Josh Hamilton - The most exciting thing about Hamilton so far this year is not that he’s basically maintained his hitting stats crossing over to the tougher league, although that’s nice in and of itself. For me, the drastic reduction in strikeouts so far this year is an extremely positive development. Hamilton struck out about once every 4.5 AB’s last season, and this year so far he’s striking out once every 8.2 AB’s. His AVG has commensurately increased a bit, as you’d expect, but he also hasn’t lost any power to speak of. It’s still early to call trends this year, but this could be another step forward for the young OF. With all of the development time that he’s missed, the fact that he turns 27 next month shouldn’t have us expecting that he is fully-formed as a ballplayer just yet.
Lyle Overbay - As is the case with many similar players as they hit their early 30’s (Sean Casey, Hal Morris, Pete O’Brien), Overbay’s moderate power appears to have completely evaporated. He is still able to hit a few singles and doubles, and he can still take a walk and play some D, but without even modest power from your 1B you’re fighting an uphill battle with the rest of your offense, and that applies at both the fantasy level and in MLB. Overbay is gradually becoming a millstone for any offense he’s associated with, and that situation isn’t likely to change significantly going forward.
Armando Galarraga - Galarraga should consider himself fortunate to have been facing a lineup yesterday with fully six players in it that shouldn’t be expected to slug .400 this season. The Jays should be embarrassed fielding that lineup right after getting rid of Frank Thomas in the manner that they did, but I guess that’s what we’ve come to expect from them. Galarraga danced around his suspect control yesterday, walking four but only allowing three singles in 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Galarraga has plenty of stuff, but with a mid-90’s fastball and a hard slider but less than optimal knowledge of where either one is going, he might be best suited for the bullpen over the long-term. He’s had the good fortune to pitch around the roughly 63/37 strike/ball ratio he’s had through two starts, but that will come back to bite him against a team capable of hitting the ball past the outfielders. The Angels (next time out) should test him a bit more. Again, the stuff is there for him to be successful, but his minor league track record (4.13 ERA, 3 BB and 1 HR per 9) doesn’t portend this sort of success.
Vladimir Guerrero - Vlad appears to be in steady decline the past few seasons, as the .223 ISO’s he posted in both 2006 and 2007 were lower than any figure since his rookie season in 1997. He’s far lower than that so far this year, and he should be expected to heat up any minute now, but this isn’t the same guy that terrorized the NL back when Montreal had a baseball team. He’s always bit a bit more athletic than Jim Rice was, so this isn’t that fair a comparison, but Rice dropped off the table for good at age 34, and Vlad is 32 now and basically stopped running last season (a sure sign of aging). Something to keep in mind, especially for those of you in keeper leagues.
Alex Cintron - With Hernandez and Fahey both performing as you’d expect (with OPS figures below .600), Cintron isn’t going to need to do much to get a call to Baltimore. With a bit of power and speed, he would be a decent middle infield option in most formats as soon as he gets off the plane. Honestly, with the O’s fast start coming to an end (in my opinion), they might be tempted to push the button in the next few weeks, so watch the wire.
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