Mat Gamel, 3B, MIL (Yahoo: 9 percent owned; ESPN: 3 percent)
He's missing a "t" in his name and isn't guaranteed anything beyond some Interleague at-bats in an upcoming weekend series against Minnesota, but given that
Bill Hall has hit just .190 against righties (as opposed to .382 against lefties), crazier things have happened than Gamel working his way into a job as the left-handed half of a Milwaukee third base platoon.
Granted, platoon at-bats aren't enough to warrant consideration in a lot of mixed leagues, and I certainly wouldn't go dropping anyone productive for Gamel. However, owners in deeper leagues should at the very least keep a close watch to see if Gamel ends up sticking with the big league club. The 23-year-old was hitting .336 with eight homers and 31 RBI at Triple-A and has started out 2-for-6 with a homer and five RBI as a Brewer.
Manny Parra, SP, MIL (Yahoo: 29 percent owned; ESPN: 25 percent)
Welcome to the Wisconsin section of this week's column. I don't trust Parra much further than I can throw a discus (and my discus technique admittedly needs work), but there's no ignoring what he's done in his last four starts: a 3-0 record with a 3.00 ERA and 24 K's in 24 innings. Granted, he has also posted a 1.50 WHIP during that same span thanks in large part to 14 walks, and his 39/26 K/BB ratio for the season largely explains the discus-related trust issues I mentioned above.
All told, I'd advise treading carefully with Parra, but if you need K's and can absorb a little bit of a hit in WHIP, there's no doubt that there's some potential here.
Akinori Iwamura, 2B, TB (Yahoo: 24 percent owned; ESPN: 19 percent)
I wish I had a brilliant suggestion for a second base replacement for
Rickie Weeks owners, but with
Ian Stewart (Yahoo: 29 percent owned; ESPN: 9 percent) pulling a
Mike Fontenot and going 2-for-20 since I touted him last week, Iwamura is looking like one of the best widely available options. He obviously can't replace Weeks' power (Iwamura has zero homers on the season after hitting just six in 627 at-bats last season), but he has already matched his stolen base total of eight from 2008, and SB opportunities should continue to be plentiful with the Rays running like raving lunatics thus far.
Cody Ross, OF, FLA (Yahoo: 7 percent owned; ESPN: 8 percent)
I'd only take a look in a deep mixed league at this point, but it's worth noting that Ross has gone 10-for-20 in his last six games with six doubles, two homers and nine RBI to raise his season OPS from 581 to 747 in just over a week. Hot streaks happen for everyone, but for Ross, a hot streak can be particularly scalding – last season, he hit 10 of his 22 homers in May.
AL-ONLYRich Hill, SP, BAL (Yahoo: 7 percent owned; ESPN: 2 percent)
Hill had a solid Baltimore debut on Saturday, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing seven hits, two walks and two earned runs with six K's in a win over Kansas City. Fantasy owners certainly shouldn't expect a return to 2007 (when Hill went 11-8 with a 3.92 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 183/63 K/BB ratio in 195 innings), but he could still be a useful asset just two years removed from that career season.
Adam Kennedy, 2B, OAK (Yahoo: 1 percent owned; ESPN: 0 percent)
I'm nowhere close to convinced that he'll keep hitting, but Kennedy has gotten off to a strong start in Oakland with a .371 BA and .421 OBP with a homer and a steal in 35 at-bats, and with
Mark Ellis out until late June or early July with a calf injury, he's likely to continue getting plenty of at-bats.
NL-ONLYJ.A. Happ, RP, PHI (Yahoo: 3 percent owned; ESPN: 1 percent)
With
Chan Ho Park getting fricasseed to the tune of a 7.08 ERA and 1.69 WHIP this season, Happ is getting his chance to join the Philadelphia rotation. The 26-year-old lefty has a 2.49 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 17/9 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings as a reliever in 2009 and had 151 K's in 135 innings at Triple-A last season, so he's certainly worth adding in NL-only leagues. However, I will not be throwing him into the lineup at Yankee Stadium on Saturday and I'd advise similar caution on your end.
Kris Medlen, SP, ATL (Yahoo: 1 percent owned; ESPN: 1 percent)
After wasting too many starts on
Jo-Jo Reyes (who leaves the rotation with a 6.58 ERA and 1.42 WHIP in 26 innings), the Braves have finally made the long overdue move to summon Medlen to join the rotation from Triple-A. He's no
Tommy Hanson, but with a 5-0 record, 1.19 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 44/10 K/BB ration in 37 2/3 minor league innings this season, Medlen has been every bit as impressive as the Braves' top prospect in 2009.
Though he may get bumped from the rotation by the presumed return of
Tom Glavine, Medlen is going to get a shot for now, and he certainly has enough upside to warrant a look in NL leagues.
Craig Counsell, 2B/3B/SS, MIL (Yahoo: 2 percent owned; ESPN: 2 percent)
With
Rickie Weeks done for the year, Counsell is in line to get a shot at significant playing time at second base in Milwaukee. Though he's something of a sickly turtle from a fantasy perspective (he had a total of just four homers and seven steals in 530 at-bats the past two seasons), Counsell is hitting .324 with a .413 on-base percentage and can be a useful source of runs scored in NL leagues – he has 14 in his first 68 at-bats in 2009.
You're simply going to have to take my word for it when I tell you that I visited a hospital for sea turtles this week. Why? Because when the weather isn't cooperative at the beach on a family vacation, sometimes you have to go to Plan B (or Plan G, as the case may be).
While observing these turtles in the hospital ward – among them one who was recovering from a stroke, another who had a severed flipper and one who simply seemed to be ramming his head repeatedly into the wall of his tank – I received an important philosophical reminder about fantasy baseball.
The lesson: Much like nursing a sea turtle back to health, you have to be willing to consider every possible remedy in order to repair a fantasy baseball team. Do I understand why the sea turtle doctors were treating one of their patient's wounds with honey? No, I don't (and to tell the truth, I wasn't really listening during that part). But the important thing was that they were willing to take a risk, and if that particular remedy hadn't been successful, you can bet that they would have moved on to another idea.
And that's the notion I'd like to highlight here today. I tend to be rather freewheeling with transactions in my league, but if and when a player I add doesn't pan out, I'm eminently ready to fling him off to the side, accept that I didn't catch lightning in a bottle in that instance and move on. In other words, when I add
Mike Fontenot to a couple squads (and recommend him in this column) only to see him plummet into what ends up being a 2-for-36 slump, he's long gone from my teams before those 36 at-bats are complete. I only hope that he's gone from your respective teams just as fast.
In sum, when you add a player off waivers, be patient enough to give him a few games to show you something, but don't be so loyal that you leave him on the roster for an inordinate amount of time if he doesn't pan out. Assuming that your league doesn't have a transaction limit, there's no shame in running up the transaction count with the understanding that not every player you add is going to be good.
As the old hunting saying goes, not every piece of buckshot is going to strike a deer. Actually, there's no such hunting phrase that I'm aware of, but you get the point: Don't be afraid to fire away – or to reload when necessary. Now, to the wire:
MIXED LEAGUEKendry Morales, 1B, LAA (Yahoo: 41 percent owned; ESPN: 38 percent)
I touted the Angels first baseman a few weeks ago, but it appears that it's time for a re-tout. With a two-homer, three-RBI game on Monday, Morales pushed his season totals to an impressive eight homers and 26 RBI. He's nothing close to flashy, but there are far worse players to have occupying a corner infield spot in a mixed league.
Mike Jacobs, 1B, KC (Yahoo: 20 percent owned; ESPN: 22 percent)
Speaking of first basemen with impressive power numbers who should be owned in more leagues, Jacobs has nine homers and 23 RBI thus far, not to mention a relatively respectable .262 batting average and .338 on-base percentage after hitting just .247 with a .299 OBP in 2008. He still struggles against lefties (all nine of his homers and 18 of his 23 RBI have come versus right-handers), but Jacobs hit 32 homers with 93 RBI last season and is on pace to surpass the 30-homer plateau once again. He's not available in any of my leagues, but the numbers above indicate that he could be available in yours.
And in case you were wondering, if I had to choose between Morales and Jacobs, it comes down to categories. I'd go with Morales if batting average was a bigger concern, but I'd take Jacobs if raw power happened to be the objective. Though the two are currently just one homer apart, I still see Morales as closer to a 25-homer hitter, while Jacobs has legit 35-homer pop.
A reminder: For exclusive stat projections, player rankings and more, check out Rotoworld's MLB Season Pass.Scott Hairston, OF, SD (Yahoo: 9 percent owned; ESPN: 7 percent)
Hairston remains largely available in fantasy leagues because there remains a perception that he's just a platoon player who annihilates left-handers, but he has actually been playing against most right-handers lately and is hitting .304 in 56 at-bats against them in 2009.
Though he has just 102 total at-bats so far due to the fact that he was in the lineup far less in April than he has been in May, Hairston has five homers, a pleasantly surprising five steals and a stellar 1005 OPS for the season. He's been hitting at the top or in the middle of the order lately, and as long as he's starting against most right-handers, I'm happily starting him in the majority of my leagues.
Jorge De La Rosa, SP, COL (Yahoo: 18 percent owned; ESPN: 13 percent)
I was significantly more excited about De La Rosa before he walked most of the Atlanta metropolitan area on Wednesday night, when his five walks led to seven earned runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Braves.
Leading up to that disastrous night, De La Rosa had been truly stellar in his prior two outings, allowing just three earned runs in 15 innings with a 22/1 K/BB ratio. Considering that his ERA and WHIP are still a relatively respectable 4.27 and 1.29 along with a 46/21 K/BB ratio in 46 1/3 innings, I'm planning to give him at least one more start before I begin to lose faith.
If he's available in your league and you have a shortage of de la strikeouts, I'd take a close look at De La Rosa. Despite an 0-4 record and the recent shellacking from the Braves, this lefty throws low-to-mid 90's heat with a nice repertoire of secondary pitches, and there's plenty of potential for strong strikeout numbers here as the season goes on.
