NL Player Spotlight - June 5, 2008

Adam LaRoche - The Roach has had a tough season with the Pirates and is currently mired in a terrible 1-for-20 slump. This season's totals include a .213 average, .296 OBP, 0.42 FPI, 33.7 HR/AB, and a .653 OPS. Compared to his other season with the Pirates, he hit .262 with a .333 OBP, 0.57 FPI, 27.8 HR/AB, and a .776 OPS. Its still a far-cry from his 2006 career-year with the Braves when he averaged a 15.4 HR/AB, a .917 OPS, and a 0.71 FPI. Consider LaRoche to have some cheap upside for the remainder of the season, but I would think anything higher than a 0.55 FPI is wishful thinking at this point (but its still a nice ride up from his current 0.42 level). Roy Oswalt - One of the bigger fantasy names in a funk this season, Oswalt is now 0-3 in his last four starts. Granted, he still pitched a quality start against the Pirates, going 6.0 IP and giving up 3 ER with 4 K's and a walk. Its actually his second QS in a row after posting two months of rough pitching lines. First, April: 5.87 ERA, 3-for-5 in QS, 1.40 WHIP, and K/BB of 2.6. And now May: 5.18 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 4-for-6 QS, and K/BB of 2.6. The numbers just don't add-up for Oswalt. He is 8-for-12 in quality starts for the season with a total 5.38 ERA. Basically, he's hitting the minimal threshold of a quality start and is blowing up in his remaining outings (approximately). He's still posting a K/9 of 6.0+ and a GO/AO of 1.6 despite a HR/9 of 1.9. Given that he's still recording K's, pitching with plenty of offense supporting him, and still getting groundball outs, he should be able to turn around the high HR/9 and unusually high ERA. A decent buy-low candidate if a frustrated owner is willing to part with him for cheap. Russel Branyan - Branyan isn't the everyday 3B (yet), splitting time with Ball Hall at the hot corner. But another dinger last night gives him 4 HR in 28 AB for the season. A hot bat can make penciling his name into the Brewers lineup a little easier for manager Ned Yost. 3B is probably way too deep to consider a part-time platoon in most league formats, but its certainly a situation to keep an eye on as the season progresses. It makes sense to me that Bill Hall may be a name rumored in trades as the deadline approaches over the next 6-8 weeks. His value could greatly increase based on his destination as well (maybe its the New York bias in me, but the NY Mets seem like a buying candidate if they can move Hall to LF to complete an OF of Beltran, Church, and Hall while adding a right-handed power bat). Ken Griffey - I'm not usually a conspiracy theorist, but it does seem awfully suspicious that Ken Griffey gets hurt sitting on 599 HR as soon as the Reds go on a road-trip. He has sat out three consecutive games with "general soreness." It seems highly unlikely that the Reds would purposely sit-out Grffey so he can hit #600 at home (especially with the Reds not due to return to Cincinnati until June 10th). But, they certainly don't seem to be in a rush to get him into the starting lineup either. I would keep him on your bench for a little bit (or at least until the next homestand) as the Reds play games with his PT. Jonathan Sanchez - I feel like I write about Sanchez just about every week, but he's one of my "picks-to-click" this weekend against the Nationals. Still owned in only half of leagues, he's sitting on 4 QS in a row with a high season K rate of more than a strike-out an inning. Add a weak offensive opponent in the Nationals and you have a solid pitch-and-ditch candidate for the weekend. Most leagues have him listed as both a SP and a RP, which also makes him a flexible option in leagues that limit pitchers to those fantasy slots. There are over 100 player news blurbs posted in the member area each morning. Members can read the rest of today's player news by clicking here. Not a member? Join today.