Frustrated Rickie Weeks owners can gather here for solace. First the bad: Weeks' average plummeted to .230 with an 0-for-4 against the Pirates on Wednesday. Ok, you know how rough its been being a Weeks owners. Now for what I consider the positives that may show a turnaround: Weeks is walking more and getting on base. Despite a low average, he has still managed to post a .325 OBP (about a 100-point difference between average and OBP) earning 30 BB for the season and averaging a BB for every 8.1 plate appearances. His batting eye has improved from last year, increasing from .33 to .55. While he has been slumping and we can only speculate just how much his chronic wrist injuries are affecting his swing, I don't feel it can get any worse than this. I see a decent upside opportunity for the highly-touted second basemen in the 2nd half of the season.
It just keeps getting worse and worse for Jason Bay. Manager Jim Tracy decided to sit Bay again on Wednesday (after sitting him last weekend as well) to help Bay get out of this rut. He has just 15 hits in his last 106 AB dating back to the beginning of June. Bay's average peaked at .314 on June 1st but has since dropped to .256. In 2005, Bay posted a 0.84 FPI and saw that figure drop to 0.77 in 2006. This year, he's posting just a 0.55 FPI. Bay just didn't forget to hit overnight. While reaching the 0.70+ FPI mark may be tough with this extended slump, he will likely break-out soon and post "stat-correcting"numbers soon.
Ryan Braun or Hunter Pence? Both are making a viable case for NL Rookie of the Year. Braun went 2-for-4 with a 3-run HR on Wednesday. He now has 8 HR in 147 AB (rate of a dinger for every 18.4 AB) and an average of .347. The rookie 3B has also once again hit the coveted OPS level of 1.000. You have to assume a slight correction / slump will happen over the next few months, but if you snagged Braun when he was called-up by the Brewers, you should continue to see fantasy results until the end.
Ken Griffey is one of those old fantasy guys that drops way down in drafts (like Barry Bonds), but still puts up solid numbers. Of course, injuries are always a concern for Griffey, but so far he's putting up respectable fantasy numbers - .294 average, 22 HR and 55 RBI. That's good for a .972 OPS and a .394 OBP. Put it all together and you have an FPI of 0.80. I think we'd all like to go back to March and snag Griffey when we had the chance. Kudos to the owners who took the risk. Hopefully he can stay healthy for the long-haul.
Mark Derosa extended his 10-game hitting streak on Wednesday, going 1-for-3 against the Nationals. He's been pretty hot lately, hitting .337 in June with a .382 OBP and 21 RBI. He's carried his hot hitting into July, going 5-for-15 in his first four games. Derosa flirted with .300 last year, ending the season hitting .296 with 13 HR and 74 RBI for Texas. So, for him to go on this streak isn't a total surprise. He has decent fantasy value during this streak, especially given his multiple position eligibility of 1B, 2B, 3B, and OF. Yeah - basically he can play anywhere and, according to CBS Sportsline, he's available in about 40% of all leagues.
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