Mat Gamel, 3B, MIL (Yahoo: 9 percent owned; ESPN: 3 percent)
He's missing a "t" in his name and isn't guaranteed anything beyond some Interleague at-bats in an upcoming weekend series against Minnesota, but given that
Bill Hall has hit just .190 against righties (as opposed to .382 against lefties), crazier things have happened than Gamel working his way into a job as the left-handed half of a Milwaukee third base platoon.
Granted, platoon at-bats aren't enough to warrant consideration in a lot of mixed leagues, and I certainly wouldn't go dropping anyone productive for Gamel. However, owners in deeper leagues should at the very least keep a close watch to see if Gamel ends up sticking with the big league club. The 23-year-old was hitting .336 with eight homers and 31 RBI at Triple-A and has started out 2-for-6 with a homer and five RBI as a Brewer.
Manny Parra, SP, MIL (Yahoo: 29 percent owned; ESPN: 25 percent)
Welcome to the Wisconsin section of this week's column. I don't trust Parra much further than I can throw a discus (and my discus technique admittedly needs work), but there's no ignoring what he's done in his last four starts: a 3-0 record with a 3.00 ERA and 24 K's in 24 innings. Granted, he has also posted a 1.50 WHIP during that same span thanks in large part to 14 walks, and his 39/26 K/BB ratio for the season largely explains the discus-related trust issues I mentioned above.
All told, I'd advise treading carefully with Parra, but if you need K's and can absorb a little bit of a hit in WHIP, there's no doubt that there's some potential here.
Akinori Iwamura, 2B, TB (Yahoo: 24 percent owned; ESPN: 19 percent)
I wish I had a brilliant suggestion for a second base replacement for
Rickie Weeks owners, but with
Ian Stewart (Yahoo: 29 percent owned; ESPN: 9 percent) pulling a
Mike Fontenot and going 2-for-20 since I touted him last week, Iwamura is looking like one of the best widely available options. He obviously can't replace Weeks' power (Iwamura has zero homers on the season after hitting just six in 627 at-bats last season), but he has already matched his stolen base total of eight from 2008, and SB opportunities should continue to be plentiful with the Rays running like raving lunatics thus far.
Cody Ross, OF, FLA (Yahoo: 7 percent owned; ESPN: 8 percent)
I'd only take a look in a deep mixed league at this point, but it's worth noting that Ross has gone 10-for-20 in his last six games with six doubles, two homers and nine RBI to raise his season OPS from 581 to 747 in just over a week. Hot streaks happen for everyone, but for Ross, a hot streak can be particularly scalding – last season, he hit 10 of his 22 homers in May.
AL-ONLYRich Hill, SP, BAL (Yahoo: 7 percent owned; ESPN: 2 percent)
Hill had a solid Baltimore debut on Saturday, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing seven hits, two walks and two earned runs with six K's in a win over Kansas City. Fantasy owners certainly shouldn't expect a return to 2007 (when Hill went 11-8 with a 3.92 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 183/63 K/BB ratio in 195 innings), but he could still be a useful asset just two years removed from that career season.
Adam Kennedy, 2B, OAK (Yahoo: 1 percent owned; ESPN: 0 percent)
I'm nowhere close to convinced that he'll keep hitting, but Kennedy has gotten off to a strong start in Oakland with a .371 BA and .421 OBP with a homer and a steal in 35 at-bats, and with
Mark Ellis out until late June or early July with a calf injury, he's likely to continue getting plenty of at-bats.
NL-ONLYJ.A. Happ, RP, PHI (Yahoo: 3 percent owned; ESPN: 1 percent)
With
Chan Ho Park getting fricasseed to the tune of a 7.08 ERA and 1.69 WHIP this season, Happ is getting his chance to join the Philadelphia rotation. The 26-year-old lefty has a 2.49 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 17/9 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings as a reliever in 2009 and had 151 K's in 135 innings at Triple-A last season, so he's certainly worth adding in NL-only leagues. However, I will not be throwing him into the lineup at Yankee Stadium on Saturday and I'd advise similar caution on your end.
Kris Medlen, SP, ATL (Yahoo: 1 percent owned; ESPN: 1 percent)
After wasting too many starts on
Jo-Jo Reyes (who leaves the rotation with a 6.58 ERA and 1.42 WHIP in 26 innings), the Braves have finally made the long overdue move to summon Medlen to join the rotation from Triple-A. He's no
Tommy Hanson, but with a 5-0 record, 1.19 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 44/10 K/BB ration in 37 2/3 minor league innings this season, Medlen has been every bit as impressive as the Braves' top prospect in 2009.
Though he may get bumped from the rotation by the presumed return of
Tom Glavine, Medlen is going to get a shot for now, and he certainly has enough upside to warrant a look in NL leagues.
Craig Counsell, 2B/3B/SS, MIL (Yahoo: 2 percent owned; ESPN: 2 percent)
With
Rickie Weeks done for the year, Counsell is in line to get a shot at significant playing time at second base in Milwaukee. Though he's something of a sickly turtle from a fantasy perspective (he had a total of just four homers and seven steals in 530 at-bats the past two seasons), Counsell is hitting .324 with a .413 on-base percentage and can be a useful source of runs scored in NL leagues – he has 14 in his first 68 at-bats in 2009.