Manager Bobby Cox gave the slumping Andruw Jones a night off on Wednesday. With a scheduled off-day for the Braves on Thursday, Cox hopes that back-to-back days of rest may help Jones get his swing back in order. He's not the only one hoping. With an average draft position in the 3rd/4th rounds, Jones has been a big disappointment. He's hitting just .202, but thankfully has 11 HR and 42 RBI to help. After posting FPI's of 0.70 and 0.69 in the last two years, 2007 is yielding a 0.45. Despite his decent HR total, he is still way off his normal pace. His HR/AB is 23.9 compared to 13.8 last year and 11.5 the previous season. He's striking out more, walking less and there are not a lot of positive indicators to think he can turn this around. With that said, even if he just performs at an average between what he has done and what he should do, he can still add significant numbers to your fantasy team from now until the end of the season. He may not be a bad idea to pursue a buy-low strategy with Jones.
Jason Marquis recorded his 4th loss of the season last night with a 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, and 3 K performance against the Texas Rangers. Marquis hasn't recorded a quality start since May 24th, 5 starts ago, and has 3 since May 1st in 10 outings. After a stellar start to the season with a 2.35 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and .204 BAA in April, Marquis has slowly reverted back to his normal self. In May, he posted a 3.38 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and .216 BAA. And, as expect, in June Marquis fell to a 5.19 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, and a .261 BAA. His ERA and WHIP should continue to creep higher.
Should we just hand the NL Rookie of the Year away to Hunter Pence now? He had three more hits in Wednesday's game against the Angels, including his 7th HR of the season. He's hitting .351 with a .968 OPS and an FPI of 0.86 this season in just 194 AB. He's bound to slow down at some point, especially given his extremely low batting eye of 0.15 (39 K's to 6 BB's). If you can manage through an inevitable slump over the next few months, you should continue to see power, speed, and a decent average from Pence for quite some time.
Wandy Rodriguez hurled his 2nd straight quality start, going 6.1 IP while giving up 3 ER, 5 H, and 2 K's. His strikeout total was a ltitle low, given his K/9 of 7.9, but Wandy has shown that he's worth of more than just an occasional spot-start on your fantasy team. He's posting a modest 4.20 ERA with a 1.23 WHIP, and a K/BB of 3.8. He tends to give up the long-ball, with a HR/9 of 1.2 and 11 total on the season, but he posts the K's and keeps the BB total in check. Wandy's next two starts come against Milwaukee and Colorado.
Kaz Matsui continues to provide plenty of fantasy value out of the 2B position for the Rockies. He has now hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games and only has one hitless game this month. His average is up to .316 and his speed has led to 12 SB this season and 4 this month. After being a huge disappointment with the Mets, Matsui has found a home in Colorado. Since joining the Rockies, he's hitting .329 with a 0.85 FPI and .864 OPS. Early season injuries kept him off the fantasy map, but he is slowly proving he may be worth the risk going forward. He's owned in less than 50% of all CBS Sportsline leagues.
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