Coco Crisp - Despite batting only .200, Crisp is off to a solid start with the Royals, posting an OPS of .923 in the first few weeks. A breakout from Crisp wouldn't be all that surprising if you look at his 2001-2005 numbers, which suggested much better things than we've actually seen from Crisp over the last three seasons. Crisp's approach has been completely different so far this season: taking far more pitches, hitting the ball in the air more, and something that his traditional stat line might belie: making contact more. Yes, Crisp is striking out more, but it's because he's being significantly more patient at the plate thus far. I don't want to get carried away by two weeks of data, but I'd be surprised if Crisp doesn't surpass our prediction for this season after watching his style shift with the Royals.
Ricky Romero - Romero has been one of the better pitchers in the league the first few times through the rotation, posting a 2-0 record with a 1.71 ERA. Romero was a highly touted prospect coming out of the 2005 draft, but after a solid 2006 season in A-ball he battled through shoulder problems and control issues the last two years. Romero's best improvement this year, as far as I can tell, is his slightly increased reliance on his curve and change...two pitches that he hadn't dusted off all that much in the past. His control has been outstanding, which offsets the slightly low K rate, but there is one cause for concern. His schedule thus far has consisted of the Tigers, Twins, and A's: three of the weaker offenses in the league. He'll have either the Rangers or the White Sox next, and that will give a slightly better picture of what sort of improvement we're really seeing here. I like what I've seen thus far, but I need to see more to be convinced that he's legitimately a 3rd starter.
Justin Masterson - Masterson looked very solid yesterday replacing Matsuzaka in the rotation, going 5 1/3 and allowing four singles and a run with two walks and three K's. Masterson was throwing 96 mph on a few fastballs, basically showing no ill effects to being stretched out. Matsuzaka is only expected to miss another start or two, and Masterson's other two matchups are against New York and Tampa, so as much as I do like him I'd probably want to pass this time around....unless of course you can get some value out of him for his holds upon his return to the pen.
Julio Lugo - With Jed Lowrie likely out until the break with his wrist injury, the focus now turns to Julio Lugo at SS for the Red Sox. Lugo is reporting to AAA to start his rehab, and with few other viable options around at the position they have to hope that Lugo will be ready shortly. Lugo isn't going to offer a whole lot from a fantasy perspective, but the handful of steals will help, and he usually won't kill you anywhere else. That makes him a plausible waiver pickup in deeper leagues, as he's likely to pick up about two months of solid playing time barring another move by the Sox.
Alexei Ramirez - While I agree that Ramirez is an impatient hitter that is unlikely to improve significantly upon his 2008 season, his early-season struggles could possibly be due to an increased focus on defense. He has been very impressive at SS by some measures so far this year, and 40 AB's in I'm not going to get too worked up about a player with a .156 BABIP (even if that is supported by a 6.3% LD rate). In short, decent AVG, low OBP, average pop and speed is still the expectation for Ramirez, so if you can get him cheap it probably makes sense.
