyone because the last thing anyone wants is him to be overworked and get hurt again. Before he got hurt in 2006 he looked like the number one choice for rookie of the year. However, he got hurt and that took him out of the running. He's now back with a vengeance and has won four of his seven starts, but his higher ERA is mainly due to one bad start a few weeks ago. Liriano looks great and is definitely rewarding those who picked him up off of waivers.
2 wins, 0 losses, 12 IP, 10 K, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP